Posted in Academic Pursuits on 06/14/2009 12:48 am by Ronnica
“Unbelievers always want other people to act like Christians.” - Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card, p. 148
“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without sign posts.” – The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, p. 61
“You don’t fall in love with people that make you want to crap your pants.” Paris, Gilmore Girls, ”Lorelai’s First Cotillion”
“Alyosha said to himself: ‘I can’t give 2 roubles instead of “all,” and only go to mass instead of “following Him.” ‘ ” – The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky, p. 32
“Just understand that you may think this is not a very good place, but it’s not a bad place, either. It’s just another place for you to be right now.” – Women of the Silkby Gail Tsukiyama, p. 41
Posted in Once I Was a Kansas Girl on 08/15/2008 07:24 am by Ronnica
Did you catch the story a few weeks ago that happened on a beach in Italy? A couple of Roma (Gypsy) girls drowned, and while their bodies were still on the beach covered with beach towels, sunbathers continued enjoying the sun nearby as if nothing happened.
This story struck me for two reasons. First off, the fact that these were Roma girls means something. I heard a national talk show host talking about this story, and he glossed right over this fact, clearly not understanding the history behind it. Gypsies have been a despised people in Europe for hundreds of years, and have been subject to enslavement and ethnic cleansing. Because of the discrimination they face, they often are seen begging and often travel from place to place. Though I don’t know that the sunbathers knew that the girls who drowned were Roma, it certainly seems likely considering the reports say that they had been begging prior to getting into the water.
Secondly, the response of the Italian sunbathers to the death of those around them was a sharp reminder to me that I all too often take this attitude towards the spiritual death of those around me. Like those sunbathers, I have fun and pursue my own interests, not letting the thought that those around me are actually dying dampen my day of fun in the sun.
American Christianity is really good at this. We spend our money on Christian trinkets and read the latest self-help books with a Christian veneer trying to learn how to be happy. How easy it is to forget that my own happiness is not my reason for being here!
This story has spurred me on to try to be more purposeful in everything I do. May God open my eyes to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those He has placed in my path, and may He give me what I need to address them.
