Reading Notes: Infancy Gospel Part B

This second half of the Infancy Gospel has been extremely interesting to read. None of these stories I have heard before when studying the Bible in Confirmation. It is interesting to hear all these stories of Jesus performing miracles for people even when he was merely a child. It exaggerates the extent of his divine power and love that at the age most children learn to crawl or walk, he was performing miracles and changing lives. How strange it must have been to be Mary and have to low life and sickly people of the world coming to her and her son asking for his healing touch and grace.

I love how in majority of the first few stories is about how women with leprosy would bath baby Jesus in scented water and then would pour his bath water over themselves. After they did this, they were cured of their leprosy and would sing his praises. It makes me think of all the Christian hymns and songs that talk about being washed clean by Jesus. Or how in baptism we are washed clean from our sins by the water of Christ. It was a subtle foreshadowing I think of rituals that would become custom in the Christina faith. 

My favorite story out of this section is the "Two Robbers". It is so amazing to hear the first encounter of Jesus and the two slaves who would be accompanying him up on the hill of Golgatha. Even stranger is hearing Jesus tell his mother that the day of his crucifixion will come and the very men who would have robbed him will be on either side of him while he dies. I especially appreciate that Titus's good character shows through so early on and that the Lord recognizes it and promises to reward him with life forever together in paradise.   

The quote at the end of the story "The Rival Women" has to be one of my favorite Bible versus in a while. "They digged a well, and made it deep, but fell themselves into the pit which they prepared."After reading this quote I went and found the full verse from the King James version. To me, this quote speaks the idea that you reap what you sow. If you do evil towards other than you will reap the consequences that you tried to inflict upon others. 

Jesus and the robbers

Bibliography:
Infancy Gospel as told by Luke and Mathew

Feedback Thoughts

For my articles about getting feedback I read "5 Tips for Taking Feedback Like a Champ" and "Overcoming the Fear of Feedback". I liked the tips for taking feedback because it gives a new perspective on looking at feedback and not over analyzing it. Often times, we take the feedback given way to personal and criticize ourselves instead of looking at it as a way to improve our work and habits. The tips on overcoming fear of feedback talks more about having a positive view of yourself prior to receiving the feedback. I also enjoyed that is discussed the biological aspects of receiving feedback. Realizing the half the reason we react negatively to feedback is because of biology makes me feel a little less crazy for feeling the way I do. Also, understanding why we react that way can help us counter attack those feelings proactively and prevent them from sneaking into our minds. 

Einstein's advice on effort

For articles on giving feedback I read "Presence, Not Praise: How To Cultivate a Healthy Relation with Achievement" and "Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset". After reading Presence, Not Praise I really enjoyed the idea of praising effort and not success. If you praise effort, you will continue to strive for the best and desire to improve yourself. On the opposite side of that, if children are only praised when they succeed, their failures will be viewed much more harshly as will the criticism that they receive. Once I read be a mirror I began to really appreciate some of the impactful teachers I've had in my life. They made me feel like I could figure out any problem no matter how difficult because they praised me for my hard work and encouraged my critical thinking. This type of feedback is what I want to give to my coworkers and employees whenever I enter the professional world. Being a good leader is knowing how to give constructive feedback and being able to foster independence and self confidence in your team. You can help them strive in all aspects of their lives if you can give them constructive feedback that will improve them without demeaning them. 

Story telling: Odysseus Live From Hades!

The host, Odysseus

*Intro music begins softly slowly growing louder*

Live from the House of Hades, its OOOOOOOOOOOODYSSEUS!

*Odysseus walk out to a standing ovation from the audience*

Odysseus: Oh stop it! Stop it! I can't handle it! Thank you all for being here this afternoon and welcome to the show. Today we will have the wonderful opportunity to speak with some brave souls, FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!

Audience: OOOOOOOO

Odysseus: Our first guest will be the beautiful, amazing and most amazing mother ever, Anticleia!

*Audience applause enthusiastically*

*Out walks Anticleia*

Anticleia: *sitting down across from Odysseus* Thank you! Thank you for such the kind welcome.

Odysseus: Welcome to the show Anticleia! We are so glad to have you hear today. How are you feeling?

Anticleia: I'm dead tired to be quite honest.

*Audience bursts into laughter*

Odysseus: Oh Anticleia! Always with the puns. So please share with us, what is the after life like? We want to hear it all! The good, the bad, the ugly!

Anticleia: Honestly it is extremely lonely. I missed you so much Odysseus while you were away on your long journey that it drove my soul from my body. Although my heart is cold and still, I feel warmer and more alive now being near you than I have since you departure.

Odysseus: Well mother the feeling is mutual, and I'm sure our audience is just as happy to have you here as I am. Isn't that right folks?!

*Audience burst into applause and cheers*

Odysseus: So lets get down to the nitty gritty. What has been the most horrifying thing about the underworld?

Anticleia: Wow, it's so hard to narrow it down to one specific thing! The thought of never escaping is awful. Knowing that you will never be able to hold your loved ones against haunts my every moment.  But by far the worst thing.....Spirits have awful breath!

*Audience laughs uncontrollably*

Odysseus: *chuckling* You don't say? That of all things is what makes life as eternally undead unbearable?

Anticleia: You have no idea. For some reason every one's breath smells of rotting teeth. You can't make this stuff up.

Odysseus: Well I guess breath mints and mouth wash are not common items in the House of Hades. I can't wait to hear more of what it's like on the inside loop of the spirits of the underworld!

Anticleia: Oh trust me, I have more stories than you have years.

Odysseus: Well we will get to as many of them as we can, right after this commercial break!

Odysseus and his audience

Author's Note:

The original basis for this story was from Homer's Odyssey specifically the story of The Spirit of Anticleia. This is when Odysseus is in the House of Hades and sees his deceased mother. They talk for sometime about how things are back home in Ithaca and how she came to dwell in the underworld. It is a very somber and saddening story about a mother and son separated. I decided to take the complete opposite approach to it and make it a humorous and light hearted encounter. To make this possible, I placed it in the middle of a day time talk show since those are usually fun and casual in subject matter.

Bibliography:

Homer's Odyssey: The Spirit of Anticleia as translated to English by Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Homers Odyssey Part B

This entire second part would be a great basis for a story book! I could select 3-4 ghosts and retell the stories they share with Odysseus while he is in the underworld. All of the ghosts are so different and unique. It would be interesting to go through and tell their stories in a different, modern format. I especially like the story of Odysseus's mother Anticleia. It is so somber and it gets the reader emotionally involved. For once, we are seeing a softer side of Odysseus where he is not being arrogant or careless. He is crying out for his mother, wanting to embrace her but is unable to because she is deceased and remains only in the form of a spirit now. It would be an emotional story to re-tell.

On the opposite end of that, I loved the story of Achilles. It is the exact opposite of all the other stories because it starts with Achilles lamenting over his passing but ends with him prideful in the way his son has conducted himself and become a hero back home. Instead of being a story of sorrow and mourning, Odysseus tells Achilles of all the great an honorable warrior moments Eurypylus exhibited. It's an interesting contrasting between his story and the more serious and depressing stories told to Odysseus by the spirits.

The warrior Achilles in battle

The story of Scylla and Charybdis through me for a loop at the end. While I knew that Odysseus was the only one of his entire crew to survive their treacherous journey, I had no idea the end for the rest of his shipmates to come so abruptly and brutally at that. Although it was sad reading about the death of all Odysseus' men, it was also somewhat satisfying that Odysseus's arrogance is what led them all to their death. If I had to redo the story I would have had all the men turn on Odysseus and stay with the boat on the shore instead of following him into the goddess Circe's temple. Lastly, it was so frustrating to me that they survived all those other terrible encounters and yet still perished before they made it back home to Ithaca. I would have preferred a happier ending, but I guess Homer had something else in mind. 
Bibliography:
Homer's Odyssey Part B  as translated into English by Tony Kline

Reading Notes, The Odyssey: Part A

This week I chose to ready Homers: The Odyssey: Part A. The first few stories are about when Odysseus and his men have a horrific run in with a cyclopes. Strangely, I really enjoyed the repetition in the description of the daily tasks the cyclopes does. It didn't feel repetitive, but instead, had a somewhat poetic feel to it.

By far one of my favorite things about these stories is how clever Odysseus is! From lying to the cyclopes about his name to getting the giant drunk enough that he could inflict revenge on him, he is by far the most courageous and intelligent character in this reading so far. In my future story I want to incorporate a character with as much wit as him, but perhaps a little more humble and cautious. I think it will make for a very likable character for the audience!

I love how repeatedly there is an endearing personification of the "rosy fingered Dawn". That sweet description really helps me visualize not just the dawn but the view that Odysseus has of it personally. In my own story telling, I will try to incorporate that same descriptive personification so the readers can get an inside perspective of the view the characters have.

Odysseus and his men sailing

Something about the goddess Circes really moves me. I love how she is such a dynamic character, starting out deceitful and then undoing the harm she caused. She was even moved by the tearful reunion of Odysseus and his men. I'd love to include in my future story a character who could make such a change and win the readers over with their change of heart and compassion. In my story though it would be more organic since in The Odyssey Circes had to make an oath that she would not do harm to Odysseus or his men. Instead, I would hope the character would make the choice out of pure realization of the morality of their actions.

Out of all the characters I respect the courage that Eurylochus had to confront Odysseus and his arrogant tendencies. Eurylochus has a personal relationship with Odysseus but that does not deter him from tell the truth that Odysseus does not consider how is actions and words will affect the other men in the group. He makes selfish decisions both when they encountered the Cyclopes and when they were dealing with Circes. I wish Eurylochus would have stuck to his guns and not followed Odysseus and his men to the goddess's temple but I would change that if I incorporated a character similar to him in my own stories. 

Bibliography:
Homer's Odyssey as translated to English by Tony Kline