Friday, May 4, 2018

Aspects of Christian Literature - Chapter 4

6-7-1989

What is world view, and what is my world view?

World view is a set of beliefs that tell a person what to think and how to act in any situation in life.

My own world view is a Christian world view.  To me, being a Christian is to live as Christ would live.  He is my example.  In all relationships I strive for openness and honesty.  I respect the rights of others, but hold to my standards and convictions, which I feel God has instilled in me.  Above all, I love without conditions.  I believe my purpose for being here is to be an instrument of praise to Jesus and His agent of love, His servant, to others.

I try to view all situations through the eyes of Jesus and act accordingly.  I am accountable for my lifeblood.  That's serious.  I think each situation demands my best.  This is not to say I achieve that...but I am always conscious of my weaknesses and struggle to overcome them.  The struggle is between my flesh and my spirit.

I believe God is in ultimate control, and accept whatever happens as ordained by Him for my best.  This means I have to leave a lot of questions with Him over circumstances I do not understand.

I finished reading Till We Have Faces yesterday.  I found that I was intrigued with the story, and kept reading with a desire to learn what truth Orual learned.  I thought I would find the book difficult to read, but I was very interested in it.

Throughout the whole story I kept thinking that the end result would be that Orual would be like the ugly duckling who turned into a beautiful swan. I was looking for the physical transformation.  In reality there was a spiritual transformation instead.  I'm glad CS Lewis did that for it portrays that it truly is the heart that matters, not the face.  Man look on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.

It seems I could identify with Orual at times.  When she was so introspective and searching for truth, for example.  The arguments that transpired in her mind in trying to rationalize things sounded so typical of me.  No matter what I decide, I still have doubts and questions.  

I believe Orual was always sincere in her love for Psyche.  But love can become warped and possessive, and destroy the very object of our love.  The pain of realization of what we have done, when it's too late, is very difficult to bear.  One lives with the knowledge it was his own hands that squeezed life out of that dearest to one's heart.  The story of King Midas and his lust for gold is a good example of love getting out of control.  He wouldn't have traded his daughter for all the gold in the world, yet that lust of gold overtook him, and in his own touch he destroyed his ultimate love.

Orual liked the control she had over Psyche.  She would have given her life for Psyche because she loved him so deeply, but when she became obsessed with controlling Psyche, she destroyed his happiness, and created separation between them.

Love...pure love...is giving without expecting anything in return.  It is letting go and allowing the other person to become all he can become without my control, knowing we are each unique and have different paths created just for us.  We grow as we share the different experiences we each have, not in becoming clones of one another.  A possessive kind of love says, "I'm insecure and I need you to survive.  You must nurture my needs."  That is not the obvious, but when one person tries to control another, that is the root of it.

Today in class we started reviewing Part 1 of the book Till We Have Faces.  Even though I have read the book, and did find it interesting, I don't have good recall of the finer details.  In preparation for the test next week, I am reading the book again.  I hope I can absorb more this time.

I have chosen Joyce Landorff as the Christian author to present to the class.  I am using her novel He Began with Eve.  I have checked out several of her other books to get a glimpse into her background and who she is.  Most of her books are non-fictional essays written out of sorrows, from her heart.  She shares the lessons she has learned and the insight she has been given from her sufferings.

He Began with Eve is the story of five women from the Bible, from a third person omniscience perspective.  It is so easy to identify with the main character and feel what she felt.



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