State of the Planet

Reading this to me, was easy to understand individually but as a whole story, it was hard to piece together what the meaning exactly was.  There were a few passages that I chose to comment on though. One of the passages that I quite enjoyed but had trouble deciphering was “The book will say that climate is complicated, that we may be doing this and if we are, it may explain that this was something we’ve done quite accidentally, which she can understand, not having meant that morning to have spilled the milk.  She’s one of those who’s only hungry metaphorically. 

It’s easy to decipher some of the beginning as it is a continuation of the discussion on how the earth’s resources are misused and almost talking about the idea of how humans and their technologies have polluted the earth.  When it says the book I’m unsure what that refers to.  I wanna say that the relationship between the accidentally having caused the earth to bepolluted by all of our cars and waste is related to the analogy of we have a glass of milk and it looks perfectly fine but of course in the long run we didn’t mean to spill our milk. 

“In the years since, we’ve gotten even better at relentless simplification, but it’s taken until our time for it to crowd out, savagely the rest of life.”

I feel this describes the way we as humans today almost settle into our everyday lives.  The poem talks about philosophers and poets and how they taught the world to love and enlightened them to new and better things.  Today we are too consumed it says with “curiosity and greed”.  To make a change though and see a difference in this one has to get rid of, I like the term “savagely” take care of these issues.  These are maybe blocks that stand in the way of fixing the problems that we have created that now harm and endanger our planet and the technology and things we have now blind us and leave us in comfort.  That is what I took from this. 

AFI Trip and Response

I really enjoyed going to AFI this past Tuesday.  I thought it was a lot of fun and totally different then what I initially expected.  In relation to the play and essay it was pretty cool.  Of course it the field trip made it come alive in a way, and I think it definitely showed how close to the truth both texts portray such an issue.  An example of this would be how in the play, most the characters have something quirky that they “have” such as Norman and his keys.  A person I talked to at AFI had boxes, that’s what he worked on and he was proud of it.  Just made me realize how simple they can think but though also as well it is not like they are incapable of having a conversation.  In one sense, I think that reading these texts before hand gave us something to expect when we went on our visit, though I think experience was the only true way of figuring this out.  A way that this helped me better relate to the essay by Professor Fetke was just seeing that these are real people and when given the chance they can do something that we deem “normal” in society.  Sure its low class and something no one else wants to do but for them it’s the world and I feel we should have no less respect for them now than anyone else.  The last thing we sorta discussed in class was the disabled in relation to our idea of the Image of God.  At first one struggles with the idea that, wow, us and them are equal just because I feel our culture has degraded and abused them so much.  I can definitely see more clearly that everyone of them is as described in the article, specially marked, and that their lives, often times, is more humble then ours ever could be.   

views of disability

Reading this article enlightened me and caused me to have to struggle with some very important issues. This article really shows the blindness to everyone’s gifts and abilities.  The passage that most stood out to me were “this is also the work of the Spirit and not God’s mistake or the product of human sin or demonic activity.”  This caused me to really stop and think and stretched me a great deal because I started to think of situations back in my home town. Honestly, back home I always felt that is how I was taught to treat such people with disabilities.  To shut them away because there is no hope and that people would only be wasting their time giving them opportunities where they could succeed and worse yet I’ve heard people in the church often intervene to tell parents their child was useless and to check their lives because a child such as this could only be the product of sinners. Besides they would be much happier right? While I always tried to escape this mindset I think there is a view that everyone almost can’t help but see, that we “normal people are almost better than them.  Today’s culture, the way we make fun of and abuse the disabled does not help the cause any.  People, even when they go out of their way to help such people at school I believe, though they mean well, do it more out of pity then having a sense of equalness to that person.   It is also really a stretch for me to think about many such people being able to minister but when you think about it, the way they live their lives is such a testimony and they can still be a blessing.  I had always heard the word charismatic growing up but never knew what it meant.  It is, like I said before, even though we may not even realize it, we single the disabled out immediately.  While they are not exactly like us, it does not mean that they have been “marked” as mentioned throughout the article.  God made all creation perfect and good and thus it is almost a false mindset and illusion we have built up it seems regarding such issues. 

The Boys Next Door: Response 2

I think there are two different themes throughout the first and second acts.  In the first act one can sense more lightheartedness and almost a joy from the characters, almost as if celebrating who they are.  The second act though, gives a more broken and darker side into each characters life.  It is definitely a more realistic view to the lives of people with these disabilities.  Reading the story one can legitimately feel bad knowing that a lot of people in the real world exactly like these depicted in the story are abandoned simply because they are written off as useless or the people that try to do good get burnt out and need a break. Either way it feels like they don’t have any stability in their lives, which could do them probably the most good.  Almost the best thing to take away from reading this piece is the fact that one can be changed by these such people just as much as one can change their lives.  While many people with such disabilities are usually stubborn and stuck in their ways one can always just be there for them.  On the other hand, we could learn a thing or two about the simplicity and innocence that people such as these live in.  They help us remember what life is really about, relationships and one another, not status or how well you’re liked.  Love between them, such as with Sheila and Norman is so simple and they appreciate the most smallest of gifts.  While Jack is leaving to work another job, I think a part of him still really loves the boys.  Even though he needs a break, I think the story portrays that he would never be able to abandon them and that he probably cares the most about them out of anyone else in the world. 

Boys Next Door: First Response

Initially when I started reading this first part of the play I was pretty confused, just because it was hard to keep up with the randomness of each person’s comments.  The way it was written made it seem really realistic though.  It was easy to imagine all the characters running around on a stage with funny voices and goofy clothes as the audience is laughing at all there remarks.  And actually this almost reminded me of the movie, the Ringer. 

This story is meant to entertain but also convey in a very sobering way the practical dilemmas in which real life people like this go through.  One specific example is how Lucien P. Smith goes through the ordeal of losing his money and benefits, claiming him fit to live in an outside community, which as the story portrays he is clearly not.  Another is the issue seen between Barry and his father who he has not seen for many years because he basically disowned him for being what he was.  The last thing they need is more rejection.  More practical though is just the everyday personalities that each character portrays.  While somewhat hindered in some areas one can clearly see that they have everyday lives such as jobs and have relationships outside the walls where they live.  Some would probably view them as too weird, but honestly, they are more unique then just different and its not like you can just shut them up, away from the world, that would not be fair to anyone. 

My first thoughts about the story was why didn’t Jack get mad or feat up with all of them.  He later did at the end of the first Act though.  It makes you wonder would anyone else really take the time to do this job instead of him though?