Psalm 23 re:mix (Blog post 7 & Quiz 7)

Psalm 23 is perhaps the most quoted, memorized, and well-known passage of the Hebrew psalter. It presents a strongly developed metaphor that makes clear this fact: much of the Bible is literary, imaginative, poetic, and not literal.

God is not actually a shepherd. He is spirit. But he is like a shepherd in certain ways. Not all ways, of course. God, as shepherd, does not as a general rule slaughter his beloved sheep. In other words, though a metaphor may have unlimited resonance, it can still have limits of scope.

David understood shepherds and sheep. Most of us do not. So, as powerful as this metaphor is, it may fail to fully engage and enrapture us with its deeper meanings and nuances.

Your task is to rewrite Psalm 23 from your own perspective, using imagery that expresses specific characteristics of God described in the Bible (his comfort, care, power, correction, guidance, presence, forgiveness, kindness, justice, mercy, etc.). Whether or not this is your personal view of God does not matter for this task. You will write as though you are David (or another psalmist) living in the 21st-century.

You must write three remixes: one about a person, one about a place, and one about a thing. Place and thing are somewhat related, so don't fret about technicalities. For example, "front porch" could be both a place and a thing. Fine. Just be sure to do 3 different remixes.

Your format must be as follows:
"The Lord is my ___________________, I have everything I need.

• He...
• He...
• He...
• He...
• He...

You must have at least 5 bullet points for each remix. The bullets do not need to start with "He" - but that's the easiest rubric to follow. 

Here are a few examples to stir your creative juices (some of these are shorter than your requirements):

_______

The LORD is my high-ropes course harness, I have everything I need.

• He holds me tight and doesn't let go.
• He is the foundation of my safety.
• He gives me the confidence to do things I never thought I could.

The LORD is my recipe, I have everything I need.

• He tells me exactly what I need.
• He describes the steps I must take.
• He leads me to fulfillment and satisfaction so I will be full.

The LORD is my orange spray, I have everything I need.

• He has a sweet aroma.
• He gently cleans away all the grease and grime.
• He gives every surface a fresh start.
• He makes things new, clean and inviting.
• He is both strong and safe.

The LORD is my Disney World, I have everything I need.

• He creates a world of wonder and awe.
• He invites celebration, laughter, and adventure.
• He is a place where I can play and laugh and rest with friends and family.
• He invites me to be childlike and trusting.

The LORD is my Texas, I have everything I need.

• He is bigger and better than anything else.
• He is always there and will never leave.
• He loves me even if I leave and always welcomes me back.
• He is so much bigger and more than I can imagine.
• He will forever be my home.

The LORD is my coffee, I have everything I need.

• He greets me with a sweet aroma each morning.
• He warms my soul.
• He brings things into clear focus.
• He gives me energy to meet the day.
• He is a perfect reason to gather with friends for conversation.

POSTS ARE DUE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31 by midnight. (Do it before Halloweening.)

"In the end, the students created..." (Blog Post 6)

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." (Gen. 1:1-2, NLT)

Then God started planning, sorting, organizing, shaping the raw materials, and giving specific functions to the various elements of the cosmos.

Thus will you proceed with your final creative projects: you will plan, sort, organize, shape raw literary materials, and give specific function to the various elements of texts you've read.

You have numerous options: create a board game; create original artwork, build a model; develop a story-board; write poetry; envision settings and characters; write a personalized protagonist journal; narrate a relationship between secondary characters; build something; sew something.

For this post, write a preliminary proposal for your final project. You must describe the end-product (what form will it take? what will it include? what steps will you take to create and complete it?) AND must explain how you will engage with and analyze the text(s) throughout the creative process.

This proposal MUST be posted by Wednesday, Oct. 25 at midnight. You will also need to meet with me in person the week of Oct. 30th to finalize all details.

Speech and Character (Blog Post 5)

The books of Samuel are filled with lively dialogue and fully developed characters, something that's rather new in our reading up to this point.

What a person says and how a person speaks are deeply revealing about how a person feels, what a person intends, and who a person is.

Find a brief section of dialogue in 1 or 2 Samuel and dissect how those particular words develop a character (i.e. how does the language function in terms of narrative value and purpose) and what those particular words reveal about the character (i.e.  what do we know/understand/perceive about the character as a result of the dialogue that we didn't know before).

Your dialogue selection can be as small as a single statement or can include back and forth between characters. Choose your piece of dialogue thoughtfully and carefully. Not every segment of dialogue reveals characterization. You must look intently at the context to determine whether a specific piece of dialogue is worthy of analysis - and then you must proceed to actually analyze it in whatever manner seems most pertinent (by considering the words themselves, the implied tone, the contextual setting, the relationship between speakers, et al.).

Be sure to include references. Be sure to write something interesting, fresh, substantive, thoughtful, and engaging. Be sure to think and consider before writing. Be sure to submit this post on time.

Posts are due by WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18 at MIDNIGHT.