Thursday, April 29, 2010

Kim Robinson - misc. # 5

For most like me this has been a long semester with stressful classes. However, it was a nice thing every monday night to head to class just so I could watch movies. I have to say that this has been one of the best classes I've taken at CNU. I love movies in general, but I also love to go back ad see movies I haven't seen in years and view it from a different perspective. Other than the foreign films, I had seen most of the movies we watched over these past weeks. I was able to re-watch these movies and because of the discussions held before and after class I was able to view all these movies through a different lense. I don't think that I would have ever have been able to make some of the connections that others made during the films, but once pointed out these connections made sense. As my last blog I just wated to write how this class gave me an opprotunity to learn new points of view and to re-interpret that which we think we already know. It was a fun class!

Kim Robinson - Misc. # 4

The other day in preperation for Spain, we were suppose set up and partake in this labyrinth. Unfortunately the day we had planned to set up the labyrinth was the beginning of this rainy weather we've been having and therefore the event had to be shut done because there just wasn't ebough time left in the school year to postpone it. Labyrinths originally have ties back to Acient Greece and are more often seen today as a sort of maze. ore often seen these days as a sort of maze. People walk on the paths of the labyrinth which curl back to each and evevtually you rach the center. They can be used as a physical form of prayer. I had done a labyrinth once before, but i was kind of excited to have the opprotunity to do it again.I wouldn't say that I've become more religious but rather more spiritual since the last time I walked a labyrinth. Its calming exerience if nothing else and gives a person time to slow down and collect their thoughts. I was excited that a labyrinth was coming to our school and people who have just a small example of what my summer will be like in Spain. Prayers do not always have to be in front a statue of Christ or in church kneeling before "the presence" of God. I wonder truly how many people at CNU have either done a labyrinth and how many have never even heard a labyrinth.I bet the differences are closer than we expect. And maybe we'd be surprised too that more have done than you think. It can be a very spiritual thing for those who are religious and now as I develop my own sense of my faith in a higher being, I wonder if doing a labyrinth now would be different than it was before????

Kim Robinson - outside reading #5

One of my classes this semester was called Power & Mystification. The majority of our time spent looking at and examining how political leaders and social figures gained and used their power. However, at the beginning of the semester we were discussing government as a whole and many of readings talked about church and state. It was interesting to read all these articles that highlight how religion has become part of every government, no matter how much they say they seperate it. Even in our own government there are obvious rituals or symbols that can be directly back to religion, more specifically Christianity. When the president gets sworn in every four years, he (so far) places his hand on a copy of the bible and some even add "So help me God" into their oaths of office. There the president of the US is acknowledging the power of God in a very public venue. Also, the official motto of the United States and it's government is "In God We Trust" . We now use that motto on almost all forms of currency. I'm not saying that I believe it is wrong that the US government uses religious symbolism or rituals in the practice of government. More that when I was reading these different articles it really just struck me that as a people and as a government we openly declare that the fate of us all lies in the hands of God. That we trust his reason above all others. I just thought it was interesting and now it makes me want to go look for connections of religion to out government :p

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

#7 Wilderness as Sacred Place: Spiritual Journey- no pain no gain

Afton Reed

Spiritual journey is comprised of many things. One important aspect is "no pain no gain," In order to recieve any benefits, like everything else, you have to be willing to push yourself to the limit. Finding your limits really allows you to grow as a person. You grow a new respect for yourself, and a new knowledge of what you can handle.To complete a spiritual journey you must have perseverence.

#6 Wilderness as Sacred Place: My sacred place at CNU

Afton Reed

I don't feel like I have many places that I consider sacred.The only place that really strikes me is a place I went to a few times for answers. There were a few nights I just felt like going for walks and I always ended up at the fountain. Most nights no one was sitting there so I could do whatever I wanted to without feeling watched. Sometimes I cried. I often watched the sky or the water in the fountain. I'm not sure what was so relaxing about it. And why I felt so comfortable there, but there it was. I guess it chose, I didn't choose it. I didn't really perform any rituals there, but if crying could be considered a ritual, or somewhat questioning a higher power, then I performed rituals there. It is both local and universal because many people find water to be relazing. And finally it is tread upon every day but I am the only one who has entered it as a sacred place. But, now that I have shared it's sacredness, you may enter.

#5 Wilderness as Sacred Place: Community vs. Communitas

Afton Reed

Community is simply people living together in the same vicinity. It is conventional and utterly meaningless. But communitas is so much more. Communitas is people forced together in somewhat extreme circumstances who form this inexplainable bond. People form this connection from the experience. People who are living memorable, meaningful experiences are so overwhelmed with emotion they can't help but connect and relate those people to that experience.Communitas often incorporates flow. People just feel like everything is going right between them. Everyone is focused on eachother and sending eachother good vibes. Communitas is rare, and community is every day.

#4 Liminality

Afton Reed

Liminality is an inbetween. You are who you are in the beginning and who you end up being changes drastically,the things inbetween being the cause. For example Kip refers to people who hike the Appalachian trail. They are thrown into this new situation, stripped of conventional society, forced to overcome goals, forced to persevere and push themselves to the limit and to do all of these things that they never have before,(that they may have thought they were incapable of doing) and if that doesn't change a person I don't know what does. Liminality is the state after being a catapillar but before you turn into a butterfly.