Thursday, May 22, 2003
English Analysis?
Remember how I was trying to memorize James? Well I'm still on chapter one, so I've read that one chapter many times, but yesterday I I read it again for devos anyway. I don't know if it's because I've been trying to tutor English recently or something, but I found myself quite impressed/intrigued by the structure of James chapter one.
Actually I did notice this before because it made it easier to memorize, but there are many coherence links from sentence to sentence and even paragraph to paragraph. For example:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must complete it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask it of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ~ James 1: 2-5
And then:
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ~ James 1:12
See the way those italicized words connect the sentences and paragraphs? It's really quite well crafted. Since there are so many clear connections in the words, it seems like we're meant to make connections in the meaning/theme/ideas of the paragraphs as well. When it goes from persevering under trial in verse 12 to temptation in verse 13, the natural inference is that the temptation is somehow related to the trials discussed previously--which isn't a far stretch at all. Then after temptation it talks about not being deceived.
Since everything is so "obviously" connected then, I found the seemingly unrelated paragraph from verses 9 to 11 quite fascinating. I spent most of my devos last night trying to figure out how humble circumstances over high postion ties into trials and temptations. The only thing I could think of was that we should recognize the desire for wealth as a temptation, but that connection didn't feel particularly satisfactory. I really think there's something more that I'm not quite getting.
I tried using the forwards-backwards technique that we discussed a bit in a Major British Writers tutorial in relation to sonnet sequences--when reading sonnet sequences you're supposed to let the previous one inform the one you're reading, and vice-versa, and also use the one you're reading to shed light on the one that follows, and vice-versa--but, like I said, I wasn't really satisfied with what I came up with.
It's pretty interesting, and I'm hoping that if I let this chapter stew around in my head long enough, eventually some sort of connection will just gel in my mind. =P Sounds pretty wishy washy, I know, but I don't know if I can come up with a satisfactory idea just by concentrating on it.
Speaking of concentration, I didn't really have any today for my devos. ^^;; I was kind of tired of that James chapter after last night, so at first I tried reading today's Proverbs chapter (chapter 22) but I knew I wasn't really focusing even though I finished the chapter. So then I pulled out "My Utmost for His Highest" and read today's entry, as well as John 14, which was the passage used for the entry. I was able to focus a bit more, but I guess it still wasn't enough since I honestly can't say what I got from today's devos. ^^;;
Anyway, that's how things were with my devos yesterday and today. I really have to sleep, or I'm going to be dead (again) at work tomorrow!
Coming...
Egad it's late! ^^;; Anyway, I'm doing devos right now, but I'll be back once I'm done to blog. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep fairly early so that I won't be totally dead for work tomorrow. Guess this means I'll have to be concise when I blog. =P
Remember how I was trying to memorize James? Well I'm still on chapter one, so I've read that one chapter many times, but yesterday I I read it again for devos anyway. I don't know if it's because I've been trying to tutor English recently or something, but I found myself quite impressed/intrigued by the structure of James chapter one.
Actually I did notice this before because it made it easier to memorize, but there are many coherence links from sentence to sentence and even paragraph to paragraph. For example:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must complete it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask it of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ~ James 1: 2-5
And then:
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ~ James 1:12
See the way those italicized words connect the sentences and paragraphs? It's really quite well crafted. Since there are so many clear connections in the words, it seems like we're meant to make connections in the meaning/theme/ideas of the paragraphs as well. When it goes from persevering under trial in verse 12 to temptation in verse 13, the natural inference is that the temptation is somehow related to the trials discussed previously--which isn't a far stretch at all. Then after temptation it talks about not being deceived.
Since everything is so "obviously" connected then, I found the seemingly unrelated paragraph from verses 9 to 11 quite fascinating. I spent most of my devos last night trying to figure out how humble circumstances over high postion ties into trials and temptations. The only thing I could think of was that we should recognize the desire for wealth as a temptation, but that connection didn't feel particularly satisfactory. I really think there's something more that I'm not quite getting.
I tried using the forwards-backwards technique that we discussed a bit in a Major British Writers tutorial in relation to sonnet sequences--when reading sonnet sequences you're supposed to let the previous one inform the one you're reading, and vice-versa, and also use the one you're reading to shed light on the one that follows, and vice-versa--but, like I said, I wasn't really satisfied with what I came up with.
It's pretty interesting, and I'm hoping that if I let this chapter stew around in my head long enough, eventually some sort of connection will just gel in my mind. =P Sounds pretty wishy washy, I know, but I don't know if I can come up with a satisfactory idea just by concentrating on it.
Speaking of concentration, I didn't really have any today for my devos. ^^;; I was kind of tired of that James chapter after last night, so at first I tried reading today's Proverbs chapter (chapter 22) but I knew I wasn't really focusing even though I finished the chapter. So then I pulled out "My Utmost for His Highest" and read today's entry, as well as John 14, which was the passage used for the entry. I was able to focus a bit more, but I guess it still wasn't enough since I honestly can't say what I got from today's devos. ^^;;
Anyway, that's how things were with my devos yesterday and today. I really have to sleep, or I'm going to be dead (again) at work tomorrow!
Coming...
Egad it's late! ^^;; Anyway, I'm doing devos right now, but I'll be back once I'm done to blog. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep fairly early so that I won't be totally dead for work tomorrow. Guess this means I'll have to be concise when I blog. =P
