Puzzle Religious Reflection

I have decided to reflect about something I have observed this week and what religious lesson I have learned from my observation.
     On Monday I went to voulnteer at a school. I help young children learn more about the Bible in a Bible Club. They had to put together a puzzle. The puzzle was in the shape of a heart. The children did not know this at first. They tried to keep putting the puzzle together, but it never worked. Finally after a few minutes, they were able to stop and think about the shape. They learned about a bible verse saying that God loved them. They put it together that the shape should be a heart. The kids were finally able to put the pieces in the right place.
     By observing how the kids put the puzzle together, I learned about some religious lessons. The kids fought with each other a little bit about where each puzzle piece should go. In life, people fight with God. People get mad when bad situations overcome them. Say their mom is diagnosed with cancer, the husband and children might get mad at God and ask why her?! Also, I observed how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. When we follow God, everything works out good. Our life fits together like a puzzle. If we listen to God and do as he says, our life will fit together one piece at a time. Even if the puzzle pieces don't look as though they will fit together at times, eventually they will. In life, we may seem some situations God throws at us and not fitting into our life plan. When I hurt my knees, I didn't  see this fitting into my life. I know someday that my puzzle will fit together. Each piece will have certain edges (characteristics) that make the puzzle (life) unique. Life is a puzzle that is being built one day at a time.

Myles Standish

      After looking at the list of names I decided to write about Myles Standish. I do not remember talking about him. I decided to find out a little bit about him.
     Myles Standish was part of Queen Elizabeth's army. While he was stationed in Holland, he met John Robinson and the Pilgrims. He came to know the Pilgrims well so they hired him as their military captain. He would establish and coordinate the colony's defense against the Native Americans. He sailed to the New World on the Mayflower. The first winter in the New World Myles Standish was one of the few who did not get sick.
      Once in the New World, Standish played a big role in deciding where the Pilgrims would setttle . He led missions that explored Cape Cod. Standish organized a huge chunk of the Pilgrim colony. He got cannons for the colony and built the fort at Plymouth. Also, Standish led missions to trade or fight with the Indians. There was a group who went to find and get revenge on the leaders that killed Squanto. Standish headed this expedition. Also while the Pilgrims lived at Plymouth, some Indians planned on destroying the Pilgrims' homes. Standish decided to attack right back at the Indians. He led this attack as well. One bad quality was that Myles Standish had a short temper. He got angered easily. Eventhough he had enemies, many Pilgrims respected how he helped and led them in the New World.
      I feell Myles Standish was to Plymouth as John Smith was to Jamestown. Standish made a huge impact on how Plymouth came to be. I feel the Pilgrims might have been destroyed or attacked by the Indians who were going to destroy Plymouth if Standish did not step up. Standish was well respected by the Pilgrims. I feel this respect and honor helped the Pilgrims to follow and listen to Standish more. I am happy I decided to research Myles Standish. He was one dedicated man to the Pilgrims and settling Plymouth.

La Relacion

In class this past week, we have been studying journals of early explorers. I was looking through my notebook and decided to have my post deal with La Relacion.




      In La Relacion, Cabeza wrote how his men and himself became Medicine Men to the Native Americans. The journal relayed the information that to cure the sick, the medicine man was called. The sick gave the medicine man all he had in his possession. The medicine man would cut over the sick person's point of pain, suck on the wound, cauterize it, and blow on the spot to relieve the patient. From the journal, apparently the Natives would withhold food from the Spanish unless they healed the sick. The way the Spanish healed the sick was different from how the Natives healed the sick.
       This certain picture shows Cabeza de Vaca healing a Native American. By the way the journal was written, Cabeza wrote that he and his crew cured the sick their way: making the sign of the cross on the sick, breathing on them, and saying the Lord's Prayer and Ave Maria over the sick. The Spanish would pray to God for the patient's recovery. On the other hand, the Native method was to cut the painful spot, suck on the wound, cauterize it, and blow on the spot. This picture looks as though Cabeza is performing the Native healing method. Cabeza never wrote that he performed his healing the Native way. He said that they did the cross motion and prayed. In the background, one of Cabeza's men is holding a cross. By Cabeza's journal, an actual cross was not present at the healing, just a sign of the cross was done over the patient.
       From La Relacion, I do not think this healing picture is accurate. If a Native American was in place of Cabeza in the picture, the picture would be pretty accurate (the way the sick was healed). By what I read and what I see now, I feel that Cabeza did his way of healing by praying to God instead of cutting open the sick (the picture does not show this view).

Native American Reflection!

Okay, so I tried to connect to everyone but I am not sure if I did it right. I'm crossing my fingers I did.....

This past week in class we have been reading about Native American myths. I did not realize the thought that went into how the Native Americans saw the world and how certain events happen.

I thought the story, "The World on Turtle's Back," was very interesting. The way the Native Americans explained how the world came to grow on a turtle's back was interesting. A woman fell from the Sky World and planted some dirt on a turtle's back. She kept walking around the soil to make the earth grow. The sky woman's daughter had twins. I found it very interesting how the Natives explained what the twins represented: good and bad. The right hand twin represented the day, truth, and the good in people while the left hand twin represented the night, lying, and the bad in people. The twins always fought with each other. Today people always fight with themselves about telling the truth or lying instead. There is always an internal struggle on what to do. Sometimes people might want to lie so they do not hurt someone's feelings by telling the truth. I struggle at times in life on which one to do. Everyone does at some point in their life. The way this story explains the struggle between the "twins" (good and bad)  accurately shows how the struggle happens in a person's everyday life.

For my first post on my English Blog, I decided to post one of my favorite quotes. This quote reminds me of my basketball team from last year:

"Think like a champion: that means stepping up no matter what kind of obstacles life puts in front of you. It means digging deep within yourself and finding the will to fight, no matter how many times you get knocked down. Most of all, it means never taking the easy way out. It means no excuses no matter what."
                                                                                                             ---Vivian Stringer