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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Rant

Reading Silence for me has been a struggle in a lot of different ways. For me, it does not feel like an honors work. Instead, it feels more like a book I should be reading in intercultural studies. In fact I was telling Dr. Wilson this today. He said he might look into it. Nevertheless, Silence touches on a lot of things we have been discussing in terms of crossing cultures for extended periods of time: culture shock, loss of routine, potential persecution, appropriate boldness, building relationships, Type I and Type II cultural dilemmas, hot climate vs. cold climate, so on and so forth. As an individual bound for cross cultural work, I keep thinking that this story is real and that it is not merely a novel. I mean, the last book I read on crossing cultures in deadly persecution was Through Gates of Splendor by Elisabeth Elliot.

As Malory Green was saying in class the other day, I, too, have been wondering what I would do in their shoes. Would I trample? Does the concept of trampling the fumie even matter to me? Is that a social conditioning for me as a Protestant? Why don't the physical aspects matter to me? and should they or shouldn't they? If I trample, is it because I am bold in my faith? Don't we walk by faith and not by sight? Isn't the fumie just another sight?

Like Sara, I went through and circled the times I saw the word "face" in the text. A while back I read this novel by Ted Dekker called Blessed Child, which is about a boy named Caleb who while narrating says he walks in the kingdom while he prays. I remember that at the time, I wanted that. I wanted my prayer life to be that powerful that I was walking with God in the kingdom while I prayed, that I could see it the way Dekker describes Caleb doing. I kind of felt that way again as Rodrigues starts talking about the face of Christ. I have never really thought about what Christ's face looked like in certain situations. My thoughts on His face are simple. I imagine a stereotypical Jewish face of almost a sombre expression. I mean, we sing songs all the time about seeking His face, but do we actually do that? Am I so whole-heartedly seeking after the Lord that I even seek to know the details of His face though I am still in my humanity?

All in all, to me Silence is about prayer. One thing that does not seem to fall out of the plot is Rodrigues's prayer life despite the seeming silence of God. God speaks in strange ways: through people, through situations, etc. etc. I am guilty of not seeing things until later, and frankly, I look for His responses in ways that I can understand and comprehend, not necessarily the ways He chooses.


COMMENTED ON MALLORY'S

I am sorry. I am aware this is late.

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