Joey Voboril "On Numinous"

I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying this class. I really enjoy when we get to look at the pictures Dr. Redick has taken from the various places his research has taken him. I would also have to say, however, that our most recent class has been one of my absolute favorite. The talk we had about the numen - the power that is associated with God, and the numinous power. This, I feel is one of those things that I have always known existed but never actually knew what it was called or how to describe it. So given that fact this was a particularly special class for me. I was particularly moved by the video Dr. Redick showed us about the guy who tried to share that experience wit the girl on the couch by showing her the bag in the wind video. The amount of passion and love in his eyes is pretty hard to fake because it is such a strong and real emotion. I was able to resonate very well with him because I too have had similar experiences but have never quite been able to put any words to what I've experienced. After learning about that it leaves me with a certain eagerness to learn more, THIS I feel is what real education is all about.

Kyle Tobin (Reflection on Blue Grass)

On the find day of February 10 2011 around 4:30 p.m., I listened to a blue grass band by the name of Carolina Chocolate Drops. As I listened to the song a began to draw mountains next to a river and a sun setting behind the mountains with birds flying above. I drew this interesting piece of art work in my notes because it was the only way I could relate what the song was saying to my notes. Furthermore, I found out that visions and dreams is finding out what you are suppose to do with yourself. All in all, the blue grass music brought the energy to class that day.

-Peace in the middle east

Joey Voboril "Reflections on blue grass"

We listened to the blue grass music a couple of weeks ago but I figure it would make for a good blog topic. I really like listening to these songs that Dr. Redick plays for us. First of all they are just very enjoyable to listen to. And they are also very easy to relate to. Through these songs with the ability of the artists to sing with heart and emotion it enables the listener to be able to be able to realistically feel what the artist is feeling. That is something I value highly in the blue grass songs we listened to.

There was a line that mentioned how the stream that was her place when she was younger, sounds and such would ease her but no longer does. I feel like anyone can appreciate a place they grew up in. The places may differ just like the individual characteristics in each may differ but for whoever they are unique to they hold a special meaning. Certain things may soothe you whereas the same thing may not soothe someone else and it all had to do with the environment you grew up in. It's disheartening to see someone who isn't moved and soothed by these special places anymore. Combined with the semi- sad music that is being played it could reach even the coldest of hearts.

I like how we explored her verses about how she knows each tool by feel and by name. And also that her interaction with the tools was the anchor of her memory. It was a very deep and analytical way to look at the things around us we take for granted everyday. She was looking at them with much more meaning because she wasn't going to be able to have them much longer. This also was a very unique way to incorporate the feelings the person might be feeling.

She Kept asking, "Who will fill my empty place?" She makes references to how neither her nor the place will ever be the same after she parts. They both became a part of each other. This is a very deep and heartfelt way of looking at her situation. It is obvious she is going to be losing much more than a place to live, she'll be losing her home or rather a part of her.

A "Religious" Experience

2/3/11


I keep thinking about the story that Dr Redick told us in class about the guy who said that being out in the wilderness is not a “religious” experience, but rather it’s a party. Obviously, that guy had a very narrow view of religion and what constitutes a “religious experience.” In my Western Religion’s class, Dr. Schweig spent an entire class going over what “religion” is. It really is an odd word because it lacks denotative force. If we try to rigidly define it, we cut out a number of things that could mean something sacred or religious to someone, but at the same time, if we define it too loosely, like if “everything is religion” then it looses all meaning and importance. He said that we define it by our experiences.

He made his own definition: “Religion is the human striving for what is understood as the Ultimate truth.” Let’s break that down:

1. Religion (latin – religare) “to connect again.” We’ve been separated from the holy, we are trying to reconnect with them.
2. Human vs. Animal (culture vs. instinct) We as humans are intrinsically religious, we just have to choose whether or not to embrace or participate in that.
3. Striving – practices/rituals/pilgrimages
4. Understood – the various ways to know and experience what is “Ultimate”
5. The Ultimate Truth – a single vision of ultimacy for each relgion; a vision of the totality of being; the othermost, innermost, the All, everywhere.

I think that is a good balance of structure and open interpretation. I’m glad that Dr Redick’s students sat down with the man and explained to him that a “party” can be a “religious” experience if he so chooses. I hope he found a higher meaning in what he does on his journey through the wilderness.

Lost in the Wilderness

My favorite musical is called Children of Eden by Stephen Schwartz, which is loosely based on the book of Genesis. In the show, after Adam and Eve sinned and are banished from the Garden of Eden, they move into “The Wasteland” and try and raise their family. They have two songs, Cain and Abel. Abel does his best to serve the Father with a humble and giving heart, despite their less-than-Eden circumstances. Cain, on the other hand, is fed up with the fact that their parents screwed up perfection for them. Now he feels like he has to go “beyond” to try and find that once-lost perfection. He wants to find adventure and not just sit contently in this “Wasteland.” The boys sing a powerful song (my favorite song in the show) called “Lost in the Wilderness” in which Cain expresses his frustration and resentment toward God, his parents, and his brother.

ABEL

Here we are your grateful children
Please accept our sacrifice
May you hear us and forgive us
Bring us back to paradise

CAIN [over ABEL]

All these years of this cruel joke
The best harvest going up in smoke
Praying for a future from these silent stony shelves
How much more of this must we take
This is the day we will make a future for ourselves

ABEL

But, Cain, if it's God's will...

CAIN

Is it God's will or have we all been conned?
Brother, we will never know
We will never grow
If we never go
Beyond

I never made this world, I didn't even lose it
And I know no one said fair
But they had a garden once
They had the chance to choose
They gave it away including my share

And now we're lost in wilderness
Lost, crying in the wilderness
And if anyone's watching it seems they couldn't care less
We're lost wilderness

[To ABEL]
You follow all the rules
You swallow the stories
And every night you wish on a star
Dreaming your day will come, trusting in allegories
And every morning boy look where you are

Lost in the Wilderness
Lost, lonely, dying in the wilderness
With no chance of living boy, until you confess
You're lost in the wilderness

Did you ever watched the eagle fly to the sun
And wondered how he got to be so free
If you ever, have you know, your journey's begun
Hey, what you got to lose, boy when already we are
Lost in the wilderness

And where we are headed boy, I couldn't guess but
Off we go without a warning
Running as we hit the ground
Where our future lies before us
Where our hearts are outward bound
Till one bright and distant morning
We may stop and look around
And there in the wilderness
Finally we'll be found!

Here's a link to someone's performance of this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rAAOPJAAi8

Pikes Peak, CO Springs

1/31/11

Over winter break, my parents moved to Colorado Springs. I drove from Virginia to Colorado with my dad. When we got there, we did a lot of touristy things. I had never seen mountains like these. They were massive and seemed to enclose me in from every side, not like a trap, but rather like a strong fortress. Everywhere I looked there was another mountain being painted with light by the sun and each day they looked a little different. The most striking view I took in on my trip was from the top of Pikes Peak. My parents and I took the Cog Railway to the snowy top, the highest point in CO Springs. From the top of this mountain, Katherine Lee Bates penned “America the Beautiful” in 1895. The view indeed was beautiful, majestic, and I was in awe of the expansive land that I was taking in. I literally could see all the way to Kansas, over 100 miles away. I experienced how big God is when I was up on Pikes Peak. God, who created all that I could see for miles and miles, created even more than this. And he created me. It was a humbling experience that I’ll never forget.

Ron Tecson Post# 1 "Siddharta" 2/04

I read the novel Siddharta by Herman Hesse. Siddharta Gautama is a young man who left his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, Siddharta moves on again.He decided to run away from the crowded and noisy city and heads to the wilderness. Siddharta will later become Buddha or the Enlightened One. One day, Siddharta was admiring the magnificent beauty of the river in the wilderness,"He saw bright pearls rise from depths, bubbles swimming on the mirror, sky blue reflected in them. The river looked at him with a thousand eyes-.....In his heart he heard the newly awakened voice speak and said to him:"Love this river, stay by it, learn from it."" This phrase started the journey of Siddharta to become the Enlightened one. Siddharta achieved his enlightenment not while he was living in the city but in the wilderness where he found peace and heard the sound from the river that changed his life forever. This shows how the interaction between man and nature, awakens the spiritual senses of man. We can not physically see the eyes of the river or hear the voices of the trees, and yet in our hearts we know that they all exist. We must look and listen not with our eyes and ears but by with our hearts, we will be able to interact intimately with nature. Hopefully in doing so, we will be enlightened with the true meaning of life, just like the experience of Buddha.