Well, as you can plainly see from the title of this page, my name is Sarah. Most people call me Kesler, but I answer to both. I'm not a big talker while in class, but outside of class, I'm one of the loudest people (according to my friends and family, that is). I am currently a junior at Wren High School and I am in Beta Club, NHS, and in the Wren High Marching Band (4 years - going on 5). I play the baritone and the trumpet (and occasional tuba). I am an inspired and growing artist, as well as a musician, and I want to hopefully go to Anderson or Winthrop University as an Art Major. I love all of my friends and family and wouldn't trade them for the world. I'm really friendly (unless I'm in a bad mood or something) and a little bit crazy, but that's easily avoidable (maybe). Genesis 1-3 (KJV) Response - February 26, 2013
In the first three chapters of Genesis, the Bible shows how God made the earth, and how he made man -- only to see man fall. In the first chapter, God created heaven and earth, the land and the seas, the grass and so forth, all of the living creatures to roam the earth, and then in chapter 2, He made man. He named him Adam and He allowed Adam to name all of the creatures before him on the earth. God then made woman, which Adam named Eve, when He put Adam to sleep. From this, I see that God chooses your mate whom you are to spend your life with. He knows who is the person for you because He knows you -- He MADE you, and takes that person from your mind while you sleep -- the time where you are not thinking about what YOU want. Then in chapter 3, Eve fell under the influence of the serpent. She believed the serpent and she, along with Adam, took hold of the fruit - the ONLY fruit that God specifically told them not to partake of. After gaining the knowledge of good and evil, they realized they were naked and were ashamed. Because of their disobedience, God cast them from the Garden of Eden and cursed them to go back and live on the land from whence they came. Woman was cursed with painful child bearing and she was to follow her husband, for he was to rule over her. Man was cursed to work the land from where he came from. This was what cursed mankind from then on out. We were then susceptible to sin and death. Because of their disobedience, mankind was undeserving of the things of God, but God is merciful. He loves us all. He could have simply done away with Adam and Eve and started all over, but He knew what would become of mankind after Adam and Eve's disobedience. He knew who we were and what kind of lives we would lead - even then. He thought of all of us, and everyone before and after us. Our God is a loving, merciful God and we will never deserve all the love He gives us. It all started back in the Garden of Eden when He left Adam and Eve to live, even if it wasn't in the Garden of Eden. Always think about that: HE COULD'VE STARTED OVER.
Partner Response (February 25th)
I really enjoyed reading your response, Sarah! It is very encouraging. I like how you pointed out that He could have started over. He didn't have to let us stick around to know Him. He could of destroyed us... that is what we deserved... God, while He is just and wrathful, is also so loving and so merciful... and what we think we know of His mercy and love is but a small portion that we can grasp! Amazing. But, because He is good, there were consequences for Adam and Eve's actions, as you pointed out. In regards to what you were saying about God knowing and choosing our mates, I have to say I am very happy about that! God has a person out there for each of us, one He created just for each of us (unless we have been given, what Paul says is, the gift of singleness), to help us through life and help us better understand the relationship Christ has with us, His church. Goodness, I love how everything God has set up on this earth, when it is done correctly with Him at the center, is to bring us into a closer relationship with Jesus. Marriage is such a beautiful thing here on the earth, even in such a flawed and sinful setting... just imagine what it will be like when we see Jesus Christ married to His church in perfect union for eternity! I can't wait! And we will get to enjoy it all and, primarily, enjoy Him because HE DIDN'T START OVER. :)
Sorry this is so late! Kleist Response - March 7th, 2013
What I am getting from Kleist's writing, On the Marionette Theatre, is that this man is explaining how human dancers can learn a lot about improving their dancing from these puppets. They move with such fluidity and grace, and for dancers to gain that, they can learn to understand how a puppet moves and apply it to themselves. No where in here does it say that puppets are better dancers than humans, but what I can pick out is that puppets have a different style of dancing than humans - a more graceful, rhythmic dance style - and if any human dancers were looking to perform with that type of fluidity and grace, that they should analyze the puppets. The man, in which Kleist is speaking to, explains a puppet's movement as the puppet having "...its centre of gravity." He further talks about the puppets by explaining that "The limbs, which are only pendulums, then follow mechanically of their own accord, without further help." One thing that human dancers can pull from this is that while dancing, do not think about your different limbs and what each of them should do, but think of your body as a whole with a center that controls all - your limbs will just fall into place. While this definitely sounds like good advice, I do not believe that puppets can be compared to humans when it comes to movement. The puppets have a master controlling them. Humans, while dancing, are controlling themselves and doing what they practiced to do. I can see someone watching a puppet and working off of some of the movements to get a better feel for how to dance with more grace, but to dance just like a puppet? Our limbs aren't loose; they are attached to sockets that keep our whole body together and help enable us to move accordingly. I used to be a dancer - it was really difficult for me to get my body to be graceful (considering my lack of balance) and I was in ballet.. which in retrospect was not the best decision of my life. But I worked hard at learning the dances, and it was all myself. There was no one controlling what I did. There was the instructor who would tell me what moves I needed to make, but they couldn't make my body do the movements. To me, puppets and human dancers are quite different. It almost seems as if the puppet represents slavery and human dancers represent freedom - independence. Humans can't be compared to puppets, to me, because we show self-will and making our own moves, while a puppet is always controlled. A puppet has no freedom; therefore it lifts up humans in a way, when they are compared.
Partner Response (February 25th)
I enjoyed reading your take on this piece, Sarah. It is interesting to see it from a different perspective. I read Kleist's commentary on the dance of the puppets as too graceful for human dancers to ever achieve due to their level of consciousness; however, in your interpretation, you seem provide more hope for humans. That, through analyzing the dance of the puppet, humans could somehow learn their grace. The question that comes into my head at that point is: would analyzing the marionette dance moves help the human dancers or just inflame the problem? Kleist argues that the problem with humanity is our level of consciousness and I cannot help but think that the analysis of the motions would simply push more thought and semi-consciousness into a skill that derives its grace from, as Kleist sees it, unconscious or total (divine) consciousness. Another thing I noticed was when you said, "I used to be a dancer - it was really difficult for me to get my body to be graceful... But I worked hard at learning the dances, and it was all myself." Kleist makes it seem like grace is the only thing that matters in the dance of life-- just how it ends up looking. However, you point out that it is not just about grace, but also about the personal dedication and passion of the dancer, even if they are not the most graceful. This leads right into the discussion of freedom and I definitely see what you are saying. While we may use it to get into trouble and do things that we regret later, I praise God that we have that freedom manifested in free will. It allows us to love Jesus out of our hearts and the understanding of His love for us, rather than out of obligation or force. BOOK 1 Response - March 13th, 2013
In this reading, I found that Milton likes pulling some of the scripture from the Bible and showing different ideas that can be translated from it. In the beginning of Book 1, he says, " Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast brought Death into the World, and all our woe, with loss of Eden, till one greater Man restore us, and regain the blissful Seat." He is suggesting that there could possibly be another sin that came before the eating of the fruit. When I read this, I started thinking about what that other sin could be. I believe that the first sin was actually the thought of eating the fruit. People always tell you to "think before you speak." Looking into this phrase I see that you ALWAYS think about something before you say it or do it - whether you are thinking about it directly. The thought has to cross your mind before you are actually able to do it. It seems Milton is suggesting that the first sin was not the action of eating the fruit, but the first thought of eating the fruit. Another thing I found in Milton's writing was when he said, "In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth rose out of Chaos." This left me a little clueless. I am kind of confused on how the Heaven and the Earth could rise out of chaos. Unless chaos existed before them. Partner Response (March 13th)
I agree, Sarah. It does appear that Milton is suggesting another sin before the actual eating of the fruit; however, in my opinion, I do not feel that it was the thought of eating the fruit. I say this because, as I see it, there are two kinds of thoughts: those that are sinful in and of themselves, such as lustful or hateful thoughts, and those that are sinful in our response to them. I perceive that the thought suggesting the possibility of eating the fruit was a thought in the latter category. I classify it as such because it was being used by the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve and the Bible makes it clear that being tempted in and of itself is not sinful as Jesus was tempted by Satan and remained pure-- it all rests on how we respond to the temptation. In my eyes, the sin before the actual eating of the fruit was the final decision to eat the fruit. The difference between a thought and a decision is that a thought presents multiple courses of action while a decision chooses which course will be taken. In response to the question you had on my response to Book I, what I meant by "...we decide the same way many times, though not as consciously," was that, though we may not consciously declare it as Satan did, many times we, by our actions, declare that we would rather have money, power, pleasure, (fill in the blank) to reign with for a short time here on this earth and suffer eternal separation from God, than give up our own temporal desires on this earth to pursue Him and dwell with Him forever in glory.
BOOK 2 Response (March 21st)
In this book, Satan and the other demons are trying to plan an attack on Heaven. Moloch, "the strongest and the fiercest Spirit that fought in Heaven," wants to storm into Heaven and attack with full force. Satan wants to create a a full out strategic plan. In the end, they all decide to invade and attack the Earth, but did they really ALL make their OWN decision? There is evidence that suggests that Satan manipulated the demons into thinking this was the best idea concerning an attack and that Satan will be the one to go out and attack. It seems that Satan tries to show Hell off as a democracy - that everyone has a say. There may be no significant higher power, but Satan clearly tries to play that role. What escapes me is that none of the demons seem to realize that, in a way, Satan is taking control over all the final decisions. Satan DID have a high place in Heaven. That could possibly have made an impact on the demons to where they follow him even though he doesn't have the title of being in power. In addition to Satan trying to use that power, he tries to gain this kind of sympathy with the demons. He tries to say that he has taken most of the pain and suffering so far, so he is able to take the attack head on first. To the demons, it seems like Satan is a strong being that is standing up for all of them. But in retrospect, Satan just wants more power, and he doesn't care what he does to get it and whether it causes him more damnation or not. Another thing that I noticed was that it started out as all the demons wanting to attack Heaven, but in the end they decided to attack Earth. Why would they suddenly change motives? I thought about it, and I think that they decided to attack Earth because God created the Earth. Because God created the Earth, attacking it would mean that they were attacking God's creation, which in turn hurts Heaven. Partner Response (March 24th)
I agree with you. Satan is definitely trying to pass Hell off as a democracy, though it is obviously not; however, I think that this ploy is simply a means to an end. Why s Satan trying to pass off Hell as a democracy? Because the demons just rebelled against a monarchy (or tyranny from Satan's perspective). To immediately declare himself ruler of Hell would cause another uprising. Yet, by declaring it a democracy, but slowly convincing the other demons that they do not want power in Hell because of the damnation it will bring, Satan can safely rise to power without opposition. I see Hell soon becoming a monarchical rule, having completely disregarded the guise of democracy. On a different note, I think you meant that their strike target changed. I say this because their motive never really changed: to hurt God as much as demonically possible. I agree that they decided to Earth because it would hurt God to see those He loved in pain and destruction. Another reason that they may have decided to attack Earth rather than Heaven is a simple battle strategy idea: if possible, do not allow the opponent to have home-field advantage. In Heaven, everything would be fortified to the max as it is God's dwelling place and Kingdom. There was no way the demons would accomplish anything against Heaven-- they had already been beaten there once! However, on Earth, in their eyes, anything could happen. It would be a new battelfield for all and would not have the defenses that Heaven would.
Well, as you can plainly see from the title of this page, my name is Sarah. Most people call me Kesler, but I answer to both. I'm not a big talker while in class, but outside of class, I'm one of the loudest people (according to my friends and family, that is). I am currently a junior at Wren High School and I am in Beta Club, NHS, and in the Wren High Marching Band (4 years - going on 5). I play the baritone and the trumpet (and occasional tuba). I am an inspired and growing artist, as well as a musician, and I want to hopefully go to Anderson or Winthrop University as an Art Major. I love all of my friends and family and wouldn't trade them for the world. I'm really friendly (unless I'm in a bad mood or something) and a little bit crazy, but that's easily avoidable (maybe).
Genesis 1-3 (KJV) Response - February 26, 2013
In the first three chapters of Genesis, the Bible shows how God made the earth, and how he made man -- only to see man fall. In the first chapter, God created heaven and earth, the land and the seas, the grass and so forth, all of the living creatures to roam the earth, and then in chapter 2, He made man. He named him Adam and He allowed Adam to name all of the creatures before him on the earth. God then made woman, which Adam named Eve, when He put Adam to sleep. From this, I see that God chooses your mate whom you are to spend your life with. He knows who is the person for you because He knows you -- He MADE you, and takes that person from your mind while you sleep -- the time where you are not thinking about what YOU want. Then in chapter 3, Eve fell under the influence of the serpent. She believed the serpent and she, along with Adam, took hold of the fruit - the ONLY fruit that God specifically told them not to partake of. After gaining the knowledge of good and evil, they realized they were naked and were ashamed. Because of their disobedience, God cast them from the Garden of Eden and cursed them to go back and live on the land from whence they came. Woman was cursed with painful child bearing and she was to follow her husband, for he was to rule over her. Man was cursed to work the land from where he came from. This was what cursed mankind from then on out. We were then susceptible to sin and death. Because of their disobedience, mankind was undeserving of the things of God, but God is merciful. He loves us all. He could have simply done away with Adam and Eve and started all over, but He knew what would become of mankind after Adam and Eve's disobedience. He knew who we were and what kind of lives we would lead - even then. He thought of all of us, and everyone before and after us. Our God is a loving, merciful God and we will never deserve all the love He gives us. It all started back in the Garden of Eden when He left Adam and Eve to live, even if it wasn't in the Garden of Eden. Always think about that: HE COULD'VE STARTED OVER.
Partner Response (February 25th)
I really enjoyed reading your response, Sarah! It is very encouraging. I like how you pointed out that He could have started over. He didn't have to let us stick around to know Him. He could of destroyed us... that is what we deserved... God, while He is just and wrathful, is also so loving and so merciful... and what we think we know of His mercy and love is but a small portion that we can grasp! Amazing. But, because He is good, there were consequences for Adam and Eve's actions, as you pointed out. In regards to what you were saying about God knowing and choosing our mates, I have to say I am very happy about that! God has a person out there for each of us, one He created just for each of us (unless we have been given, what Paul says is, the gift of singleness), to help us through life and help us better understand the relationship Christ has with us, His church. Goodness, I love how everything God has set up on this earth, when it is done correctly with Him at the center, is to bring us into a closer relationship with Jesus. Marriage is such a beautiful thing here on the earth, even in such a flawed and sinful setting... just imagine what it will be like when we see Jesus Christ married to His church in perfect union for eternity! I can't wait! And we will get to enjoy it all and, primarily, enjoy Him because HE DIDN'T START OVER. :)
Sorry this is so late!
Kleist Response - March 7th, 2013
What I am getting from Kleist's writing, On the Marionette Theatre, is that this man is explaining how human dancers can learn a lot about improving their dancing from these puppets. They move with such fluidity and grace, and for dancers to gain that, they can learn to understand how a puppet moves and apply it to themselves. No where in here does it say that puppets are better dancers than humans, but what I can pick out is that puppets have a different style of dancing than humans - a more graceful, rhythmic dance style - and if any human dancers were looking to perform with that type of fluidity and grace, that they should analyze the puppets. The man, in which Kleist is speaking to, explains a puppet's movement as the puppet having "...its centre of gravity." He further talks about the puppets by explaining that "The limbs, which are only pendulums, then follow mechanically of their own accord, without further help." One thing that human dancers can pull from this is that while dancing, do not think about your different limbs and what each of them should do, but think of your body as a whole with a center that controls all - your limbs will just fall into place. While this definitely sounds like good advice, I do not believe that puppets can be compared to humans when it comes to movement. The puppets have a master controlling them. Humans, while dancing, are controlling themselves and doing what they practiced to do. I can see someone watching a puppet and working off of some of the movements to get a better feel for how to dance with more grace, but to dance just like a puppet? Our limbs aren't loose; they are attached to sockets that keep our whole body together and help enable us to move accordingly. I used to be a dancer - it was really difficult for me to get my body to be graceful (considering my lack of balance) and I was in ballet.. which in retrospect was not the best decision of my life. But I worked hard at learning the dances, and it was all myself. There was no one controlling what I did. There was the instructor who would tell me what moves I needed to make, but they couldn't make my body do the movements. To me, puppets and human dancers are quite different. It almost seems as if the puppet represents slavery and human dancers represent freedom - independence. Humans can't be compared to puppets, to me, because we show self-will and making our own moves, while a puppet is always controlled. A puppet has no freedom; therefore it lifts up humans in a way, when they are compared.
Partner Response (February 25th)
I enjoyed reading your take on this piece, Sarah. It is interesting to see it from a different perspective. I read Kleist's commentary on the dance of the puppets as too graceful for human dancers to ever achieve due to their level of consciousness; however, in your interpretation, you seem provide more hope for humans. That, through analyzing the dance of the puppet, humans could somehow learn their grace. The question that comes into my head at that point is: would analyzing the marionette dance moves help the human dancers or just inflame the problem? Kleist argues that the problem with humanity is our level of consciousness and I cannot help but think that the analysis of the motions would simply push more thought and semi-consciousness into a skill that derives its grace from, as Kleist sees it, unconscious or total (divine) consciousness. Another thing I noticed was when you said, "I used to be a dancer - it was really difficult for me to get my body to be graceful... But I worked hard at learning the dances, and it was all myself." Kleist makes it seem like grace is the only thing that matters in the dance of life-- just how it ends up looking. However, you point out that it is not just about grace, but also about the personal dedication and passion of the dancer, even if they are not the most graceful. This leads right into the discussion of freedom and I definitely see what you are saying. While we may use it to get into trouble and do things that we regret later, I praise God that we have that freedom manifested in free will. It allows us to love Jesus out of our hearts and the understanding of His love for us, rather than out of obligation or force.
BOOK 1 Response - March 13th, 2013
In this reading, I found that Milton likes pulling some of the scripture from the Bible and showing different ideas that can be translated from it. In the beginning of Book 1, he says, " Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast brought Death into the World, and all our woe, with loss of Eden, till one greater Man restore us, and regain the blissful Seat." He is suggesting that there could possibly be another sin that came before the eating of the fruit. When I read this, I started thinking about what that other sin could be. I believe that the first sin was actually the thought of eating the fruit. People always tell you to "think before you speak." Looking into this phrase I see that you ALWAYS think about something before you say it or do it - whether you are thinking about it directly. The thought has to cross your mind before you are actually able to do it. It seems Milton is suggesting that the first sin was not the action of eating the fruit, but the first thought of eating the fruit. Another thing I found in Milton's writing was when he said, "In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth rose out of Chaos." This left me a little clueless. I am kind of confused on how the Heaven and the Earth could rise out of chaos. Unless chaos existed before them.
Partner Response (March 13th)
I agree, Sarah. It does appear that Milton is suggesting another sin before the actual eating of the fruit; however, in my opinion, I do not feel that it was the thought of eating the fruit. I say this because, as I see it, there are two kinds of thoughts: those that are sinful in and of themselves, such as lustful or hateful thoughts, and those that are sinful in our response to them. I perceive that the thought suggesting the possibility of eating the fruit was a thought in the latter category. I classify it as such because it was being used by the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve and the Bible makes it clear that being tempted in and of itself is not sinful as Jesus was tempted by Satan and remained pure-- it all rests on how we respond to the temptation. In my eyes, the sin before the actual eating of the fruit was the final decision to eat the fruit. The difference between a thought and a decision is that a thought presents multiple courses of action while a decision chooses which course will be taken. In response to the question you had on my response to Book I, what I meant by "...we decide the same way many times, though not as consciously," was that, though we may not consciously declare it as Satan did, many times we, by our actions, declare that we would rather have money, power, pleasure, (fill in the blank) to reign with for a short time here on this earth and suffer eternal separation from God, than give up our own temporal desires on this earth to pursue Him and dwell with Him forever in glory.
BOOK 2 Response (March 21st)
In this book, Satan and the other demons are trying to plan an attack on Heaven. Moloch, "the strongest and the fiercest Spirit that fought in Heaven," wants to storm into Heaven and attack with full force. Satan wants to create a a full out strategic plan. In the end, they all decide to invade and attack the Earth, but did they really ALL make their OWN decision? There is evidence that suggests that Satan manipulated the demons into thinking this was the best idea concerning an attack and that Satan will be the one to go out and attack. It seems that Satan tries to show Hell off as a democracy - that everyone has a say. There may be no significant higher power, but Satan clearly tries to play that role. What escapes me is that none of the demons seem to realize that, in a way, Satan is taking control over all the final decisions. Satan DID have a high place in Heaven. That could possibly have made an impact on the demons to where they follow him even though he doesn't have the title of being in power. In addition to Satan trying to use that power, he tries to gain this kind of sympathy with the demons. He tries to say that he has taken most of the pain and suffering so far, so he is able to take the attack head on first. To the demons, it seems like Satan is a strong being that is standing up for all of them. But in retrospect, Satan just wants more power, and he doesn't care what he does to get it and whether it causes him more damnation or not. Another thing that I noticed was that it started out as all the demons wanting to attack Heaven, but in the end they decided to attack Earth. Why would they suddenly change motives? I thought about it, and I think that they decided to attack Earth because God created the Earth. Because God created the Earth, attacking it would mean that they were attacking God's creation, which in turn hurts Heaven.
Partner Response (March 24th)
I agree with you. Satan is definitely trying to pass Hell off as a democracy, though it is obviously not; however, I think that this ploy is simply a means to an end. Why s Satan trying to pass off Hell as a democracy? Because the demons just rebelled against a monarchy (or tyranny from Satan's perspective). To immediately declare himself ruler of Hell would cause another uprising. Yet, by declaring it a democracy, but slowly convincing the other demons that they do not want power in Hell because of the damnation it will bring, Satan can safely rise to power without opposition. I see Hell soon becoming a monarchical rule, having completely disregarded the guise of democracy. On a different note, I think you meant that their strike target changed. I say this because their motive never really changed: to hurt God as much as demonically possible. I agree that they decided to Earth because it would hurt God to see those He loved in pain and destruction. Another reason that they may have decided to attack Earth rather than Heaven is a simple battle strategy idea: if possible, do not allow the opponent to have home-field advantage. In Heaven, everything would be fortified to the max as it is God's dwelling place and Kingdom. There was no way the demons would accomplish anything against Heaven-- they had already been beaten there once! However, on Earth, in their eyes, anything could happen. It would be a new battelfield for all and would not have the defenses that Heaven would.