Protecting Loved Ones

Is it ever okay to break the law? This is an intriguing question for me. In Peace Like A River, the Lands are Christians, and therefore I would assume they would believe it is wrong to break the law. When Davy gets taken to jail for committing murder, his family still supports him. They are even happy when he escapes from jail after his trial. People come and go wanting the Lands to tell them where Davy is, but the Lands never do. When Mr. Andreeson, a fed, comes to visit, he is very short with the family and tells them that if they do not want Davy to get hurt, they should let him know where he is. Jeremiah says he does not know and even if he did he would not tell.  Now Davy’s family could have given any information they had about Davy to the fed as they found it out, but they didn’t. This made me think about whether or not it is ever okay to break the law. I think that a lot of people living in the world right now see breaking laws as bad only if they get caught. As a Christian though, I know that God is always watching us. Even if we do not get caught by a human, God sees our sin and that should be enough to keep us from breaking the law if we really love God.

Jeremiah is a great example of someone who walks by faith, knowing that God will provide for his family.  He never really lies about Davy’s whereabouts, but he does not give the fed all of the information he has about where Davy is. I found this a little weird because up until now, Jeremiah did not really have any flaws in my eyes. I can understand though why he did what he did. I know that I love my family very much and want to protect them from anything or anyone who would harm them. Jeremiah feels the same way about Davy.  I understand why he would not tell anymore than he had to. He wanted to make sure that Davy was okay and he wanted to find him before the fed did, so that the Lands could be a family again. I do not condon breaking the law, but I do see why Jeremiah would want to keep Davys whereabouts a secret for now and for that reason I do not think less of him as a person.

Miracles

This week in class we were assigned to read the first eighty pages of the book “Peace Like A River.”  We read the first chapter together as a class and the word miracle really stuck out to me as we were reading. The word miracle is used throughout the book and really provides insight into these characters lives. Reuben Land describes miracle as a word that “for too long has been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely normal.” This really made me think about what I define as a miracle. I think too often people think that it is God’s job to provide miracles. This is why some people get angry when God does not save a person’s life or does not stop something bad from happening. I think that miracles are God’s way of blessing people. God does not have to perform miracles, but he chooses to because he loves his people.

The book talks about the miracle of the never ending soup. This closely parallels the story of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus took a small amount of food and provided food for everyone there. God is defiantly capable of performing miracles, but it is not up to us to decide when a miracle needs to take place. We have to trust God and know that he has our best interests at heart and that he has a plan for our lives. I feel like I have never really seen a true miracle in my life, even though I know I have. I am a miracle myself. God created my uniquely and no one else is like me. This book really grasps the reader’s attention by starting with a miracle at the very beginning of the book.

Throughout the book there are many references to miracles or miracles witnessed. Some of these miracles are pretty amazing and sometimes hard to picture or believe without seeing. That is why God takes faith, we cannot always see what is going on, so we have to believe. God will always be there for everyone. All we have to do is give our life to him.

Disappointment

The poem “God, A Poem,” is a dialogue between a human and God. The ironic part of the poem is the fact that God keeps on talking about the fact that he is not real, even though he is the speaker. I believe that this poem is describing the doubts that most people feel, but never really express out loud. God has been a disappointment for this person; he is “the limpest of shakes from a hand which you’d thought would be firm as a rock.” At the same time God is saying that the person has been a disappointment to him as well. The person and God seem to share the same opinion of each other. They both think that the other one is wrong and is stupid for believing what they believe. God tells the person that he should have guessed that he does not exist. This poem shows the expectations that people might have when it comes to how they view God. I think that it is sometimes hard for people to believe in someone that they cannot physically see with their own eyes. Believing in God takes faith and some people struggle with faith. If people start to doubt about God’s existence who knows what will happen to them. This poem really made me think. I am a Christian and I believe in God. I found this poem to be pretty trouble. It was a well written poem, but it is untrue. In the poem God denies his own existence, but he does not deny all the things that he has done. He talks about how he did not exist at Creation or the flood, but if this is true, then how did he know about these events. He must have been there. God is real and all of the things he has done are real. I do not think that people should ever underestimate God and his power because he exists and he is the only one that can ever save anyone. We need to rely on God. God is our only hope in life.

Lanyard

This week the class was assigned to read the poem Lanyard. This poem really challenged me to consider how I view my mom and made me question how much appreciation I really show her for all she has done for me. I am adopted, so in my case my mother did not actually give birth to me, but she has done everything a mother does for a child for me. She takes care of me when I am sick and help me solve a problem when I encounter one. She helps keep me out of trouble and from a young age, she has instilled valuable lifelong lessons in my life. When I think about it, what have I really done for her? I have made her little gifts growing up and I have tried to make her proud of the things I do in life, but it is hard to compare anything I have done for her to all the things she has done for me.

In the last line of the poem the author says that the “lanyard” is enough to make “us even”. The author is referring to his mom and I find this sentence highly unusual. How does a lanyard break even with everything the mom has given her son, including life? I would love to think that a present I give my mom will have some significance, but I do not ever think that I can make up for everything she has done for me in my life. My mother is truly irreplaceable. The poem talks about how mothers “give life”, “teach”, and care for their children. I can say in my case, that this is not always an easy job. I think that my mother and all mothers have done so much for their children and I think that nothing can ever really show what they mean to us. I think that children should thank their mothers for everything they do for them by trying to obey them and by showing them love and compassion everyday of their life. I truly believe that without my mom being my mom throughout my life, I would not be the person that I am today and will be in the future.