senior quote?

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.” - Dr. Seuss

what i've learned from tragedies

Before we studied tragedies this year I never enjoyed reading them because they always left me feeling sad and depressed. Now after learning about catharsis I see how feeling the emotions of the tragic hero helps me work through my own emotions. I actually appreciate tragedies more because of that function. I feel much more emotionally satisfied accompanying the protagonist on their rise and inevitable crash and burn than i do with a character whose emotional journey is the equivalent of crawling up and down a mole mound and then back up again.
This purging also took place as we talked about the dark truths of Christianity. It forced me to think and work through them and see that I can't just ignore the hard parts of being a Christian. Christianity isn't all butterflies and teacups and I have to remember these aspects because they are real and people have to face them. At the same time I can rest in knowing that God is sovereign and that he is always faithful.

evange-blogging for oedipus

In Sophocles play, Oedipus Rex, the protagonist, Oedipus, is given the tragic flaw of pride. This vice causes him to kill the people of the carriage that was in his way and declare exile for the pollutant of the city. He killed his father, an act he was trying to avoid, and he exiled himself because he was unknowingly the cause of the city's problems. Since he did not control his anger he acted recklessly bringing abhorrence and banishment upon himself.
As we have learned from CS Lewis, pride is the worst of sins because it is the root for more sin and it makes people impossible for a person to look up since their always looking down. Oedipus's pride leads to his anger which causes his recklessness. Being full of pride also means that he is looking down. He accuses Terisius and Creon for plotting against him, but if he were looking up he would see that "fate" is controlling him.
God's word gives us warnings to keep people from ending up like Oedipus for "pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18