In my essay for Mrs. Turner's class, http://morgantucker16.blogspot.com/2007/10/elevate.html Elevate, I had to show a special memory I had to use three types of brushstrokes. For my Scarlet Letter http://morgantucker16.blogspot.com/2007/10/scarlet-letter.html essay I compared the way the Puritans handled adultery in the Scarlet Letter, to the way God would've handled it. In Elevate, I talked about my experience at our first weekend event for my youth group and how it touched me spiritually. Using my three brushstrokes, helped me understand how to use them throughout my future essays. In my Scarlet Letter Essay, I described how the Puritans handled Hester Prynne's sin of adultery to the way God handled it to a woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8:1-11.
In my memoir I had to add a little more to it because it was too short. I also had to check my being verbs an eliminate some of them. I also had a lot of comma errors that I had to correct. In the Scarlet Letter essay, I had to make sure I was always in present tense because I wasn't in some parts of it, I had to explain why I chose on of my quotes from the Scarlet Letter, and I had to correct my use of commas.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
The Scarlet Letter
The Puritans in the Scarlet Letter claimed to be great Christians. Well the way they handled some things weren't exactly the way God would have handled it. The punishments back then for some sins were very harsh. In Christ's eyes all sin is viewed equally. No sin is worse than any other. I will show the differences in the way the Puritans handle Hester Prynnes sin of adultery and the way God would handle it.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne committed adultery while her husband was gone. They found out she had once she became pregnant, and she was immediately shunned, and they wanted to kill her. In John:1-11, a woman was caught in the act of adultery and brought to Jesus by the teacher's of the law and the Pharisees to be stoned. In both instances, they want to immediately punish them with death. In The Scarlet Letter, a matron in the crowd said, "This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die" and another said, "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead." In there eyes, adultery is a terrible sin, and she she should die or have a very harsh punishment for her wrongdoings. In the bible, the teacher's of the law and the Pharisees thought the same thing and thought that she should have been stoned and put to death because her sin was so bad.
Instead of killing Hester Prynne, they decided to brand her with a scarlet letter "A" on her breast that stood for adultery. So that everyone who saw her would know the sin she had committed and that she would immediately be judged for it. The book says, "It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself." In the bible, when they brought the woman to Jesus and told him what she had done he just bent down and began to write in the ground with his finger. He was not interested at all in what they were saying. They kept on questioning Jesus, so he then stood up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Instead of isolating the woman from everyone and making her feel little because of her sin, he made the other's that wanted to stone her feel little too about themselves. This sin that this woman had committed was no greater or worse than any other sin.
In Jesus's eyes, sin is sin. No sin is greater than another. Jesus handled the exact same situation as the book by making the teachers of the law and the Pharisees guilty of their own sin and letting her free of her sin she had committed. Hester suffered years of isolation and loneliness before earning her trust and respect back of the people. She had to wear the scarlet letter "A" that reminded her and everyone else of her sin every day. They put her on the scaffold and announced to everyone in the town of her sin and what her punishment for it was. They said, "Open a passage; and, I promise ye, Mistress Prynne shall be set where man, woman, and child may have a fair sight of her brave apparel, from this time till an hour past meridian. A blessing on the righteous Colony of the Massachusetts, where iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine!" I chose this quote because it shows the bravery she will have to be in front of all the people every day showing her sin by wearing her letter "A" for adultery. The Puritans claimed that they were these great Christians but they were really hypocritical. God wouldn't have handled this situation this way, he would have forgiven her of her sin and she was free of that burden for life. You see, just because someone did something very bad doesn't mean you should kill them or punish them very severely for it. We all make mistakes and sin is sin. You have to forgive people for things and not hold things against them for long periods of time.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne committed adultery while her husband was gone. They found out she had once she became pregnant, and she was immediately shunned, and they wanted to kill her. In John:1-11, a woman was caught in the act of adultery and brought to Jesus by the teacher's of the law and the Pharisees to be stoned. In both instances, they want to immediately punish them with death. In The Scarlet Letter, a matron in the crowd said, "This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die" and another said, "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead." In there eyes, adultery is a terrible sin, and she she should die or have a very harsh punishment for her wrongdoings. In the bible, the teacher's of the law and the Pharisees thought the same thing and thought that she should have been stoned and put to death because her sin was so bad.
Instead of killing Hester Prynne, they decided to brand her with a scarlet letter "A" on her breast that stood for adultery. So that everyone who saw her would know the sin she had committed and that she would immediately be judged for it. The book says, "It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself." In the bible, when they brought the woman to Jesus and told him what she had done he just bent down and began to write in the ground with his finger. He was not interested at all in what they were saying. They kept on questioning Jesus, so he then stood up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Instead of isolating the woman from everyone and making her feel little because of her sin, he made the other's that wanted to stone her feel little too about themselves. This sin that this woman had committed was no greater or worse than any other sin.
In Jesus's eyes, sin is sin. No sin is greater than another. Jesus handled the exact same situation as the book by making the teachers of the law and the Pharisees guilty of their own sin and letting her free of her sin she had committed. Hester suffered years of isolation and loneliness before earning her trust and respect back of the people. She had to wear the scarlet letter "A" that reminded her and everyone else of her sin every day. They put her on the scaffold and announced to everyone in the town of her sin and what her punishment for it was. They said, "Open a passage; and, I promise ye, Mistress Prynne shall be set where man, woman, and child may have a fair sight of her brave apparel, from this time till an hour past meridian. A blessing on the righteous Colony of the Massachusetts, where iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine!" I chose this quote because it shows the bravery she will have to be in front of all the people every day showing her sin by wearing her letter "A" for adultery. The Puritans claimed that they were these great Christians but they were really hypocritical. God wouldn't have handled this situation this way, he would have forgiven her of her sin and she was free of that burden for life. You see, just because someone did something very bad doesn't mean you should kill them or punish them very severely for it. We all make mistakes and sin is sin. You have to forgive people for things and not hold things against them for long periods of time.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Elevate
Singing loudly, we were on our way to the house blasting the music as loud as we could. It had been a fun weekend with everyone and it was our last night. It had been the most amazing weekend so far, but little did I know this night would be the best!
Once we got to the house of course all the guys were playing frisbee and throwing the football. My friends and I joined them for a while, but since we were girls they left us out. The air smelled like grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. At first we all just ran around acting crazy like our usual selves and taking lots of pictures. We took some on the play ground there and we stood on this long log that was connected to the bon fire and took a picture. Before long it was time to eat and the line was huge! Luckily I was the very first person in line so I didn't have to wait long.
After we got our food, my friends and I all went to sit on a hill in the yard. Mouths racing, we talked and laughed forever just enjoying ourselves. We talked about all the fun things we had done that weekend especially the huge food fight we had earlier that day. After dinner, I went and played basketball and soccer for a while. While I was playing soccer with some of the guys, I cut my toe really bad and I didn't realize it until afterwards. So my youth leader had to put a bandaid on it and clean it up while everyone stared at me. The peroxide stung as he put it on my wound.
Finally it was dark and it was time for the bonfire. Our entire youth group went down by the fire and just sat around. The fire, so big and hot was burning the tips of the trees. At first we all talked and played around, but then it became quiet and no one said a word. Everyone began to sit down by each other and just look at the fire. It was silent and so peaceful there. Then Daniel Harper began to play his guitar. The music was calm and soothing. Our youth pastor Brad then stood up and spoke for a while. No one was moving or speaking, they just listened to the music and what Brad had to say. He told us that in a minute we would break up into our small groups and our leaders were going to wash our feet. In the bible Jesus washed his disciples feet to humble them.
Once my feet hit the warm water and the soapy smell came to me, I felt so humble and blessed to have Jesus and live for Him. After all of our feet had been washed we went and got Meredith and Whitney to wash their feet because they are both very important to us and we wanted to show our appreciation for them. After we finished we all prayed together and cried and hugged each other. This was one of the most spiritual moments I had even had in my life and it showed me how truely amazing God was and how much I loved Him.
Once we got to the house of course all the guys were playing frisbee and throwing the football. My friends and I joined them for a while, but since we were girls they left us out. The air smelled like grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. At first we all just ran around acting crazy like our usual selves and taking lots of pictures. We took some on the play ground there and we stood on this long log that was connected to the bon fire and took a picture. Before long it was time to eat and the line was huge! Luckily I was the very first person in line so I didn't have to wait long.
After we got our food, my friends and I all went to sit on a hill in the yard. Mouths racing, we talked and laughed forever just enjoying ourselves. We talked about all the fun things we had done that weekend especially the huge food fight we had earlier that day. After dinner, I went and played basketball and soccer for a while. While I was playing soccer with some of the guys, I cut my toe really bad and I didn't realize it until afterwards. So my youth leader had to put a bandaid on it and clean it up while everyone stared at me. The peroxide stung as he put it on my wound.
Finally it was dark and it was time for the bonfire. Our entire youth group went down by the fire and just sat around. The fire, so big and hot was burning the tips of the trees. At first we all talked and played around, but then it became quiet and no one said a word. Everyone began to sit down by each other and just look at the fire. It was silent and so peaceful there. Then Daniel Harper began to play his guitar. The music was calm and soothing. Our youth pastor Brad then stood up and spoke for a while. No one was moving or speaking, they just listened to the music and what Brad had to say. He told us that in a minute we would break up into our small groups and our leaders were going to wash our feet. In the bible Jesus washed his disciples feet to humble them.
Once my feet hit the warm water and the soapy smell came to me, I felt so humble and blessed to have Jesus and live for Him. After all of our feet had been washed we went and got Meredith and Whitney to wash their feet because they are both very important to us and we wanted to show our appreciation for them. After we finished we all prayed together and cried and hugged each other. This was one of the most spiritual moments I had even had in my life and it showed me how truely amazing God was and how much I loved Him.
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