I consider the Will of God to be something perhaps very distinct from the Desire of God. Yet the two are often equated. People say things like,“It is not God’s will that anyone should suffer,” or “it is not God’s will that I do this or that with my life.” People of faith are often…
What if I were to disappear?
What if I were to disappear? To be swept away into the luscious absence of time and space. What affects would trail behind? What would become of my things? Would they lay still and ardently untouched for weeks before a reverence period past? Or would acquaintances of my daily routines arrive and take a share…
Aristotelian Virtue Ethics in Jane Austen’s Emma
The concepts of virtue, morality, and character were very significant concerns in eighteenth and nineteenth-century England, the era in which Jane Austen was penning her novels. Just prior to Austen’s birth, England passed through what is now considered the greatest age of British philosophy, as it held the contemporary lives and work of John Locke,…
Catfish
Through the din of treading feet and brushing shoulders, Emmeline emerged to face the newly-opened aquarium doors. Shuffling her way through the towering adults, she aimed for the edge of the crowd. Checkered pants, long trench coats, and a colored variety of trilby hats marbled her vision. A subtle sea-side aroma filled the spacious room,…
The Voice Inside My Chest
The voice inside my chest,Riles my blue blood withEvery thumping pulse,Warming me. It softens my stiff spine,Shoulders and dusty fists,Undoing what I’ve sustained,Disarming me. It caresses my arid body,Wets my cracking mind,Like aloe on sunburned skin,Alarming me. I’ve heard the tone before,Yet I still do not knowWhose voice this isThat calls me. I know it’s…
The Comic Vision of Usurped Authority in Aristophanes’ Birds and Lysistrata
The concept of authority in ancient Grecian culture centers heavily on two powers within the structure of society. First, is the divine seat of the gods, supreme power to which all mankind is submissive; and second, is the position of the adult male, most often portrayed in political, military, or household offices. Subservient to both…
Starless Nights
“Can you see them, Bee?” “See what, Grandpa?” she asked—the gentleness, beauty, and grace of a wistful butterfly encapsulated in the image of this little, wonder-filled girl. Her dark brown hair was almost in a ponytail; small strands stood up and out like many eager hands at show-and-tell. With big, purple glasses outlining her bright…
Richard II’s Loss of Power and Gain of Intellect
There are many underlying themes beneath William Shakespeare’s King Richard II. One of the most significant themes is that of the continuous cycle of the rise and fall of nobility. Shakespeare emphasizes this theme throughout the play by following the falling monarch, Richard II, the rising monarch, Henry IV, and each individual involved in the chiastic…
The Purpose of Pain: An Exploration of Joban Philosophy through Five Centuries of Western Literature
Mankind, as a whole, has contemplated and faced the problem of suffering and pain throughout every age of uncovered history; a problem which has shown itself so potent, so vast, and so obscure that philosophers, scholars, and artists over centuries and innumerous cultures have devoted their lives and work to uncovering its roots, and seeking…
Chrysanthemum
“What you see is not the real world,” she told me through a cough or perhaps some excess smoke caught in her lungs. A pile of abused cigarettes heaped by her clean, white chimney steamed slow pillars of grey air. The choke invalidated what she was trying to say, leaving me with a sense of…