She Went By Gently

1. A gift of Baptism is the ability to love others as God loves us. How is this ability seen in the woman's treatment of the girl?

     Regardless of what happened in the past, the the woman's character towards the girl shows her belief in God's love for us. The ability to love others as God loves us is a gift of Baptism. The lady cared for the girl as if she was her own child. This disturbed her husband, but it did not stop her from caring for the girl. The woman showed a sense of grace towards the girl.

2. At the end of the story the woman says in regard to the infant, "I saved him." What does she mean by that statement?

     When the woman says in regard to the infant, "I saved him." She means that she saved him spiritually in a religious sense. The woman baptized him in order to save him. She Baptized him to bring him back to God and his kingdom.

3. The author describes the journey of the woman to her own home. What is the purpose of this section of the story? What is he trying to convey about the woman through his descriptions?

     The journey of the woman to her own home was a comparison to her own life and how she witnessed Baptism again. By helping others she also witnessed  a sense of grace. THe part of the story when she witnessed darkness was like a comparison to original sin. Through everything she went through she never gave up on God and God never gave up on her.

Confirmation

1. The gifts of the Holy Spirit work in my life every day in many different ways. Without these gift I would not be the child of God I consider myself to be today. Each of the gifts of the Holy Spirit effect my life in different ways. The gift understanding helps me realize all the problems including me and surrounding me. As a senior in High school I am faced with many struggles with family, school work, friends, and many others. The gift of understanding helps me get through these struggles and also helps me forgive others. The gift of wisdom is my favorite. This gift helps me focus. It helps me focus on what is important: relationships with family, friends, and God. The gift of Piety allows me to serve God. I think this gift is very important in my life. This gift helps me realize all the good things God has done for me, and allows me to praise and serve him in return. The gift of piety brings peace in my life. It helps me realize that God has always and will always be there for me, and for that thank him.

2. The Holy Spirit gives seven gifts to those that are confirmed. Each of these git are very important in the person being confirmed's life. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the lord. In my life, all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are essential in my everyday life. One that is very important to me is Fear of The Lord. Fear of The Lord is important, because it lets us know that God and only God is our creator. The ten commandments say, "There shall be no other gods before me." This gift of the Holy Spirit is not saying that we should be afraid and scared of God. It is saying that we should recognize God's power. Everything that has been done, has been done by God. God is mighty and he has the power to do any and everything. I'm just thankful that he used his power to create me and that he gave me a chance in this world. That is why the gift of Fear of the Lord is important to me.

DIstance Learning #3

The following answers come from the questions of the reading "Are Sacraments Narrow?" These answers are my opinions.
1. Ludwig did not understand grace and therefore did not understand the higher life given to us by God.. Grace has a wider view then what most of us think. It is okay to not understand. As he continues through the sacraments, the more he will understand.
2. When it comes to Sacramentality the Church is not only thinking about Christians. Everyone has a choice to be Baptized and to be saved. The Church is not being biased.
3. When it comes to Sacramentality, the Church is thinking about the important relationship between God and his people. Salvation is essential in this relationship from both ends.
4. The Church refers us to the Son Of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus is a sign of God, therefore God is present in him. All of the Sacraments of the Church are extensions of the power of Christ and God.
5. The primal Sacrament of Sacraments, the Incarnate Son of God is the Christian doctrine that is the foundation of all sacraments.
6. The gobs modern "spirituality" tells us that God is an extended ether in the cosmos and he never puts himself with crudeness of matter. With this spirituality to be spiritual is to be more or less disembodied. Lastly the sign of primitive superstition is that the Christian God should employ physical means like sacrifices of blood.
7. The Christian Bible repudiates the spiritual snobbery with the announcement that God likes matter a lot. He loves us. He declared it good at the beginning of creation and continues to manifest himself.
8. "But that was so that he could put this gross body of flesh to death on the Cross and revert back to pure spirituality, wasn't it?" I do agree with this statement. Besides the fact that they called Jesus body gross. But it compares the incarnation with the spiritual view of God, which is correct.
9. "That is why the sacramental worldview sees more than just a symbol in a Sacrament". Christians view the Sacraments as an encounter with Christ. Therefore, the Sacraments are more than what they are, because they are a sign of Christ, whom is unlimited.
10. .K Chesterton said that the difference between the sacramental Real presence in the Eucharist and the universal grace of God is the difference between saying "The spirit of Jehovah pervades the universe" and saying "Jesus Christ walked in the room". He also said that the sacraments and Sacramentality does not come from a desire to exclude any from the redemption of Christ, but from the odd nature of Christianity itself with its stubborn insistence that the world was saved when God became local.
11. Grace is the theory that God is here on Earth in all of us. Not only Christians. Grace must be focused in the lens of the Sacrament, not to limit God, but to kindle us. That is the purpose of Grace, to kindle everyone on Earth

Distance Learning # 2

     The first article I read was called "These are the Sacraments - Seven Conditions Of Life". This article explains that people grow and develop in the church just as they do in society. Christians grow and develop in the Church through the Sacraments. You are born into the Church through your Baptism. Then, we nourish ourselves trough the Eucharist, taking the body and blood of Christ at mass. We spiritually take our responsibilities of the Church through Confirmation. We heal ourselves by asking for forgiveness from God through Penance. We pray and bless those that are sick through the Sacrament of Anointing Of The Sick. Some live spiritually with God and the Church through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. We get married with others through God in the Sacrament of Matrimony.

     The second article I read was called "These are the Sacraments - What the Sacraments Bring to Man". This article talks about how Jesus Christ died on the cross to bring us to a higher life. It is upon us to look for that higher life. It explains a story about a tadpole that thought that the world was only water.  If the tadpole would have looked for a higher life then he would see more than water. We use the sacraments to experience Christ. The Sacraments provide us with divine life and grace.

     The third article I read was called "These are the Sacraments - The Bible Is Sacramental". This article explains that the Bible itself is Sacramental. The words and deeds of Jesus are Sacramental and that is what the Bible is filled with. The Bible is the word of God. The Bible gives the sacraments a background meaning. In the Bible, a sign is always a symbol. All symbols are signs but not all signs are symbols.

     The last article I read was called "These are the Sacraments - A Divine Sense Of Humor". This article was an introductory to to the sacraments. It explained to us what they mean and what the symbol to us on Earth. It also explained that in order for one to understand a sacrament, he or she must have a divine sense of humor. When they say divine sense of humor they mean that the person is able to see over and above things here on Earth. The divine sense of humor relates to our understanding of the Sacraments. The divine sense of humor helps us understand the visible sign of the invisible God.



     
   

Distance Learning #1

1987- The preacher says, "If I Baptize you, you'll be able to go to the Kingdom of Christ. You'll be washed in the river of suffering, son, and you'll go by the deep river of life. Do you want that?" Harry got baptized and he was cleansed from his sins.

1988- Harry took part of Christ's Passion by dying in the river he was baptized in. He was searching for his kingdom.

1989- After Harry was baptized he no longer wanted to stay with his parents. He realized that his parents were a bad influence. So, he turned away from sin.

1990- That day that Harry went out with Ms. Connin he found out so much. He learned more about pigs, but most importantly he learned about Jesus Christ. He learned that the way his parents were living was the wrong way to live.

1991- After the preacher asked Harry if he was ready to be baptized, he though to himself, "Yes, I won't go back to the apartment then, I'll go under the river."He understood and accepted God's righteousness.

1992- When the preacher asked Harry if he was ready to be baptized, Harry made the decision of accepting God into his life. He didn't know what was coming, but he knew that it would be better than what was happening.

1993- "Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom...which invites him to conversion,". Harry had the choice to stay with his parents or to find peace in God. He came up with these two choices after his Baptism.

1994- "heaven and Earth will pass away but the salvation and justification of the elect... will not pass away." Even though Harry drowned and passed away, he will have everlasting life. His justification and salvation still exists.

1995- The Holy Spirit worked through Ms. Connin to get to Harry. The Holy Spirit reached his life, and Harry no longer wanted to live the life he was living.

1996- The day Ms. Connin came and "fixed" Harry was a favor from the Holy Spirit. It was the grace of God that saved Harry. Because of God's grace Harry lived eternal life with God.

1997- Harry participated in God's life, because of his baptism. The Holy Spirit breathed through him. In union with Jesus the son of God he became an adopted son.

1998- Without God, Harry would still be living with his crazy parents in his apartment. His parents were immature, and Harry needed a better figure in his life. By the grace of God, Harry got that figure.

1999- When Harry got Baptized he was a new person. Things started to make more sense to him He realized that he wanted to be forever with Jesus. The Holy Spirit helped him realize this.

2000- Harry and the Holy Spirit worked together to find the grace of God. If Harry did not correspond with the Holy Spirit, he would not have the same experience that he had.

2001- Ms. Connin helped prepare Harry for his baptism. This was also a form of God's grace.

2002- God gave each of us a free choice. Harry fell in love with God after his baptism and it was his choice to try and find his Kingdom.

2003- The baptism of Harry was a gift from God that Harry accepted. They worked together for Harry to find some peace.

2004- After his baptism, Harry had a responsibility. He was responsible in finding Christ. It was his choice to find Christ the way he did.

2005- God works in mysterious ways. Harry did not know that his baptism was by God's grace, but he had faith. He knew that he wouldn't find that at his home, so he decided to look for God where he found him.

The Man Without A Face

     In the movie, The Man Without A Face, Norstadt learned to trust McLeod. Norstadt did not really have a father figure in his life. All he had was his sisters and mom. His mom got married several times, and that also did not help with the growth of Norstadt. His oldest sister was rude to him and his younger sister he would consider a brad. The youngest sister was the type that snitched on everything she heard. Norstadt was so stressed out through out the movie, and his family was one of the causes to his stress. He took an exam to get into a boarding school and did not pass, so he wanted to take it again. His family, on the other hand did not think he should. They thought he was dumb and thought that taking the test again would be a waste of time. His older sister said in the movie, "Your dumb just like your father.". When his family told him they didn't want him to take the test, they were on a boat, with everyone's cars on the bottom floor. Norstadt got so angry that he vandalized his own mothers car. He thought nobody was watching him, but Mcleod did. He was sitting in his car with his dog. Of coarse McLeod did not say anything.

    Norstadt heard many rumors about McLeod. People around the town called him the Freak and they called his dog the beast.  The kids would say that he was a murderer. They would talk and tease about him, but they were all in fact scared of him. Half of McLeods face was burnt, so most people didn't get a good impression on looks. His face is actually scary looking. If you hold a conversation with him, you will most likely stare at his scar. That is why McLeod did everything secretly. He would go get his groceries at night, when everyone was sleep. When he went on the boat ride, he stayed at the bottom floor with all of the cars. Everything McLeod did was while he was alone, just so he could keep his distance from people. Everyone had something to say about him. People in that town were so judgmental of him, so he just kept his distance.  His house was far off into the woods, so that he wouldn't cause any trouble and so that trouble would not come to him.

     Norstadt needed a tutor for his exam, and heard that Mr. McLeod was a teacher. So, McLeod started to teach him and they both enjoyed it. He told Norstadt that he needed to ask permission from his mother to come to his house for tutoring. Norstadt knew that his mother would say no, because of the bad impression she had of McLeod. Therefore, Norstadt lied to Mr. McLeod and said that his mother could come. McLeod trusted him and continued to tutor. As the tutoring continued, Norstadt and Mcleod became friends and they started to trust each other. Norstadt one day asked him what happened to his face. He was very curious to know. McLeod told him that he got into a car accident, and a little boy got killed.

     Norstadt and McLeod both were missing something in their lives. Norstadt was missing a father figure. His sisters and mom were not enough in his life. And on top of that everything he heard about his father was lies. Mcleod was missing a friend. Ever since the accident, peoples judgments of him grew. Everyone in the town thought that he was crazy. He needed someone that he could just talk to. It seemed to him that no one else was there except for Norstadt and his very own dog.

     Norstadt came home one day and walked in on his older sister and her boyfriend. His sister got so mad at him, that she told him the truth about his father. She told him that his father was a drunk and that he killed himself. When Norstadt heard this he was devastated and immediately ran to Mr. McLeod's house. He stayed with him over the night. The police came to the door in the morning and Norstadt came downstairs in his underwear. This was a very big issue, because Mr. McLeod was accused of being a pedophile and sexually assaulting a boy a very long time ago. The police thought that he was doing the same to Norstadt and they asked him to keep his distance. Norstadt was so devastated and confused with life. He just wanted to know the truth. So he went to McLeod's house and asked him. McLeod asked him what he thought and asked him not to cheat in the question. He didn't want him to cheat on the question, because he knew that their trust was strong and that Norstadt knew that it wasn't true. Nostadt believed him and was very appreciative of him, because he passed his test and got into the boarding school.

     Norstadt came in certainty that he could trust McLeod, because he could not trust anyone else. He felt that he could not trust his family, because they were lying to him. McLeod was helping him pass his test, at no cost. Mcleod was almost Norstadt's only friend and Norstadt was McLeod's only friend. They came to trust each other. Regardless of what the police said on the case. McLeod and Norstatd were the only people that really knew what happen. Therefore, they trusted each other.

What is knowledge?

Knowledge has steps. It starts with a proposal. Then we come up with a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an idea that we come up with about reality that we test. The goal of the hypothesis is to get to a conclusion. The conclusion is the answer. It is the actual knowledge of reality.

Knowledge is based on experience. It is the certainty of the thing we know. Knowledge leads to another question. That question is, "What does it mean to know something?".  A lot of people say that they know their name. The only reason we know our names is, because we were taught it by our parents or guardians. We believe our parents or guardians, because it is someone we trust. Knowledge is power. The power is the people we trust. Therefore, knowledge is based on who we trust. We go to school to learn and to get more knowledge. As students we trust teachers to teach us the right information.

The biggest challenege in life is that we think we know things. It is like foreigners in a country where we don't speak the language and people talk to us and we think that we understand them and we don't. We think we know things, but we only know what people tell us and teach us. But what if the people we trust are telling us lies. We never really know. Therefore it seems that we have no knowledge. I think that the definition of knowledge is something that you believe in and were not by someone else.