Midterm Terms

1Introduction Unit:

1)      Heart- one's innermost character, feelings, or inclinations

2)      X and Arrows- The X represents God or the Mystery that mankind strives toward. The arrows going up represent religions or mankind’s attempts to reach the X. The arrow going along the bottom represents time. The arrow coming represents the Mystery coming down to us or Jesus.

3)      Desire- to long or hope for

4)      Reality- That which exists objectively, and independently of the mind, as opposed to the unreal, which is merely subjective or fanciful. Reality is that to which the mind conforms when it possesses the truth. 

5)      Religious Sense- The very essence of rationality that allows us to experience reality as it truly is.

6)      Ontology- A term introduced into philosophy by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) in 1826, to identify the science of ethics or moral duty, mainly as distinct from law or jurisprudence.

7)      Being-Whatever in any way is, whether it exists or is possible, whether in the mind, in the imagination, or in a statement. Philosophically being is the real, and corresponds to essence or thing. Its opposite is the unreal and finally that which implies an inner contradiction.

Anointing of the Sick:

8)      Job- The chief character in what many critics consider the most beautifully written book in the Bible. The author is unknown. From internal evidence it is speculated that he was an Israelite who wrote between 600 and 400 B.C. The Book of Job is a profound philosophic discussion of human suffering, with Job and several of his friends taking turns offering possible solutions to the problem of good and evil.

9)      Original Sin-Either the sin committed by Adam as the head of the human race, or the sin he passed onto his posterity with which every human being, with the certain exception of Christ and his Mother, is conceived and born. 

10)  Who administers the sacraments- priest

11)  Who can receive the sacrament- a sick, baptized person

12)  Four main effects of the sacrament- the uniting of the sick person to the passion of Christ, for his own good and that of the whole Church; the strengthening, peace, and courage to endure in a Christian manner the sufferings of illness or old age; the forgiveness of sins, if the sick person was not able to obtain it through the sacrament of penance; the restoration of health, if it is conducive to the salvation of his soul; the preparation for passing over to eternal life

13)  Transformation through the sacrament-The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has the power to transform the sick, filling them with newly found courage to join their sufferings with those of Christ in His Passion, strengthening their will to be one with the loving will of God. A spiritual transformation always takes place as an effect of this sacrament.

14)  Theodicy-Natural theology, or the study of God's existence and attributes as known by the light of natural reason and apart from supernatural revelation.

15)  Oil of the Sick-Olive oil, blessed by a bishop, is normally used for the anointing, but any vegetable oil may be substituted in case of emergency.

   Reconciliation:

16)  Penance- repentance of sins

17)  Confession-A written or oral statement acknowledging guilt, made by one who has been accused or charged with an offense

18)  Forgiveness-Pardon or remission of an offense. The Catholic Church believes that sins forgiven are actually removed from the soul (John 20) and not merely covered over by the merits of Christ. Only God can forgive sins, since he alone can restore sanctifying grace to a person who has sinned gravely and thereby lost the state of grace. God forgives sins to the truly repentant either immediately through an act of perfect contrition or mediately through a sacrament. The sacraments primarily directed to the forgiveness of sins are baptism and penance, and secondarily, under certain conditions, also the sacrament of anointing.

19)  Empathy- A function of the virtue of charity by which a person enters into another's feelings, needs, and sufferings.

20)  Examination of Conscience- Reflection in God's presence on one's state of soul, e.g., in preparation for the sacrament of penance.

21)  Contrition- The prayer of the penitent in the sacrament of penance, by which he expresses sorrow for the sins confessed before receiving absolution. In general, an act of repentance for having offended God.

22)  Sin- a moral evil

23)  Mortal Sin-An actual sin that destroys sanctifying grace and causes the supernatural death of the soul. Mortal sin is a turning away from God because of seriously inordinate adherence to creatures that causes grave injury to a person's rational nature and to the social order, and deprives the sinner of a right to heaven.

24)  Venial Sin-An offense against God which does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace. It is called venial (from venia, pardon) because the soul still has the vital principle that allows a cure from within, similar to the healing of a sick or diseased whose source of animation (the soul) is still present to restore the ailing bodily function to health.

25)  Concupiscence- Insubordination of man's desires to the dictates of reason, and the propensity of human nature to sin as a result of original sin.

26)  Fornication-Fornication is carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children. Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young. 

27)   Excommunication- An ecclesiastical censure by which one is more or less excluded from communion with the faithful. It is also called anathema, especially if it is inflicted with formal solemnities on persons notoriously obstinate to reconciliation.

28)  Heresy- Commonly refers to a doctrinal belief held in opposition to the recognized standards of an established system of thought. Theologically it means an opinion at variance with the authorized teachings of any church, notably the Christian, and especially when this promotes separation from the main body of faithful believers.

29)  Schism- Historic divisions in Christian unity. These divisions are differently appraised by different communions. 

30)  Who forgives sins?- God

31)  What is the role of the priest- The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.

32)  Three required acts of the Penitent- The sinner must be contrite of heart, confess with their lips, and make fruitful satisfaction

  Matrimony:

33)  Abortion- In Catholic morality, abortion is either direct (induced) or indirect. Direct abortion is any destruction of the product of human conception, whether before or after implantation in the womb. A direct abortion is one that is intended either as an end in itself or as a means to an end. As a willful attack on unborn human life, no matter what the motive, direct abortion is always a grave objective evil.

Indirect abortion is the foreseen but merely permitted evacuation of a fetus which cannot survive outside the womb. The evacuation is not the intended or directly willed result, but the side effect, of some legitimate procedure. As such it is morally allowable.

34)  Contraception- deliberate interference with marital intercourse in order to prevent conception.

35)  Sterilization- Depriving the body of its generative powers in order to prevent the conception or fetal development of undesired offspring, for the satisfaction of a person's wishes and/or the relief of an economic or social need. Its morality falls under the same category as contraception. It is forbidden by the natural law.

36)  Natural Family Planning- The controlling of human conception by restricting the marital act to the infertile periods of the wife.

37)  Fidelity- Constancy in allegiance to God or the things of God; steadfastness in fidelity to a person or cause, organization or enterprise.

38)  Divorce- Legal separation of husband and wife, or the release by civil authority from any one or more of the bonds of matrimony between them. 

39)  Polygamy- The status or institution of simultaneous marriage of more than one woman to one man, or of several women to several men. The two forms are polygyny and polyandry.

40)  Adultery- Sexual intercourse of a married person and another who is not the wife or husband.

41)  Intimacy-a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.

42)  Grace- Temporary supernatural intervention by God to enlighten the mind or strengthen the will to perform supernatural actions that lead to heaven. Actual grace is therefore a transient divine assistance to enable man to obtain, retain, or grow in supernatural grace and the life of God.

43)  Family-
a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not

44)  Creation- The production of material and spiritual things in their whole substance, done by God and of nothing.

  Holy Orders:

45)  Diocese- The territory over which a bishop exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 

46)  Vicar- A delegate to a titular see, having episcopal consecration, appointed by the Holy See to govern in territories where the ordinary hierarchy is not established. Vicars apostolic have the same powers as bishops and are generally conceded special privileges because of the extraordinary situation in which they exercise their ministry.

47)  Infallibility- Freedom from error in teaching the universal Church in matters of faith or morals.

48)  Presbyters- (in the early Christian church) an office bearer who exercised teaching, priestly, and administrativefunctions.; (in hierarchical churches) a priest.

49)  Seminary- A school established for the academic and spiritual training of candidates for the priesthood.

50)  Who can be ordained- Baptized men

51)  Three degrees of Holy Orders- 1. episcopate 2. presbyterate 3. diaconate.

  Baptism:

52)  Baptism- The sacrament in which, by water and the word of God, a person is cleansed of all sin and reborn and sanctified in Christ to everlasting life.

53)  Proper matter of Baptism- holy water

54)  Correct words/form- “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” with triple pour of water.

55)  Designated Minister- Bishop, Priest, or Deacon (in emergency anyone who intends to offer baptism)

56)  Candidates- Anyone who understands the community they are joining or will be taught later

57)  Catechumens- in the early Church, was the name applied to one who had not yet been initiated into the sacred mysteries, but was undergoing a course of preparation for that purpose.

58)  Signs of Baptism- water, paschal candle, white garmet, oil of catechumens, and schism chrism oil

59)   White Garment- symbol of how baptism is supposed to cleanse us of sin.

60)   Oils of Baptism- Oil of Catechumens and Schism chrism oil

61)  Effects of Baptism- washes away original sin and the punishment due, makes us children of God and temples of the Holy Spirit, welcomes us as members of the Church, and marks us forever as sharers in the common priesthood of all believers, and in Christ’s mission of justice and peace

  Confirmation:

62)  Definition of Confirmation- The sacrament in which, through the laying on of hands, anointing with chrism, and prayer, those already baptized are strengthened by the Holy Spirit in order that they may steadfastly profess the faith and faithfully live up to their profession.

63)  Proper Matter- Chrism

64)  Form- “Be Sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit” with oil on the forehead in the sign of the Cross.

65)  Designated Minister- Bishop

66)  Fruits of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

67)  Gifts of the Spirit- wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord

68)  Pentecost- Feast commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. It takes its name form the fact that it comes about fifty days after Easter.

69)  Conformation Name- A patron saint that the candidate wishes to follow

70)  Key elements- anointing with chrism, laying on of hands, blow on the check.

71)  Effects- increase of sanctifying grace, gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the strengthening of our faith

  Eucharist:

72)  Transcendence- Supassing excellence, which may be either relative or absolute. It is relative when the excellence surpasses some objects below it, as human nature transcends the irrational creation.

73)  Consecration- The words of institution of the Eucharist, pronounced at Mass, by which is accomplished the very sacrifice that Christ instituted at the Last Supper. The formula of consecration is uniform for all the approved canons of the Mass and reads, in literal translation: "Take and eat of this, all of you; for this is my body which will be given up for you . . . Take and drink of this, all of you; for this is the chalice of my blood, of the new and eternal testament, which will be shed for you and for many unto the remission of sins. Do this in commemoration of me." 

74)  Transubstantiation- The complete change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christ's body and blood by a validly ordained priest during the consecration at Mass, so that only the accidents of bread and wine remain. 

75)  Proper Matter- Wheat based Bread & pure grape wine

76)   Correct words/Form- The words of Institution: “This is my body . . . This is the chalice of my blood . . .”

77)   Designated Minister- Bishop or Priest

78)  Requirements for Reception- must be in state of grace and must fast for one hour prior.

Call to Holiness Essay

            In this world we care a lot about instant gratification and material things. We want to make the things we desire as easy to get as we can. Holiness doesn’t get counted out of that. We all want the quickest, easiest way to heaven and don’t want to do any work. However, the Church continues to tell us that going to heaven is impossible on our own and that we need divine help that we need to do a lot of work for. As a result, when the Church started to lose its way in modern society, we didn’t go after it.

            There are many things that we want in life but very few that we will chase after. We only chase after the things that we need like food and shelter. We live our lives for the goal of being rich enough to have food and good shelter. Another thing that we chase after is happiness. We search for it in every nook and cranny of reality but never quite get there. We should be chasing after God if happiness is our goal but the world always feel as if God has failed them in some way. As a result of this lack of faith, as the Church began to fall, we let it.

            We let it fall because the Church calls us to be holy and we as a society simply don’t want to do the work or go through that pain. Jesus calls us to be perfect as God is perfect and we see that as an impossible task. We don’t want to do it. We all think that that is impossible and being a good person should be enough to get into heaven. Saints are things of the past to us and part of a time when being holy was easier since they had less distractions. The Church is telling us that we need God’s grace and the Holy Spirit to fulfill our call to holiness and it’s going to take work. We don’t want to chase after something that seems that impossible and is known to require a lot of work. We have too many things that are easier to get that give us limited happiness.

            The quote by Giussani implies that every Christian needs to chase after the Church and really want God’s grace and love and the Church needs to show us that they can lead us to that goal. This means that we need to stop chasing after things that give limited happiness and really strive for the perfection that Jesus calls us to. This means that we can’t give in to our worldly desires and we must be charitable and virtuous people upholding God’s laws. We must love each other as God has lived us and follow each commandment with joy in our hearts. We must be able to speak Jesus’ name and not feel shame. We must not be scared to go against society but to stand up for our newfound happiness in the name of Jesus.

            Society at this time makes it hard for us to want to work for anything especially something not of this tangible world. We chase after things that are easy to get and make us temporarily happy because God seems like an impossible dream for people that are born holy and with God. We don’t want to go through the struggle of seeking God and staying with him. Being holy is hard and we always chase down the easier route.

            

"She Went by Gently"

1)                  This shows in the midwife’s treatment of the girl in how the midwife didn’t have to help her and many people thought that she shouldn’t. The pregnant girl did nothing for her and got pregnant outside of marriage. According to the midwife’s husband, the girl did deserve the help that she gave and the effort she went through to get to the girl. When the midwife gets there, the girl doesn’t even treat her nicely. The girl talks back and looks down on herself. The midwife not only helped her with the child but also was very kind and forgiving to the girl.

2)      When she says that she saved him, she means that she saved him from Hell. An unbaptized person is not a part of God’s family or Church and therefore cannot go to heaven. She baptizes the baby in its brief moment of life so that it could join God’s family before it completely died. She saved the child from death just as Jesus saved us. She did not save his life but she saved his soul and that was what mattered to her the most. She was happy with what she had done and did not feel sorrow for the baby.

3)      From the rest of the story we get the thought that this woman is a very nice, Christian person. The author tells about her going home as a way to show the reader just how devout this midwife is. She thinks about how God blesses the world with light and beauty with the new dawn. She talks about her husband which gives a further example of her deep love of others despite who they are. The author was trying to convey just how special, kind, and loving this one woman is and how that has allowed her to change the lives of the people around her.

Holy Ghost Gifts

1)                  The gift from the Holy Spirit that I feel is most at work in my life is Counsel. Throughout the day everybody faces many choices and you need counsel to make the right decision. If I didn’t make some right decisions I wouldn’t be as far in life as I am now. I need counsel everyday if I’m going to be a good person and Christian and live as I should. The second gift that I use the most is Understanding. When dealing with a lot of people on a daily basis you really need understanding. Understanding allows me to bring my knowledge of the scriptures my knowledge of others into my life. It affects how I deal with certain people or problems. The third gift that I use the most is Fear of the Lord. Everyone needs this gift throughout their life as it keeps them from continuingly committing sin. It keeps me and others from committing those small sins that there aren’t any laws against. All of these gifts work together in a way. You can use each one to handle a person or situation in the right way and live a good life. These gifts and the others have always been a part of my life and have kept me knowing where the right path is.

2)      The gift that I need most in life right now is Fortitude. There are many things going one in my life right now and I need strength to get through them. This time in life is a time of temptations and struggles and no one can get through them alone. Seghers says that fortitude is the power to be patient, brave, and gives us the determination to persevere. With all the things that life throws at me, I need all three now. Nothing is more important at this point than to have the will to keep going. Many might give up and sometimes it feels like you need the power of God himself to keep going and that’s why I need fortitude. I have always used the other gifts throughout my life and they have all had their times but this is the time when I need fortitude. Certain moments may appear where I need more understanding than usual but fortitude is the overall gift that I need these days. I will continue to use the others and will always need them so that I can be the person that I want to be but I need fortitude so that I can continue to use these other gifts within my life. 

"Are Sacraments Narrow?"

1)      Ludwig’s problem is that he believes that the sacraments are not necessary for God to bestow grace upon someone.

2)      When the Church is thinking about “sacramentality” it is not thinking that the sacraments deny God’s universal love and will the save everyone and does not think that unbaptized people are necessarily denied salvation.

3)      When the Church is thinking about “sacramentality” it is thinking about how salvation is a relationship with God and relationships require both people to participate and work with each other.

4)      God reveals and gives his grace through His creations. He works through them.

5)      The Christian doctrine, the incarnation, is the foundation for the Sacraments.

6)      Gobs of modern “spirituality” tell us that God would never bother Himself with the crudeness of matter since he doesn’t dwell in the physical world.

7)      The Christian repudiation is that God likes matter a lot since he declared it “good” when He created it, manifested Himself through it, and took on a physical body.

8)      No. God became man so that he could bodily rise from the dead and give us a second life as human beings and not disembodied beings. It brought us to the freedom of being children of God.

9)      This means that the sacraments impart grace as the physical extensions of Jesus just as Jesus’s actual hands heal when he was man.

10)   G.K. Chesterton said that the sacraments don’t limit God’s grace but only focuses it.

11)  Grace allows God to come down from heaven and touch us.  

Sacraments

A Divine Sense of Humor:

You can’t understand the sacraments without it. You have it if you can “see through” things or look beyond a thing’s basic meaning or appearance. Jesus brought this to us and the only thing he took seriously was the soul because it was the only thing he didn’t teach through parables. Jesus revealed that the universe was sacramental. A sacrament combines the visible and the invisible. Handshakes and kisses are a kind of sacrament. Men live in a world that is too serious with no divine sense of humor. Without it the world lacks beauty in its structures and there is no meaning behind anything. Courtesies, amenities, urbanities, and gentility are also gone. Life is a vertical dimension expressed in the soaring spire. Two errors can hinder our understanding of the natural world: taking out God or blending God in with His creations. Sin turns the poetry of the world to prose.

The Bible is a Sacramental:

It is a sacramental because it has a foreground and a background. The foreground is the natural and the background is the supernatural like God’s presence. One example of this relationship is when God used a brazen serpent to heal everyone that was bit by one. God used that as a symbol of trust or faith in Him. Jesus, like the serpent, “would be lifted up on the crotch of a tree, a Cross.” He would heal the poison of our sins and the poison of the serpent, Satan. The word “sacrament” in Greek means “mystery” and Jesus has been called “the mystery hidden from the ages.” He is both Man and God. Because of Jesus’ union with divinity he was able to our savior. Jesus was the sensible sign of God and the sacraments are the sensible signs of grace. Man works best when he can see the material as the revealer of the spiritual. It’s not the thing that matters but what it represents. Man both has a spiritual destiny and a physical body.

What the Sacraments Bring to Man:

The sacraments bring divine life or grace. Jesus came to bring the divine life back to man. This life is called grace because it is “gratis or a free gift of God.” Those who don’t go obtain the divine life ignore the beauty if it. Men live at three levels: the sensate, the intellectual, and the divine. The sensate are only interested in the material world and the pleasures in life. The intellectual are men that “brought to a peak all of the powers of human reason and human will.” The divine are illuminated by truths that you can prove, strengthened by something beyond the physical, and entranced with love that never fails. The Church shows Jesus’ divine life just as it was when he walked the earth Jesus had two types of contact with humanity: visible and invisible, touching and from a distance. The second foreshadowed how Christ now has contact with us from heaven through the sacraments.

Seven Conditions of Life:

The physical life requires seven conditions, five refer to the individual, and the other two as a member of society. You must be born, nourish yourself, mature, have his wounds healed, diseases must be driven out, must live under government and justice in human relationships, and must propagate the human species. There are also seven conditions for living a Christ-life. You must be baptized, participate in the Eucharist, grow spiritual maturity, heal the wounds of sin, participate in the Anointing of the Sick, participate in Holy Orders, and get married. Every sacrament has a visible sign. Three things are required: instituted by Jesus, be an outward sign, and bring grace.

The Power and the Efficacy of the Sacraments:

They derive this from the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus. Life is in blood and sin so blood needs to be shed to erase sin. Blood is also the best symbol of sacrifice because it is the life of a man. The blood of Jesus has infinite value since he is divine. Jesus’ blood sanctifies our mind, will, and conscience.

The Application to the Sacraments:

Calvary is like a reservoir of divine life or grace and releases the sacraments because they are in contact with Jesus. The blood of Christ has different results when applied at different times in life.

The divine sense of humor is seeing through all of the things that God is in like Jesus. 

"The River"

1987- An example of this from “The River” is how the preacher is saying that the river of Jesus’ blood will wash away your sins and cleanse you.

1988- This relates to the story because the river is representing the Holy Spirit taking Henry to a new life with God through death.

1989- This relates to the story because after Henry was baptized the preacher said that he was changed now and that he now “counted”.

1990- This relates to the story and how the river washes away the sins of those that seek forgiveness and healing.

1991- This relates to how the preacher was saying that you had to believe that the river would heal you and have faith that it would.

1992- This relates to how the preacher was calling it the river of Jesus’s blood and that all rivers come from it and go back to it. He was saying that only the river of Jesus’s blood could cleanse you of your sins and link you to the kingdom of heaven.

1993- This relates to the story in how the preacher asked Henry if he wanted to be baptized before he did it.

1994- This is shown through the way that even Henry knew that the baptism wasn’t something to joke about even though he has been treated things as a joke his whole life.

1995- This relates to the story because Henry wasn’t changed on the outside. He was changed within himself through Mrs. Connin and the baptism.

1996- An example of grace in the story is how God healed those people and cured them of their sins through the river.

1997- This relates to how Henry “counted” and go to heaven after his baptism.

1998- This relates to how the preacher says that they have to have faith in God’s power and the power of Jesus’s blood if they want to be healed. He also says that it’s not the river itself but its Jesus’s blood and sacrifice.

1999- This relates to how God forgives the people through the river and that the preacher says that all rivers of purification come from the original river of Jesus’s blood. All healing comes from God.

2000- This relates to how the preacher is dedicating his life to help people become purified which is a sign of grace.

2001- This relates to how the rivers leave the main one and go back to it.

2002- This relates to how the preacher says that the people have to choose freely whether they want God’s grace or to worship the devil.

2003- This relates to how the preacher was able to heal people through grace.

2004- This relates to how the preacher says it as his responsibility to bring people to God because he had grace.

2005- This relates to how the preacher said that you couldn’t experience God through seeing miracles but by having faith that they can happen.

The Man Without A Face

            Throughout his life, Chuck was misunderstood and teased for who was. Everyone saw him as an idiot and even his friends teased him. He is an outcast among the outcasts and troublemakers. Suddenly he met a man that an outcast too. The man believed in him and helped him while everyone else told him to give up.   When the man proved to want to help him, Chuck began to trust him and open up to the man. From there Chuck got to know the man behind the scars and lost his fear of him and that was where their friendship started to form.

             When Chuck asked McLeod to help him in the first place, I think that he sensed that he wouldn’t tease him like everyone else. I think that he saw that McLeod was just as alone as he was. They were fellow outcasts of the town and Chuck sensed that McLeod might be the one person that could understand him. It all started with him seeing the trophy in McLeod’s house. When Chuck saw that trophy, he saw an opportunity. He saw a way to get help from someone that knew what they were doing without everyone else knowing. He knew that McLeod didn’t talk to anyone so there would be no way for him to tell anyone just how stupid he was. He saw McLeod as someone to exploit to his own gain but things didn’t go his way at first and that made him angry. He, in a way, trusted McLeod to teach him enough for him to pass him exam but felt let down when he kept telling him to dig holes and write an essay.

            He started to trust McLeod when he started to teach him. There was still fear but he trusted him to help him with his goal. It was then that he saw that McLeod was helping him all along by using the holes to help him with math problems. He also used different, unique methods to teach him vocabulary and Latin. He taught him Latin and poetry through things he knew that Chuck would get into to or connect with. Chuck also started to trust McLeod more when he asked him to tell his mother that he was having lessons with him. After that he trusted McLeod not to hurt him. After he learned to trust him, he stopped fearing him.

            Over the course of their lessons, Chuck saw the man underneath the scars and lost all of his fear of him. It started when he saw McLeod bring in his dog while he was hurt from the porcupine. Chuck saw the sensitive side of him in that moment and a layer of his fear melted away. The second moment was when he saw the picture of McLeod with students of his in the picture he found in the poetry book. He had a glimpse into McLeod’s past and that helped him to lose his fear even more. The third thing was the acting out of Shakespeare plays. Chuck saw the fun, creative side of McLeod in that moment. Chuck lost his fear as Mr. McLeod became less of a mystery to him.

            The major moment where Chuck lost his fear of McLeod and trusted him more was when he asked him about his past and what he did for a living. It started when Chuck got up the courage to ask if McLeod wrote porn. From there he learned that McLeod painted for a living and that he got his scars from a car wreck where a kid died. From that, Chuck learns about the man behind the scars and loses his fear of him. Despite what he learned, he still trusts McLeod and doesn’t ask any further questions. They grew closer together the more that that knew about each other and it led to a relationship of trust and friendship.

            The relationship between Chuck and McLeod certainly was a weird one. It started out with them both mistrusting each other but also needing each other in their own ways. McLeod needed Chuck because he needed to see if he could still teach a good student. Chuck needed McLeod to teach him how to pass the exam. In the end they each began to trust each other and became close friends. The more they knew about each other, the closer they became. That is why it made sense that as time went on; Chuck lost all of his fear of McLeod. He now only sees the man behind the scars and has a connection with that man. 

What is knowledge?

            We say that we know something but it can still surprise us. We say that we know something but then someone can prove it wrong. Our knowledge fails us all the time. So how can we say that we have knowledge? How do you prove it?

It is very correct to say that you can’t fully know something or someone. So how can we say that we know things? We can say that we know things because we aren’t saying that we know all the possibilities and functions of those things. We are saying that we are familiar with that thing. That means that we have seen it, had an experience with it, or someone told us about it. We have familiarized ourselves with that thing enough to be able to reasonably predict its function or actions. The way that we familiarize ourselves with something is by testing it. You know that a chocolate chip cookie tastes good because you tested the taste when you ate it. Testing leads to an experience of that thing. This leads to knowledge.

When you know something you are familiar with it. You have some kind of interaction with it either it was direct or indirect. If you look at knowledge this way, we know a great deal of things. We can know things that we’ve heard about or read in a book and still call it knowledge because through that person or book, you experienced that thing. That is knowledge. 

"Cathedral" Questions

In this story the narrator is having his wife’s blind friend, Robert, over for a visit. His wife used to read to Robert for money and they have kept in touch over the years through audio tracks. . Robert is visiting the narrator’s wife because his wife recently died. The narrator is uncomfortable with Robert coming over because he doesn’t know what to do with a blind man. After Robert comes, it is very awkward for the narrator but over the course of the night, the narrator grows comfortable and starts to like and respect Robert. He turns on the TV and a show about cathedrals comes on. Robert asks the narrator to describe a cathedral to him but he can’t do it well so Robert suggests that he draw it. The narrator draws the cathedral while Robert follows his hand and then Robert tells him to close his eyes and continue drawing. After the cathedral is done, the narrator doesn’t want to open his eyes.

1.      The narrator was not looking forward to the visit because he has never been around a blind man and doesn’t know what to do with him. Everything he knows about blind people comes from television and he didn’t like what he saw. These feelings of unease shows that the narrator is naïve about the blind and very single-minded.

2.      It is possible to read that part as her being “seen” by Robert since he felt every inch of her face. Her writing poetry is related to her desire to be seen in the way that it shows how important it is to her. The narrator said that she wrote poetry after something important happened to her and that she tried to write a poem about Robert touching her face. This means that being “seen” by Robert and her desire to be seen was very important to her. Her attempt at suicide also has to do with her desire to be seen because she did it because she was lonely. Someone who wants to be seen doesn’t want to be alone.

3.      Receiving another’s friend means to make them as your friend as well. You do things with them that any other friend would do and make them comfortable and happy.

4.      I think that Robert saw Beulah as a person, emotionally and not physically. The way that Robert sees is deeper because anyone can look at a face but Robert knew Beulah well enough to know what she looked like on the inside and knew that she was beautiful.

5.      The narrator overs the dope because he feels that it would make him more comfortable and relaxed and Robert takes it because he hasn’t had it before. This reveals that they want to fit in together and not be so awkward around each other.

6.      The cathedral reveals that the culture thought that God was a great king that deserved a huge, fancy house to dwell in because if they didn’t believe that, they wouldn’t have spent all that money and labor into building cathedrals.

7.      The narrator has a hard time describing a cathedral because he only saw the physical aspect of it. When describing something, you need more than just a look sometimes. You need to describe what it feels like and how it makes you feel. The narrator can’t do this because he looks at everything on the surface and never looks deeper than that. What he sees with his eyes closed was freedom from material things and the world around him because he no longer felt as if he was inside something and was in complete openness.   

Extra Credit: Moment of Freedom

            One moment when I felt free was when I was on a roller coaster. The ride had no floor so your feet dangled throughout the whole thing. I personally am not very fond of roller coasters but I went on this one twice. When I closed my eyes, it felt as if I was flying. I felt free from life, the ground, and the world. I felt as if nothing had to affect me anymore. I was truly happy on that ride.

Wonder

Toy Mouse:

1.)    Wonder in my experience is when you try to find out all of the aspects of something. You wonder about its past, its future, its life, and its purpose. If I was six years old, I probably would have come up with a whole secret world for the toy and acted it out either in reality or in my mind. I would have done this because the actually reality of the toy is a lot more dull than the one I could come up with. The toy’s real reality would not have entertained me.

2.)    I think that we are less capable of wonder and imagination as we get older because we know more about the world. A lot of our questions get answered and so we lose that wonder of our surroundings. For example, kids wonder about the stars but adults don’t because they know that they are just swirling balls of gas in space.

3.)    I think that this means that concepts are ideas that we believe are true because we came up with them. As a result, we worship them because we think that they are true knowledge though they could be wrong. Wonder is the greatest knowledge because it supports the fact that we can’t know everything about everything which is the highest knowledge. I find this true in my experience because there are many things in life that people thought were true but turned out to be false. For example, people used to be absolutely certain that the world was flat. It was a concept but turned out to be wrong. 

Kenyon Address Essay

            In his speech, David Foster Wallace is saying that most humans make their decisions automatically based on themselves. Everything we do is on our “default setting” and because of that we become dead and like robots. In this speech he also states a solution to this problem with society. He says that we all need to look at things without simply thinking about ourselves. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of those around us and consider their lives. If we do that, then we might stop getting so angry at the world when it doesn’t do what we want. What was most important is that he said that it was our choice to accept his method or to keep looking at the world through ourselves. I completely agree with this idea because if we can consciously decide how to act around people then and how to view them, then we should be able to change how we view the world.

            I find this as a very credible idea because even though it would be extremely hard, it is possible to look at the world without putting yourself in the center. Many times when you get upset with someone, someone will tell you to put yourself in that person’s shoes so that you can understand where they are coming from. It’s basically like that but on a broader scale. Not only do I think that you could do it, I think that it could work. Your mind opens up to new possibilities when you put yourself in someone else’s shoes and that’s a lot better than getting mad at the world.

            I will admit that I never have even thought to look at the world this way. I have always been on my “default setting” and looked at the world as if it revolved around me. It really is the easiest thing to do since we don’t actually think about doing it. However, I will try this method of looking at the world and see if I can pull it off. It will be a lot of work since my thoughts usually come first before others and I like my thoughts. I’ll try this method because I like the thought that maybe I’m the only person in the world that’s feeling these negative feelings and act on them. The students could have had a negative or a positive reaction to his idea.

            I think that there are two possible reasons why the students clapped when Wallace was basically insulting them. The first possible reason was that they were in denial about what he was saying. They heard what he said but didn’t fully process it as towards them as an insult. The other possible reason is that they acknowledge what he is saying as true but don’t actually feel insulted by it. If everyone does it, then there’s not really a need to be upset. The human race has faults and we shouldn’t get upset when people point them out. This is indicative of the fact that some of the audience is already caught up in the world that he is talking about and that some might still look at the world and see things that are wrong.

            The way that you reacted to what was said by Wallace really depends on how much you think about the world. It’s a great idea to look at the world without seeing yourself as the center. Even if you don’t think that it would work, it could still be a good exercise for the mind. It is our natural instinct to look at the world with us as the center. I see it as a kind of challenge to stop thinking that way all the time. I think that this is a credible idea and I will be trying it from now on. 

Caligula

1)      Camus demonstrates Caligula’s heart by his desire for the moon. The moon stands for complete happiness in this world which is impossible to get. His heart will never have complete happiness just how Caligula will never possess the moon. This implies that Caligula realizes that his desire is unlimited but has decided to try anyway.

2)      The politicians view Caligula as a boy that can’t get over things and takes things too serious. You can get this from how the first patrician says “it’s really going too far, setting all Rome in a turmoil because the girl has died.” I do not agree with their view because I think that Caligula sees the world much more clearly than they do and has learned to question things instead of leaving them the way they are. He has decided to strive for happiness when all they can do is simply ignore their grief like the way they forget that their loved ones have died. 

Factors of a Bed

Factors of a bed:

Soft

You can lay on it

You can sit on it

You can sit or stack things on it

You can jump on it

You can put covers over it

You can relax on it

You can do work on it

You can eat on it

You can do acrobats on it

You can give birth on it

You can sleep on it

Has springs and bedding

You can carry it

You can travel with it

You can have intercourse on it

What makes me happy

            What makes me happy is when I fulfill my desires and when the things around me fulfill the desires I have for them. I have unlimited desires so there are possibly infinitely many things that will make me happy. There are also many aspects of things that make me happy. They could be objects, people, ideas, dreams, or animals. Concepts like knowledge could make me happy or things that I find beautiful to look at. In this essay I will give the top things that make me happy or would make be happy if I fulfilled them.

            The top thing that makes be happy is when I feel like I have accomplished something. This makes me happy because a lot of the time I feel like I’m wasting my life and accomplishing something abates that for a little while. Another thing that makes me happy is reading fiction books that I choose. They make me happy because I like to lose myself in their pages and made-up worlds and amazing lives. The third thing that makes me happy is keeping my cat happy. This makes me happy because it is an accomplishment and a very important one to me. One thing that will make me happy in the future is becoming a vet and saving lives. This will make me extremely happy because saving lives, in my opinion, is a great way to make a difference in this world. A fourth thing that makes me happy is looking at beautiful things. Things I qualify as beautiful are sunsets, starry night skies, cats with pretty coats, and many other things. There really isn’t a reason for this besides the fact that I just like looking at them. Getting what I want makes me happy because I’m getting what I want. Learning about animals makes me happy because I find animals fascinating and want to know everything I can about them. Eating, sleeping, dreaming, and living make me happy because they fulfill certain desires I have within myself. Certain people make me happy but not many. My family only makes me happy some of the time and some friends make me happy whenever they are around and some don’t. Animals make me happy if they’re alive because if I’m seeing them, I’m probably learning about or helping them. A lot of small things also make me happy but that would take forever to write.

            All together a lot of things make me happy. Certain objects, people, thoughts, and sights have the high possibility of making my happy. Ideas, dreams, or just about anything that can be defined as a noun have the possibility make me happy. I most likely do have an infinite amount of things that make me happy because my desires are infinite and whatever fulfills those desires will make me happy. My happiness consists of whatever fulfills my desires.

Who I am

           In class we talked about how people define themselves by what they do and not who they are. In my opinion, the two are very closely related. We define ourselves by what we do because, in a way, they reflect on who we are and they are a lot easier to say. What you do isn’t completely what defines you but it is a part. Who you are controls what you do and so I define myself with both things.

            I am a human being with basic desires. My desires include a lot of things which come together to define me as a person. I play the violin and like to read fiction. I try to do my best in everything that I do. The thing that is most valuable to me in life is my sense of self. Being able to be my own person is important to me. My religious background is Catholic and I do personally believe in God and Jesus. It should be more important to me than it is now but it is still important to me in some degree because it defines how I should act and treat others in a good way. My cultural background is so low on importance to me that I’m not even sure what it is because I haven’t really thought about it much. What I hope for in life is to make a difference and that is my biggest goal.

            All of the things that I said in the last paragraph define me because they are impact me in some way. Who we are and what we do both impact us in a way and may change us over time. Who you are controls what you do and what you do impacts your life. My religion, my name, playing the violin, being a Catholic, and my culture all define me as a human being. What I hope for and my desires also define who I might become.