The Fig Tree

The Fig Tree
Lonely are those branches
Through which a curse advances
Lonely is the fig tree
Whose death comes fast, faster
Lonely fig tree
Cursed by our Master.

Richard Gianforte 2/6/2007

Simple poem rhymes AA BCBC; every other line begins with Lonely and has a decreasing number of syllables to create an illusion of speed.
The story is simply about Jesus cursing the fig tree which would bear no fruit.
(Matt. 21:18-21)

Casting Crowns' East to West

I've never liked this Casting Crowns song particularly, until yesterday. I sinned in a minor but very stupid way and am having trouble feeling forgiven because I didn't ask for the guy's forgiveness and now can't. At least I know God has forgiven me and forgotten the incident (though I still have to handle repercussions).

I think I'm also struggling with feeling like I have to forgive myself, because I just should have know better. Goes to show me that I screw up - it's good for my ego. I think God (who never tempts anyone) let me see how insufficient I am by myself to be good. I have to rely on Him as I vehemently combat sin; and thank Him for His forgiveness when I fail. As I wrote in my Gawain paper, the noble are shown by how they react when they sin.

Here I am Lord and I'm drowning
In your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where you found me
And it echoes in my mind
Keeps me awake tonight

I know you've cast my sins as far
As the East is from the West
And I stand before you now
As though I've never sinned but today
I feel like I'm just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way

Jesus can you show me
Just how far the East is from the West
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been
Come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest
Cause you know just how far the East is from the West
From one scarred hand to the other

Arctic Fisherman

This is a short poem I wrote in American Lit last year. I think I penned it after Poe's Raven to see how much lovely feminine rhyme one poem could hold. Its purpose is merely to explore the way rhyme and repetition can be used to create the mood of a poem.

"Arctic Fisherman"
Once there was a man a rowing,
Rowing, with the wind a blowing,
The wind was blowing, it was snowing,
And his arms, they kept on rowing,
And that wind, it kept on blowing,
And there really was no knowing

What he's wishing, as he's fishing,
in the blowing snowing wind. Oh,
He's casting, casting, casting over
But his wishing is not getting fish in.
Casting, reeling, wishing, hoping in a
Dreamy seamless rhythm on the sea.

Richard Gianforte 1/17/2007

Love and Knowledge

This thought, one of my better ones, became more developed today so I thought I'd share.

I think that the better someone knows something the more they love it (some ideas, like sin, excepted). Part of the reason I like math is because I'm good at it; I have knowledge of it and the calculus itself becomes pleasing. If I had no idea what integrals were, could I even like them? Knowledge, at least, is a prerequisite to love. Moreover, if a person keeps an open mind, they will often grow to love that which they are knowledgeable of. There aren't many things that I have liked less after having seen or tried them (oysters and Biblically-defined sin excepted again). Even if I tried, for instance, snowboarding (I ski) and didn't really like it as much as skiing, in some sense I could then at least appreciate its difficulty more for having tried it. By augmenting my knowledge of snowboarding through experience, I can value it for what it is.

This principle is seen more clearly in personal relationships. The more time two people spend together the more their friendship will develop. Why? Because they are learning each other's likes and dislikes; what their friend likes to eat and how they view the world. For some reason merely being with someone breeds companionship. The more I hang out with guys on the basketball team or at youth group the better I know them and the more I actually feel like their friends.

Community and common have the some root. Sharing experiences with another person creates common things between you; community is built up. When I don't talk to any of my friends for a while, I feel like we've been disconnected. We've lost some of that common experience. Some events that are life-changing, like a mission trip or a survived disaster, provide a permanent like between people. In most cases, however, friendships must be built up through hours spent together fairly consistently; otherwise the commonality fades away into the past. On the other hand, to lift a friendship a lot of time needs to be expended developing commonality - either over years or by close interaction daily. (Granted, people who begin with occupation, class, hobbies, etc. in common are more likely to love each other and become friends. This may be because they see themselves in the other person. They love their friend for the pieces of self they see in them.)

Excellent conversationalists are often those who can discern and intelligently converse with someone else about their interests. They must be in tune to things the other person likes and also must have enough knowledge about those likes to build a conversation. A conversation is most successful when the speakers find a topic that they both enjoy; so that they are both talking about themselves. Back to the snowboarding example: even if I didn't like it, I still have added to my realm of experience. I could talk about it with others who have tried snowboarding and maybe even discuss a little with expert boarders. That knowledge gives opportunity for commonality and friendship. Therefore, the best conversationalists are generally those whose experience is broadest - they can interact with any person on any topic. If they are wise they will find the one that their friend most wishes to discuss. This wide range of experience can be attained through reading. There are too many things to be and do for one person to experience them all. However, a book provides insight into many different people, countries, cultures, activities, etc. I may never know what it's like to climb Mount Everest, but by reading the autobiography of a summiter I can than talk intelligently (with knowledge) to a mountain climber about something he loves.

I can see why some couples divorce after decades of marriage - they simply stop talking to each other. Maybe they get bored, cease to interact, and wake up realizing they don't know their partner very well anymore. I've heard that common family time is crucial to preventing breakups. Spouses truly need to be each other's best friend and this is not possible without a lot of time spent together.

Alright, kindof crazy. If you, the reader, pick anything useful out of that I'll be happy. My mind is full but my body is tired and I have some stuff to do before bed.

Glory of the Earth

I went hiking today in the Spanish Peaks. My dad and I reached Mirror Lake, 14 miles round trip (and we were done by 12 noon =). After the snowfall last night everything up there was white and beautiful. I had never reached a high mountain lake in the winter, and if it wasn't so cold I would think people would always camp in the winter because of the spectacular views. Everyone would have to use snowshoes, though, and pack food for a week in case they got snowed in. Thankfully for me, the two or three inches was just enough to cover the icy lake, the trees, and the ground without making hiking impossible. The vista like the one I enjoyed this morning and the raw physical exertion leave me with a very satisfied feeling. It's wonderful to spend time outside, and I mean in the wilderness outside.
Oh, I nearly forgot. Yesterday I went over a mountain pass in the same region that had a lot more snow. For those of you who haven't run with your horse down a mountain slope through four feet of snow have missed out on one of life's joys. I'm dead serious. I'm not sure we could have stopped the controlled tumble if we wanted to - looking back at the hill I would have classified it as a black diamond ski run. The horses' bellies were in the snow it was so deep; and this was the only way down (except back, but who wants to go back?). The whole experience was a little scary at the time, but looking back it seems like the coolest thing in the world. I hope someone up there sees our tracks.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Edification in Relationships

I realized last night just how important fellowship was. Earlier this week I had been exceeding the speed limit on my road going home after practice because there was no one around, and who likes to spend all their time driving around? But after staying and talking with my gymnastics coach for over an hour, I was heading home, and I just couldn't break the speed limit. I tried =) but when the needle went above 35 I hit the brakes and just thought "The little things are where being a Christian really matters. I can't do this." I hadn't talked to my coach at all about this specific thing, we had just had an extremely edifying discussion about a lot of topics. For some reason that alone provided motivation for me to do the right thing.
I'm still working on my entire outlook towards people and being more social; this certainly helped. As Mr. K said today, "You'll realize that not all deep things are intellectual things." Relationships are crucial to living as a Christian.

How God's glory and our joy are the same

Crazy how I never understood this before. A Christian's joy and deep comedy happiness comes from giving glory to God. I had thought prior to tonight, in some way, that a believer should rejoice because God loves them and has forgiven them. Yet this isn't perfectly true, and it lacks beauty. It would mean that we rejoice in God because He loves us. In other words, that we honor Him because He makes much of us, that because He makes much of us He is lovely too us. Our loving Him, then, would be dependent on His love for us.

Yet our happiness isn't dependent on how God loves us per se, but how He allows us to love Him. What a change! I can't explain this notion completely as I've just come to the realization myself, but I can tell it has a large impact already. For instance, before this epiphany I have tried to love other people by seeing them as God sees them and loves them, in their place just as they are because they are human. In the new outlook, however, I can really love them for what they could be if they honestly and practically rejoiced in God's glory. True love, then, sees this telos (everyone glorifying God) and moves people, things, and relationships towards it.

My Calculus II awaits. Let's see if I can do it to bring glory to God; instead of God loving me because I did it in a way that was pleasing. See the difference? I hope so. I think some of my pride comes from the old belief of God loving me because I accepted the sacrifice of His Son (this is true, but not the very bottom line). God created and saved men for His glory.

Is Christian schooling bad?

I've heard the argument that Christians attending their own little insular school and dealing with their "own kind" is sinful because we are not evangelizing. If the Bible calls us to be salt and light, why don't all Christian children attend public school? They ought to be able to influence their classmates and maybe even their teachers more than they are influenced.
There are few reasons this theory doesn't work. First, during the formative years of a child's education they are not learning as much as absorbing. Before the critical thinking skills have developed (around middle school) all they do is accept what is taught them. If this information is not saturated with a Christian worldview, the child will grow up as a Christian in name only; they will really think in a secular way just like their classmates.
So what about high schoolers, who ought to be able to defend themselves and not accept everything spoken by their teacher? Assume that they attended a Christian school kindergarten through eighth grade - wouldn't it seem time to step into the real world? Yet the pressures to fit in and be cool are stronger in high school than ever. Exhibit A: peer pressure; a hard and fast reality. The dorky kid who protests against evolution will immediately be labeled and set aside as atypical, if not bullied. Exhibit B: teachers whose job is to instruct students. Nothing is worldview neutral - a Realist mathematics teacher will teach Realist mathematics, and force their students to think and do Realist mathematics. Think the Christian might be able to suddenly convince their teacher Realism is untrue and convert to Christianity? Think again. These teachers have had 30 plus years (50 plus for some) to consider their worldview. They decided what they believed long before the Christian student was out of diapers.
In addition, parents must realize that the high school years and extremely influential in shaping a person's life. Students are beginning the transformation from kids to adults; any influences during this period will be especially potent. Do the parents feel their kids can get enough Christianity on Sunday to last them through the rest of the week at government schools? In a culture of cheating on schoolwork, foul language, drugs, and sex, will the Christian hold strong? Sadly too many, at a crossroads in their intellectual life, decide that these things are more attractive than stuffy old religion.
Also consider that if a Christian attends public school, they will usually have secular friends. Like it or not, they will pick up habits, attitudes, and language that their friends use. A proverb I don't know the reference to says: "Bad company corrupts good morals." A high schooler is still developing intellectually, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. They are in no position to handle the barrages of the secular culture 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. "Would you send a baby into battle?" (Mr. K).
Richard
P.S. Please comment - holes, arguments I should have included (this isn't comprehensive =), well dones, etc.

The beginning

Well, this if the first post of my blog. I am going to start writing here regularly as a way to express my thoughts, and even to think new ones as I write. My literature teacher prompted this new step. We'll see how it works.
I want to figure out how to design a custom template. I'm not bad at HTML, so hopefully I can create something unique.
Lastly, I think I better explain the title of this blog. For those of you who think I don't know how to spell, it's intentional. I go to Petra Academy, a rigorous Classical Christian school. About a year ago the students started referring to themselves as "Petrafied" because of the difficult coursework that sets us about from other high schoolers. I used the joke in my student testimonial at our annual fundraiser banquet and the moniker has stuck.
Anyway, that's enough for now.