Skip to main content

Turning the Page

I've been taught that stories work in predictable patterns. You have your exposition, where the characters and setting are introduced; the rising action, in which suspense begins to "rise" as the central conflict develops; the climax, often the moment of greatest emotional intensity and in which the outcome of the conflict is decided; and the resolution, in which all remaining subplot conflicts are resolved.

There is some climax looming, expressed in an undercurrent of hopefulness at prospective change.

Change. It's a word both frightens and encourages me. It's a word that, to me, means losing the financial and social stability of a job in which I've worked for nearly five and a half years and taking a position that pays less and which promises only hope.

Hope. It's something I felt very strongly after the trip to Haiti, but life has somewhat eroded that sense of awe I felt. I knew that would happen, but I feel it will return as a second Haiti trip looms and as a new team works together in community.

Community. I haven't seen much of it lately, but as I surface from the depths of this class, it's something I hope to encourage again soon in myself, to fulfill in the context of the church the natural human desire to love and be loved.

Love. It's something I don't quite understand, but as I learn ever more about what has gripped me and kept me simultaneously desiring closeness and distance, I see why the friends I have are-- on the whole-- the ones I trusted before I found myself so emotionally suspended.

Suspense. If my story plays out in its current rising action, then the undercurrent I mentioned will burst forth into a visible conflict that must be decided.

Decision. No, I'm not good at it, but I hope to make one soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...
2 comments
Read more

Heroes

Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to ...
2 comments
Read more

Haiti 2012

In case anyone would like to help this trip, or would like to know what we will be doing, here is my support letter for our Haiti trip in June. February 11, 2012 Dear Friends, Family, and Fellow Believers: Last year, a group of eleven people traveled to an orphanage in southern Haiti called the Hands and Feet Project. During the week we were there, we witnessed poverty, disease, and overcrowding. We heard stories of abandoned children, natural disaster, and the uncertainties and isolation of missions work. We felt tangibly the confusion of a country wracked by hopelessness and overwhelming difficulty. In the midst of it all, however, we experienced something more. We witnessed the hope of future orphanages and clean water, heard stories of unity and compassion for children left behind, and felt tangibly the love of God for the people of Haiti through a group of unified people whose goal is to serve him. It was these experiences of hopefulness that left many of us change...
Post a Comment
Read more