McBride Lecture for Faith and Literature 2013

If you were able to attend the 2013 McBride Lecture for Faith and Learning on Friday evening, you know what a great event it was. 

Naomi Benaron, author of Running the Rift spoke to the campus about faith and literature from her own context. Although Ms. Benaron is not of the Christian faith, her perspective stretched and grew my faith, as I hope she did many others in attendance. 

Ms. Benaron is a secular Jew. However, this did not keep her from elucidating the importance of faith in all of our lives, as we saw in her novel. 

For Benaron, the main focus of her faith is to make the world a better place. 

"Through our actions, we must repair the world," she said. 

Her central points focus on faith and the world we live in. This is not a perfect world, and is often far from it. Because she speaks from the experience of studying the horrors of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, her perspective is shaped by the atrocities that occur all-too-often. 

"The only bridge that can take you from horror to beauty is faith," Benaron said. "Creation trumps destruction every time."

Benaron's own creation, the novel Running the Rift, certainly emphasizes this point. 

What a great night it was!

Hilarity ensues in "Austenland"

Are you an Austen lover? Do you enjoy a good rom-com? Do you dream of Mr. Darcy? Then "Austenland" is the movie for you.

Keri Russell stars as the hilarious, Darcy-crazed, 30-something Jane Hayes. When the latest of her relationships goes south, Jane decides she needs a vacation. To escape from her everyday, unromantic American life, Jane opts for the place she thinks she will feel most at herself: Austenland. 

Austenland is a place where guests can enjoy all-Austen all the time. With Regency-era dress and housing, actors to "entertain" (and woo) the guests, and era-appropriate entertainment like "hunting" and cross-stitching, it is not surprising when hilarities ensue.

As Jane navigates her "Copper Level" rooms, the wildly funny other guests (Jennifer Coolidge as Miss Elizabeth Charming), and actors (James Callis as Col. Andrews, Ricky Whittle as Captain George East, Jane Seymour as owner Mrs. Wattlesbrook), her Darcy dreams seem to come to life in her somewhat confusing romantic pairings with the aloof Mr. Nobley (JJ Feild) and farmhand Martin (Bret McKenzie).

Napoleon Dynamite screenwriter's Jerusha Hess made a hilarious directorial debut in this 97-minute movie. With romance, the Regency era, and comedy, this movie has everything you need for a worthwhile trip to the movies. Make sure to check before heading to the theatre as it is only showing in select locations (Quail Springs AMC for Oklahoma City). 

http://www.sonyclassics.com/austenland/

On Blogging

Here is a recent blog I wrote for class. One of my courses this semester requires weekly blogs, so I may from time to time post a class blog here in the interest of resuming blogging. Enjoy! :

 Although I raised my hand for keeping a blog already, it has been quite awhile since I updated a blog on a regular basis. So what should I blog about? That is the question that has kept me from blogging for a long time. When I was a blogger, my mother was the only person who regularly read my posts. My one post that more than two people read was one I wrote in memory of a dear friend that passed. After writing it, no other posts seemed important or relevant, so for a long time I left that as the last and most recent post as a memorial to her. I did keep up two blogs for a dental company the summer before last, as a marketing intern. That left me a little burnt out, too. Suffice to say, I have not kept up a blog in a long time.

 My dad likes to keep up a blog as a sort of therapy, to get his ideas out and to keep himself creative. Often he will leave a short thought and a corresponding song that pops into his head, often by Rush or some other 80's band from his youth.

 So why do I need to keep a blog? Obviously, it is a class requirement. In the past, I have found it useful, and my former blog posts helped me get the internship keeping up marketing blogs. Blogging can be therapeutic. And rather than keeping a private journal, others can respond to blogs, fostering community and communication.So, although personal blogging may seem narcissistic, I think I will choose a form of personal blogging. Not only do I hope that this will be beneficial for me personally, but I am the subject I know best.

Dipping my feet in

Well, now that I've posted that last post, I kind of want to try the water once more and work on blogging, especially since one of my goals for this year is being more reflective. So, why not? Let's reflect and ruminate and write. This semester started up without fanfare, and I'm already knee-deep in reading assignments and literary analysis. One exciting thing for this semester is that my Bible study group is sponsoring a girl named Ruth through Christian Relief Fund. She is in high school, so she's not that much younger than we are, but with just a little money from each of us we can help her go to school! Last week at our meeting we took a photo to send her. I hope she likes it!

Alright, perhaps more later. This wasn't really a reflection, but hopefully I'll get there. Off to homework! Peace and Blessings, Hannah

It's been awhile

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted a blog! If you're still reading, sorry about that. School and jobs keep me pretty busy these days, but if you still want to read along you can catch my food adventures at gfandgorgeous.tumblr.com ! And perhaps one of these days the blogging bug will bite me again, and I'll be back. In the meantime, have a great day! Be blessed. Hannah

One World

I watched the Olympic Opening Ceremony tonight. I always love the excitement of the opening ceremonies: so much to see, enjoy, and learn about the host country and all of the countries represented.

Tonight I was taken by the colorful costumes of so many of the countries,  and the traditional dress and flags of each country. As I looked around the arena, I saw so much diversity, so many peoples, so many heritages, all come together as one world, to celebrate and unify.

Does the amount of diversity and difference in the world ever strike you? Each country, culture, language, family and person is so totally unique. What could be the joining factor among us all? Our planet, for one. Some of us share a language; others share a continent of a political ideal. A few of us share a religion. But what, aside from our humanity unites us?

That’s just it though: our humanity. We can all unite and admit that we are human. What makes us human, though, is our Creator: God.

I know, not everyone reading this (or those I imagine might read this, if my words were better spread) agree on God, if He is there, or who or what He is. I, for one, believe, no, exist in Him. And I see in our Olympic games, in our diversity, in our Humanity, I see a reflection and an image of Him.

Let’s go with this idea for a minute, and act as if we all follow my train of thought, as if this were a world created by a God. This God, well, he is all about love. Is love something that a unified humanity projects? I believe it is.

I saw love in the Opening Ceremony, people joined together across a city, a nation, and the world, for one event.

I saw love as each constituency walked by, proudly waving their flags for their homes, their people, their families.

I saw love, as those dressed in white, advocates for peace, carried the Olympic flag to the Tor.

And I saw love, as nations joined together in a ceremony of peace.

Isn’t it amazing that love can do that? Could love do that if it were a human creation, something that randomly happened among people? Would people work for it, achieve great things, if it were something we could make up? Love is, well, LOVE because it is greater than us in our humanity. Love is of God.

God created each and every one of those people at the ceremony tonight. He planned their cultures, knew their futures and their plans (even that they would be at the games!) before they were born.

When I see diversity, I see God, because He isn’t some static being who lives in a whitewashed church room. God is the God of diversity, who has every culture, every nation, everything within Him. Could we have all this diversity if He were now diverse Himself? There is "one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all."(Ephesians 4:6 NLT)

In my travels and experiences with people from around the world I have seen this to be true. From Oklahoma to China, Mexico to Australia, New York to Japan, we are all very different, but our Creator unites us in Himself. He is beyond understanding or explaining, and He is love.

Enjoy the Olympics. I know I will.

{Amen}

end of semester

Can the end have come so soon? It seems just yesterday that I was moving into my dorm for the spring, and now here I am packing it up again. I'm looking forward to this summer. I have an internship, friends in town, and maybe a job. Although my boy will be far away again, if a job pulls through I can go visit him a time or two. :) This semester has been a lot of things, both ups and downs. Readjusting to America and school, saying goodbye to a dear friend--these things were hard. But this semester also was full of enjoying being with my best friends and wonderful boy, and lots of learning and growth in who I am and who I want to be. It was also great to learn the ropesas a new English major! Tonight I was inducted into the English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta and I am just so excited. I still don't really know what I want to do in the long-run, but for now I have found my campus niche, or my second one, after my HONRZ family :) I am truly grateful for this past semester of change and growth and look forward to what the summer will bring.Plus, NO CLASS! For part of it, at least. Let's do this! Hannah