This was my second oral report for my English final. Enjoy!
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Adulthood has lost most of its original meaning with the onslaught of the postmodern age. No longer do the majority of teenagers long for adulthood so they can work and earn their own living in the world. Now, most teenagers dream of adulthood for the sake of gratifying their pleasures legally. Because the meaning of adulthood has changed in such a drastic way, it no longer holds as much weight as it once did. There is no journey to maturity and responsibility, but rather a sudden leap from one age to another that results in new privileges. George MacDonald wrote the story of a young man on his journey to the old sense of adulthood in his fairy tale, Phantastes. This story can teach young men and women of the postmodern age the importance of growing in wisdom to reach maturity and the value of acting with responsibility.
The main character of Phantastes, Anodos, first begins his journey to adulthood by leaving his world for Fairy Land. Before entering this enchanted land, Anodos is struck in his normal life with a deep longing for Fairy Land, which shows that he is made for another world. After a short time in Fairy Land he encounters his first and greatest enemy, the Ash tree, which symbolizes brute power and mastery. It nearly overcomes him, but with the guidance of various mature inhabitants of Fairy Land along the way, he is protected from harm. Anodos also discovers that the food he eats in Fairy Land satisfies his hunger and heightens his senses, bringing him into a more complete relationship with his surroundings. This symbolizes the act of communion. As he continues on his journey, Anodos falls in love with a white maiden who continually escapes him. Towards the end of his journey, Anodos reaches maturity when he discovers that his quest should never have been to seek to be loved, but to love another.
In order to begin a journey to adulthood such as what Anodos underwent, a young adult must start it with a mind ready to learn. Anodos learned much in Fairy Land because he very quickly learned one of his most important lessons: that of listening to those wiser than himself. Young adults will always need guidance from mature adults because they will undoubtedly make as many mistakes as Anodos did. To some degree young adults still need autonomy, since they need to learn how to think for themselves. By allowing them to make mistakes, they will learn never to make them again. Young adults also need a path to go down, like Anodos’ quest to find his white maiden. Aimlessly wandering will get them nowhere, but a quest will give them something to desire, a journey to learn from, and a prize to help them value their struggles. Above all, young adults need God on their journey, without whom they would never truly reach their goals.
While the postmodern age has brought horrific changes to the state of adulthood, and a decrease in the number of truly mature adults, it is not without hope. With stories like Phantastes still in existence, teenagers can be taught what it means to be an adult. They can learn that adulthood is not a set of privileges given as rights at a certain age, but is rather a state of mind achieved through hard work and difficult lessons. On top of this, no age is without hope since God is always in control. With God in control, no matter how immature teenagers may choose to stay, we can rest with the knowledge that God has a purpose for good in such times.
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Essay: The One True Hero
This was one of my oral reports for my English final this year, in essay form.
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One of the classic components of stories all throughout literature is the existence of a hero. These heroes have come in many different forms, from Hercules to Bilbo Baggins. As different in character and physique as these heroes may be, they share many common characteristics. Edith Hamilton recorded the stories of a wide range of characters with these qualifications in her book, Mythology. One hero who is not often referred to as such is Jesus Christ. While at first his servant’s story may seem completely contradictory to the wild adventures of Hercules and Bilbo Baggins, his story has much in common with theirs. He did not conquer his enemies through brute force like Hercules did, nor did he have a magic ring to make him invisible as Bilbo did. Instead, Jesus conquered the enemies that no hero before or after him can: sin and death.
To understand why such different personalities can have the same title, one must understand the essence of what it means to be a hero. One of the most essential aspects to a character being the hero of the story is that such a character must be given a quest. This can be directly called a quest, or it can be something the character chooses to do himself to right a wrong. The hero could be sent to retrieve a stolen object, rescue a damsel in distress, or perform any other noble act. On the road of his quest, the hero usually undergoes some sort of change, especially if the hero is not likable at the beginning of the story. At the end of this road, the hero is always victorious. Such heroes are not necessarily confined to literature—they can also exist in real life, but are easier to identify in literature.
In general, heroes in literature and in real life are equally important, though in different ways. Some real life heroes, such as firemen, are renowned for rescuing people in distress, just as many heroes in literature do. These heroes affect our daily lives in a more direct way than literary ones do, and often in a physical way. We have much to learn from the fictional lives of literary heroes, particularly as children. When children are introduced to and immersed in fairy tales, they are taught to rejoice with the hero when he is victorious over the villain of the story. Because these stories are entertaining and as a result can stick with us our whole lives, the morals behind the stories stick with us too. Above all, stories with victorious heroes teach us that our own enemies can be defeated by someone who is brave enough to take a stand.
Hamilton’s Mythology captures a wide range of Greek myths that can reach adults as easily as children. While there may be cultural differences between our lives and those of such mythological characters, many of the villains defeated by heroes in these stories relate to our own personal demons. One well-known hero from Greek Mythology, Hercules, was a strong warrior who defeated many enemies, but went insane and killed his whole family as a result. He then spent the rest of his life trying to atone for his sins, as many people from our own age try to cover over their sins with good deeds. None of the heroes presented in Greek myths are perfect—each have their faults. These heroes complete the quests given them, but they cannot complete the ultimate quest of all mankind—to defeat sin and death. Jesus Christ fulfilled this ultimate quest of mankind by atoning for all sins on the cross and defeating death by rising from it.
Hercules never could atone for his sins no matter how hard he tried, let alone atone for anyone else’s. He also did not defeat death. Even though he became a god according to the myth, he could not defeat death for everyone else. Death still reigns after Hercules’ quests were completed. The same goes for any other hero aside from Jesus. While we can learn from them the value of bravery and noble deeds, we must also take from them the understanding that only one man could and has defeated man’s greatest enemies. If we can admire literary heroes with so much zeal, how much more should we worship and serve the one hero who not only taught us as literary heroes do, but also saved us personally? No debt we could pay him would ever be enough, but he paid the price all the same because he loves us.
~ ~ ~
One of the classic components of stories all throughout literature is the existence of a hero. These heroes have come in many different forms, from Hercules to Bilbo Baggins. As different in character and physique as these heroes may be, they share many common characteristics. Edith Hamilton recorded the stories of a wide range of characters with these qualifications in her book, Mythology. One hero who is not often referred to as such is Jesus Christ. While at first his servant’s story may seem completely contradictory to the wild adventures of Hercules and Bilbo Baggins, his story has much in common with theirs. He did not conquer his enemies through brute force like Hercules did, nor did he have a magic ring to make him invisible as Bilbo did. Instead, Jesus conquered the enemies that no hero before or after him can: sin and death.
To understand why such different personalities can have the same title, one must understand the essence of what it means to be a hero. One of the most essential aspects to a character being the hero of the story is that such a character must be given a quest. This can be directly called a quest, or it can be something the character chooses to do himself to right a wrong. The hero could be sent to retrieve a stolen object, rescue a damsel in distress, or perform any other noble act. On the road of his quest, the hero usually undergoes some sort of change, especially if the hero is not likable at the beginning of the story. At the end of this road, the hero is always victorious. Such heroes are not necessarily confined to literature—they can also exist in real life, but are easier to identify in literature.
In general, heroes in literature and in real life are equally important, though in different ways. Some real life heroes, such as firemen, are renowned for rescuing people in distress, just as many heroes in literature do. These heroes affect our daily lives in a more direct way than literary ones do, and often in a physical way. We have much to learn from the fictional lives of literary heroes, particularly as children. When children are introduced to and immersed in fairy tales, they are taught to rejoice with the hero when he is victorious over the villain of the story. Because these stories are entertaining and as a result can stick with us our whole lives, the morals behind the stories stick with us too. Above all, stories with victorious heroes teach us that our own enemies can be defeated by someone who is brave enough to take a stand.
Hamilton’s Mythology captures a wide range of Greek myths that can reach adults as easily as children. While there may be cultural differences between our lives and those of such mythological characters, many of the villains defeated by heroes in these stories relate to our own personal demons. One well-known hero from Greek Mythology, Hercules, was a strong warrior who defeated many enemies, but went insane and killed his whole family as a result. He then spent the rest of his life trying to atone for his sins, as many people from our own age try to cover over their sins with good deeds. None of the heroes presented in Greek myths are perfect—each have their faults. These heroes complete the quests given them, but they cannot complete the ultimate quest of all mankind—to defeat sin and death. Jesus Christ fulfilled this ultimate quest of mankind by atoning for all sins on the cross and defeating death by rising from it.
Hercules never could atone for his sins no matter how hard he tried, let alone atone for anyone else’s. He also did not defeat death. Even though he became a god according to the myth, he could not defeat death for everyone else. Death still reigns after Hercules’ quests were completed. The same goes for any other hero aside from Jesus. While we can learn from them the value of bravery and noble deeds, we must also take from them the understanding that only one man could and has defeated man’s greatest enemies. If we can admire literary heroes with so much zeal, how much more should we worship and serve the one hero who not only taught us as literary heroes do, but also saved us personally? No debt we could pay him would ever be enough, but he paid the price all the same because he loves us.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
More Art!
It's not a Saturday, I know, but I figured that a post is so overdue that I wouldn't wait until a convenient Saturday rolled around. I also don't have a question or an essay for you today, but rather, I have some art to share with you. Enjoy!
This is one that I based off of a watercolor I saw on Pinterest. Instead of using watercolors, though, I opted for my new gray Faber-Castell pens.
This one is also based off of a Pinterest find. I've been testing out my Koi watercolors with paintings like this. Here I was primarily working on mixing colors and showing distance by fading out the colors of the flowers in the background.
Here I started to paint my new betta, Edmond, but I ended up tweaking the colors somewhat. Once more, this was me experimenting with my Koi watercolors.
This was a swan I saw in San Francisco recently. I made this with my gray Faber-Castell pens.
This came entirely from my head. I made it with my gray Faber-Castell pens.
Again, entirely from my own head, but based off of what Edmond looks like. I made this with my gray Faber-Castell pens.
This was the first watercolor painting I made with my Koi watercolors. I based this off of a tutorial for painting lupines that I found on Pinterest.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Question 7: Imagination
I apologize for not having posted in a while, but here's another essay from class. Enjoy!
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How does a healthy imagination aid our faith?
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Imagination has enabled famous writers and creators of all time to use their knowledge to make what they have become known for. So why is imagination so often downplayed as food only for children’s books, and inapplicable to daily life? As important as children’s books are in the development of a healthy mind, many adults lose their sense of imagination upon reaching what they call maturity, and cast their sights into the modern realm of business. Even those adults who do cling to imagination generally do so to escape from a monotonous or painful life. Both views are, in fact, wrong. Imagination is a God-given gift that, if exercised properly, brings us closer to God.
Imagination is the ability to see or conceive of what is not yet present to the senses. In light of this, imagination and reality are not mutually exclusive. Imagination does not ignore reality, but is actually based off of it. When man creates anything, he creates a sub-reality of God’s reality as described in the book of Genesis. A sub-reality must somehow, however radical the idea behind it may be, adhere to God’s creation while at the same time depend upon the human ability to grasp abstract ideas. Because of this, the creation of sub-realities draws a man closer to God and his act of creation. Secularists, on the other hand, have come to view imagination as an escape from reality and comfort for themselves in their sinful ways. This view is wrong because while it acknowledges the existence of imagination, it ignores the importance of rationalism, both of which God created to be used in wisdom.
Just as imagination should not be used as an escape from reality, it should also not be avoided for the sake of the world’s idea of maturity by depending upon rationalism. Maturation is actually the integration of imagination and rationalism. Realizing that the world we live in is important, while still holding onto imagination, allows us to understand God in a deeper way than rationalism alone allows us to. Thus, to truly mature, a man must reconcile these two ideas, not ignore one or the other. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This means that imagination allows us to know things that we cannot perceive. Thus, imagination enables us to have faith in God, who cannot be observed in the way rationalism demands we be able to.
Since we cannot observe God and his Church, we must have a healthy imagination to be able to grasp an idea of them. At the fall of man, a spiritual and physical gap was created between man and God which can now only be bridged by a faith in Christ. And to have faith, as we have seen, we need imagination. Thus, imagination is a tool necessary for salvation. Our imagination allows us to grow more like Christ by giving us the ability to create a world in which we can perceive God in a way our physical senses cannot. By creating such a world, we do not view our created world as more important than God’s creation, but rather build off of the necessary and vividly beautiful structure created by God for such an understanding of him. In addition, a healthy, well-developed imagination gives human beings, whether child or adult, the ability to wonder at God’s creation. This wonder has been expressed in a variety of Psalms, including Psalm 92:4, which says, “For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” Without the sense of wonder produced through imagination, this verse would be meaningless.
Imagination is not a tool which can be claimed only by the profession of writers. It is a tool necessary in all walks of life, in every age, in every place. Imagination gives man the ability to seek after God’s goodness and beauty in whichever profession he goes into, be it mathematics, science, or writing. It allows him to create worlds based on the realm of rationalism which open up wells of truth that cannot be glimpsed through our worldly senses alone. Therefore, contrary to Einstein’s claim, imagination is not more important than knowledge because both imagination and knowledge are equally important. For without knowledge, one cannot exercise a proper use of imagination, but without imagination, knowledge is useless.
~ ~ ~
How does a healthy imagination aid our faith?
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Imagination has enabled famous writers and creators of all time to use their knowledge to make what they have become known for. So why is imagination so often downplayed as food only for children’s books, and inapplicable to daily life? As important as children’s books are in the development of a healthy mind, many adults lose their sense of imagination upon reaching what they call maturity, and cast their sights into the modern realm of business. Even those adults who do cling to imagination generally do so to escape from a monotonous or painful life. Both views are, in fact, wrong. Imagination is a God-given gift that, if exercised properly, brings us closer to God.
Imagination is the ability to see or conceive of what is not yet present to the senses. In light of this, imagination and reality are not mutually exclusive. Imagination does not ignore reality, but is actually based off of it. When man creates anything, he creates a sub-reality of God’s reality as described in the book of Genesis. A sub-reality must somehow, however radical the idea behind it may be, adhere to God’s creation while at the same time depend upon the human ability to grasp abstract ideas. Because of this, the creation of sub-realities draws a man closer to God and his act of creation. Secularists, on the other hand, have come to view imagination as an escape from reality and comfort for themselves in their sinful ways. This view is wrong because while it acknowledges the existence of imagination, it ignores the importance of rationalism, both of which God created to be used in wisdom.
Just as imagination should not be used as an escape from reality, it should also not be avoided for the sake of the world’s idea of maturity by depending upon rationalism. Maturation is actually the integration of imagination and rationalism. Realizing that the world we live in is important, while still holding onto imagination, allows us to understand God in a deeper way than rationalism alone allows us to. Thus, to truly mature, a man must reconcile these two ideas, not ignore one or the other. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This means that imagination allows us to know things that we cannot perceive. Thus, imagination enables us to have faith in God, who cannot be observed in the way rationalism demands we be able to.
Since we cannot observe God and his Church, we must have a healthy imagination to be able to grasp an idea of them. At the fall of man, a spiritual and physical gap was created between man and God which can now only be bridged by a faith in Christ. And to have faith, as we have seen, we need imagination. Thus, imagination is a tool necessary for salvation. Our imagination allows us to grow more like Christ by giving us the ability to create a world in which we can perceive God in a way our physical senses cannot. By creating such a world, we do not view our created world as more important than God’s creation, but rather build off of the necessary and vividly beautiful structure created by God for such an understanding of him. In addition, a healthy, well-developed imagination gives human beings, whether child or adult, the ability to wonder at God’s creation. This wonder has been expressed in a variety of Psalms, including Psalm 92:4, which says, “For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” Without the sense of wonder produced through imagination, this verse would be meaningless.
Imagination is not a tool which can be claimed only by the profession of writers. It is a tool necessary in all walks of life, in every age, in every place. Imagination gives man the ability to seek after God’s goodness and beauty in whichever profession he goes into, be it mathematics, science, or writing. It allows him to create worlds based on the realm of rationalism which open up wells of truth that cannot be glimpsed through our worldly senses alone. Therefore, contrary to Einstein’s claim, imagination is not more important than knowledge because both imagination and knowledge are equally important. For without knowledge, one cannot exercise a proper use of imagination, but without imagination, knowledge is useless.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
A Change of Plans
I know I haven't written here in a long time, but I just wanted to let you know that I haven't given up on this blog. I still intend to post from time to time, though I may not do so every week as I first planned. When I do post, however, it will generally be on Saturdays.
Thank you to those who have kept up with me! I hope to post more in the future. :)
Thank you to those who have kept up with me! I hope to post more in the future. :)
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