"Be grateful to God for testing you, as He did with all our ancestors." - Judith 8
"There is nothing I hate more than a man who is not serious about meals." - The Importance of Being Earnest
"I will die for you if you promise to love me in return." - Ancrene Riwle
If I haven't said it before, I'm an English/Education major. Which means a few things: I love to diagram sentences for fun, I love GRAMMAR, I love Poetry Analysis and I LOVE ALL TYPES OF LITERATURE! However, I am also a Theology minor. Which means a few things: I love Jesus, I love apologetics, I love Scripture and I LOVE THE LITERATURE IN THE CHURCH (e.g. The Bible, The CCC, the Book of Canon Law, the encyclicals...). Put all of my studies together and you get one giant book nerd who happens to relate everything back to Catholicism in some way; or my discernment.
So here's the deal: Last week was rough. If you read my last blog post, you know. And I'll be honest that really until this morning at morning prayer (which I literally had to drag myself out of bed for, mind you), I was still mulling over my hardships of last week. Then, we had a reading from Judith in our morning prayer book. The very first line? The first quotation I gave you. Yep, imagine who starting laughing right away. Me. Hearing those words really gave me the extra umph I needed today and now, because of it, I feel I can write!
In the past week in classes, we have covered many, many, many different types of literature. Granted, that's expected because all but two of my six classes are literature courses. YAYAYAY! Anyway, the past week's assignments were as follows: READ The Importance of Being Earnest, Ancrene Riwl, and The Chocolate War. If you've read any of those, you'll feed right in. If not, hold on for the ride of your life. The first is a play written in the Victorian Era, (1895), by Oscar Wilde. If you know me, you've come to realize that I simply adore sarcastic and satirical writing. Earnest fills that right away by using a play on words. It was a joy and a hoot to read. But now HOW on earth does this relate to my life now? In the play, food plays a huge part. Read above, again, the second quotation. I agreed right away when that line was spoken.
I've always mentioned that my favorite way to discern is over a good meal. I really believe that in preparing, eating and cleaning up after a good meal, one's guard truly comes down and people become more vulnerable and honest than in any other situation aside from sleep deprivation. You could blame my love for food on being Italian or being a Naz Acad Grad, but really it's a necessity of life and we all must depend on it. It's a normal human function, and great conversation comes out over a good meal. Therefore I totally concur that every one must take their meals seriously!!
The third quotation I give you is from Ancrene Riwl which is actually a rule book, based on the Beneditine Rule, for Anchoresses (aka people like Julian of Norwich who practiced solitary, contemplative life). We read it in my English Literature to 1500's class as part of "Old English Literature" You might be thinking, "What is so great about a RULE BOOK?" Well, within the book there is a parable of the Christ-Knight figure. In the story, there is a young maiden after whom the Knight is pining. He attempts, without end, to gain her interest and love but she repeatedly refuses his love. Taking drastic measures the knight tells her He would die for her if she promised to love him. She agrees and he dies. Sound familiar? HELLO Crucifixion story!!! It was the single most romantic parable of Christ I had ever read. Granted, I've written some short stories about Christ in a modern light, as the great romancer, but truth is most people don't see Him that way. I do, partly because WHAT GIRL DOESN'T WANT A PRINCE WHO WOULD DIE FOR HER? The ultimate sacrifice, people, the fullest example of SELFLESS LOVE! Yeah, Jesus is pretty romantic. So, you can see how I easily fell in love with the story. It's sooooooooo good!
Finally, The Chocolate War, for my Young Adult literature. Maybe you have read it? Maybe you liked it? Maybe you hated it? To each her own. So real quick, let's see. It's about a candy fundraiser in a private, all boy, catholic academy that is run by brothers, and everything goes haywire. It vaguely reminded me of the Magazine drive at my high school, the private, all girl, catholic academy run by the sisters. Like oh my gosh, did it sound familiar. However, we never got as nasty as the characters do in the book. But they're boys. The ironic thing was, I actually liked it. Even though I completely disagreed with every the book offered morally. And there wasn't a happy ending. I guess that's life. Regardless, it was a good book. Not something I would give my students to read, but still a good book.
And so, there's my English lessons of the day put into a nutshell for you!! If you haven't read the books, read them. Let me know what you think. And then, I challenge you to find God or Jesus or Mary or some form of Catholicism in any book you read. Using Spiritual Reading books is cheating. Find a regular novel, one that wouldn't be associated with Religion and find God in it. I can promise you, He's there. And if reading isn't your thing. Try it with music. Yes, I've found God in Linkin Park and Eminem. Shocking, but true. Enjoy the challenge!
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