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March 10, 2005
Home Away From Home...
*WARNING: this is not theological, psychological, or philosophical in any way, shape, or form. Read on at your own risk*
Welcome, to 403 Ross Hall...my home away from home.
Here's the scene...walk in the door, straight ahead...my desk. Complete with inbox tray, Swingline stapler, Mac computer, and this yellow teddy bear that has been here for the last three years (I have no idea where it came from). To the right we have the lovely Teresa Smiley (no relation to Jane Smiley, though she used to teach at ISU). Teresa is the graduate secretary and has two kids . To the left is the fun, bubbly Deanna Stumbo. Deanna, the FYC secretary, has no human children, but her two dogs and two donkeys fill the role pretty well.
Both these women went to high school in Boone, college at DMACC, and have been working at ISU for most of their adult life. They've been in this office together for about seven or eight years.
I don't know if I can even summarize how much I love these women. They have been a part of most of my college experience. When things were rough with my family, I knew I could come into the office and vent or cry or whatever I needed to do. When I was stressed out with school, they would encourage me, affirm me, and take me out to lunch.
And I love the random things I do for this job. For example, probably the least necessary, but most favorite thing I do for Deanna and Teresa is decorate the bulletin boards. I know, I know, you're all already laughing by now. But these women LOVE it. And other people from the department come to see them when the season or the holiday changes. I'm practically a celebrity :)
Of course my "artistic" talents have also had me make tons of random posters, paint shovels, arrange for meetings (I set up a mean cookie and tea display), and a couple of weeks ago, one of the professors enlisted me to redecorate her office. And yes--I eat this stuff up...I love it!
There are days when I do real work too, you know. Dude, I have skills...I can run that copy machine like nobody's business and when it comes to graduate inquiries, whoa buddy, no one can touch me. If you ever see me out on campus without a backpack, it's probably because I'm making a run to Alumni Hall, the grad college, or the bookstore. And of course, no workstudy would be worth her salt if she couldn't alphabetize with the best of them.
So yeah, it's been a good three years. I'm kind of sad that it's drawing to a close. But I know I must pass the torch. I'm really hoping that there is another Rock'er out there would wants this job. Teresa and Deanna have both commented that Rebekah (Bovenmyer) and I have been markedly different than any other workstudies they have had. I don't say that to brag, but just to let you guys know that the Rock is even making an impact in the English Department.
Well, if you're ever in the neighborhood, stop in and say hi. We love the company!
Posted by Autumn at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2005
A.N. Hare...
So, according to Mike last night, all great Christian theologians have to publish their musings with their first two initials...hmm. So I should be publishing blog entries as A.N. Hare? Well, I don't suppose I'll ever be a great Christian theologian, but I have been itching to share with you all some things I've been reading from C.S. Lewis and A.W. Tozer. I'm not writing any major commentary on the quotes, for that, you'll have to actually converse with me...
C.S. Lewis in the Introduction to The Four Loves
"Man approaches God most nearly when he is in one sense least like God. For what can be more unlike fullness and need, sovereignty and humility, righteousness and penitence, limitless power and a cry for help?"
"We may give our human loves the unconditional allegiance which we owe only to God. Then they become gods; then they become demons. Then they will destroy us, and also destroy themselves. For natural loves that are allowed to become gods do not remain loves. They are still called so, but can become in fact, complicated forms of hatred."
C.S. Lewis on Friendship
"You will not find the warrior, the poet, the philosopher, or the Christian by staring into his as as if he were your mistress: better fight beside him, read with him, argue with him, pray with him."
"Friendship is--in a sense not at all derogatory to it--the least natural of loves, the least instinctive, organic, biological, gregarious, and necessary."
Now this is my FAVORITE thing I read from Lewis recently...
"But in friendship, being free of all that [affection and eros], we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, strictly speaking, for a Christian, there are no chances. A secret Master of Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "You have not hcosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each beauties of all the other. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good friendship, increased by Him through Friendship itself, so that it is is his instrument for creating as well as for revealing. At this feast it is he who has spread the board and it is he who has chosen the guests. It is he, we may dare to hope, who sometimes does, and should, always preside. Let us not reckon without our host."
ISN'T THAT A WONDERFUL QUOTE?
Okay, now for some Tozer's Knowledge of the Holy...
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."
"The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him."
"Let faith support us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe."
"We want a God we can in some measure control...The God of contemporary Christianity is only slightly superior to the gods of Greece and Rome, if indeed He is not actually inferior to them in that He is weak and helpless while they at least had power."
READ THIS NEXT ONE...it will kick your butt...it did mine...
"Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world...Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his hearers, not only for the heather but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support. I fear that thousands of young persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of. Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today."
Zing, Mr. Tozer! Zing!
"Let us not imagine that the truth of this divine self-sufficiency will paralyze Christian activity. Rather it will stimulate all holy endeavor. This truth, while a needed rebuke to human self-confidence, will when viewed in its Biblical perspective life from our minds the exhausting load of mortality and encourage us to take the easy yoke of Christ and spend ourselves in Spirit-inspired toil for the honor of God and the good of mankind. For the blessed news is that the God who needs no one has in sovereign condescension stooped to work by and in and through His obedient children."
Can I get an Amen?!
Man, these guys psych me up...
I hope this gave you all something to ponder today. I definitely recommend reading both these books, but if philosophical/theological stuff isn't your cup of tea, I hope you enjoyed some of these highlights.
Posted by Autumn at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2005
Good Ol' F.A.E....
Most of you are probably thinking, what?! For a few of you psychologizers out there, you might have at least recognized the initials. F.A.E.—Fundamental Attribution Error. For those of you less familiar with the terminology of social psychology (say that three times real fast), let me explain…
The F.A.E. is a social phenomenon that happens when an individual attributes another individual’s behavior to the internal qualities of that individual and fails to take the situation into account. For example, Joe walks into a room, trips, and falls down. Are you more likely to think, “Man, that Joe’s a klutz!”—internal attribution. Or, “Whoa, the floor is really uneven by the door, no wonder Joe tripped.”—external, situational attribution.
Many, many research articles say that you are more likely to think the first. To further explain, consider this…
Give a bunch of good psychology students a sheet of paper. On both sides of it, list several statements such as “I am always happy,” “I tend to see the best in things,” and “I try to do the right thing.” Give them three response options: a) this is always true of me b) this is never true of me c) it depends on the situation. On one side of the paper, ask them to answer the question for some celebrity they are familiar with. Once they are done with that, ask them to flip the paper over and answer the questions about themselves. I guarantee you that at least 80% of your respondents will choose C far more often for themselves and very rarely for the celebrity.
More recent cultural psychology studies have found that if people from the West tend to be very prone to making this error. Interestingly enough, the F.A.E. seems to be absent in non-Western cultures. Why is that?
Well, there could be several reasons. The most obvious being that for people in other cultures, the situation is just more salient. It is something they pay more mental attention to. Why is that? From the little bit I’ve been learning about definitions of self, my guess is that the situation is more salient to them because the situation is very much included in their definition of self.
In the U.S., and in other Western nations, our culture helps groom how we define ourselves [note: I am not taking spiritual matters into account here]. Here, we are taught that who you really are should always be consistent, no matter what the situation is. However, in other cultures, people couldn’t tell you who they really are without a situational context.
Now you’re all wondering why I am using my blog to give mini-social psych lessons?
The thing is that the F.A.E. occurs every day and impacts the way we interact with others. We are creatures of assumption. We are cognitive misers. We don’t want to expend any more energy than we have to thinking about things, so we tend to go with our default explanations for things. In the West, that means internal attributions for the actions of others.
So the real point is that I just can’t quit thinking about the U.S.’s interactions with other nations. I’m not saying I have anything figured out. In fact, all I seem to have are questions. The thing is that if I spew these questions on this blog, not all my friends have to sit through my psycho babble.
Here’s the thing. I know that culture is not the end all and be all explanation for human behavior—but I do believe it is a large influencer. I think most of you probably believe this to some degree as well (otherwise why try to make The Rock and other ministry efforts “culturally relevant”?). Studies have shown that people from other countries who move to the U.S. have their sense of self, their self-esteem (which is a whole different entry in itself) begin to adapt to our definitions. Thus, they may become more prone to the F.A.E. as a result of our culture.
Okay, okay, I’m wrapping it up. Here’s my question…what are going to be some of the effects of Western influence on the psychological functioning of peoples of the Middle East? And, how does this Western influence account for conflicts between countries that have already had a lot of outside influence versus those who haven’t? Does the West actually influence things at all?
Like I said, I have way more questions than answers. I hope I don’t get attacked because of my ponderings. If anyone is even remotely interested in cultural psychology, I have tons of articles you can plow through. For the rest of you, just know I had to get this out of my head so I could make room for potentially more important questions…
Posted by Autumn at 10:12 AM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2005
Raising the Dead in Me...
Last night at Bible study, we were discussing the story of Lazarus dying. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, the gist of it is this:
Mary and Martha, women very dear to Jesus, send word that their brother Lazarus (also a good friend of Jesus’) was sick and dying. Rather than rushing to his friend’s bedside, Jesus stayed put for two days. By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus is dead. Martha responds as her usual logical self and says she knows her brother will be raised on the day of resurrection. Mary, also true to form, drops to Jesus’ feet in desperation and says flat out “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32).
Reading on, we find out that Jesus goes to the tomb, has the stone rolled away, and calls Lazarus forth. He’s alive.
What I think is interesting is that NO ONE’s response to the situation is recorded. I mean, obviously these women were highly distressed at the death of their brother. When he was alive again, what did they do?
Did they shout for joy that their brother was restored to them?
Were they ashamed that they had been angry at Jesus for not being there?
Did they wonder why Jesus had to let Lazarus die in the first place?
I don’t know if the sisters thought any of these things, but I know I think them when a painful situation comes into my life. Why does God let us suffer? When we think there are so many other ways that he can get glory, why is the hard road still taken?
Wouldn’t have Mary and Martha’s faith been just as stretched and grown if Lazarus had come really, really, really close to dying and then Jesus healed him?
Probably not.
What situations have there been in your life in which you had nothing left to cling to but the knowledge God is good? I mean, come on, Mary and Martha did what they were supposed to. They asked for Jesus’ help. Yet they still had to wait and that involved suffering. When have you called out to God, expecting the pain to end, only to find the circumstances are getting worse and worse?
I find it so interesting that so often we still buy into the lie that a life can be measured by pain or pleasure. How inadequate! Even from a human perspective, some of the individuals who have lived the most admired, most fulfilling lives, have had lives filled with pain.
I hope that I’m not coming across as though I believe we should be overjoyed when pain comes into our lives. I just wonder what our lives will look like when God lets parts of us die. What will my life look like when it is called forth out of the tomb?
These aren't my only ponderings about this story, or the issue of pain, but it'll do for now.
Posted by Autumn at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)