Question 1

Can I hope to one day understand myself?

D&C Post #9

Last week, we did something a little different in class. Instead of having our regular lectures, Rita Wright from the BYU Museum of Art came and spoke to us and then guided us on our tour of their latest exhibit, Types and Shodwos: Intimations of Divinity.

Obviously, it wasn't a challenge for the museum to collect numerous pieces with religious themes behind them. Some pieces were very pronounced in their religious orientation - depictions of the annunciation, the crucifixion, or carvings of Noah's ark. Yet, others were more subtle, like this piece:

As for subject, it seems quite simple: chairs draped in fabric, one in red, one in white, one fallen, one upright. However, the possible interpretations expanded as we discussed the meaning behind these symbols.

Red - blood, sin

White - purity, divinity

Chair - rest, throne of power, authority, state of being

Cloth - vestment, covering, banners

As I looked at this painting, I felt it was representation of those three days between the crucifixtion and the resurrection. Christ had died on the cross, allowing his physical body to be bruised and broken, allowed it to fall - like the chair draped in the red cloth. Yet, as he commended his spirit in his father's hands, he rose in the glory of the spirit, having completed the great trial of his mission. By that act, he would reign in glory and mercy as the Savior of Mankind, having fulfilled the will of the father in all things. Yet, his body would only remain in the tomb for three days, before being taken up again, eventually to be 'righted'.

I'm grateful that I can study at this university, which includes such resources as the Museum of Art, in that my studies can be enriched by more than just intelligent lecture but also by the careful reflection that follows art.

[Rambling into the Night]

"What kind of relationship do you have?"

"You know that moment when you look into somebody's eyes and you can feel them staring into your soul and the whole world goes quiet?"

"Yes"

"Right, well, I don't."

I stole these lines from the Up in the Air trailer which you can find here. George Clooney really delivers these lines well.

I try to keep up on movie trailers, (you know, one more way to pass the day) but of all the trailers I've seen, this one, and that line, stood out to me. I feel for this guy; like I can almost get away with these same words. I've heard and read about the romantic ideal, 'when the whole world goes quiet', but really, I don't have the slightest clue what it's like. I could give Brontë's answer. I could quote Miss Austen. Or I might just pull out a poem by e.e. Cummings. But really, can I write my own poems yet?

I hope I don't sound hopeless, or impatient, because I'm not (at least, I don't think I am). It's more of a question, or maybe it's the answer and I just don't yet know the right question. Either way, I love the honesty in this - that we can have the idea before we have the experience. In other words, we can describe love before we've felt it.

And that's why we can['t] wait