On Cats and the Abundance of the Heart

      Whenever I can't think what to write, my mind inevitably turns to cats.  House cats, panthers, lions, tigers--this diverse species provides a wealth of amusement, adorableness, and awe.  I consider them the most beautiful creature God created and long for the day my husband and I can adopt some of the domestic variety.  Considering their height in my esteem, they seem a natural default topic when I'm at a loss for what to write, proving that "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12.34 and Luke 6.45).  Considering what else can come from the heart and mouth, I don't think cats are such a bad thing to hold precious, but my ailurophilia has earned comment.  For instance, when I taught Basic English, my students observed that I must love cats because over half of my example sentences seemed to involve them.  I was a bit more careful after that to incorporate topics the students might like, such as football and food.
      More lately, as a writing exercise--but ostensibly for the Hutch Public Library's writing competition, which I didn't end up entering--I decided to draft a couple 100-Word Prose stories.  However, lacking a topic . . . well, you can guess.  I shall include the stories here so that you may also contemplate the value of and amusement derivable from felines:


      He’d put his toys in my bed again.  Grumbling at my pet’s poor respect for a girl’s space, I swept them to the floor and went to finish dinner.  However, there was another unpleasantness: my pet had dropped some of my meat on the floor.   I tentatively nibbled at whatever seemed unmolested but then heard my pet at the door.  I met him . . . and the horribly sweet stench that entered with him.  What had he been rolling in!?  I complained, but he just made happy noises and dissolved my irritation with a skillful chin-scratch.  I purred and mercifully forgave him.

The girl slammed the door and sat, chin quivering. 

The cat trotted up, tail dancing.

The girl exclaimed, “Kitty!” and tears leaked as she clung to him.

The cat squirmed. 

The girl complained, “You’re supposed to comfort me!”

The cat jumped free.

The girl wailed, “You don’t care either,” her face crumpling . . . then realized, of course—to a cat, that matter isn’t important, and it made hurt pride war with her sense.

The cat nuzzled the girl and purred.

The girl stroked him and meekly said, “Thanks—I’ll make up,” kissed him, and returned.

The cat sat, resigned to abandonment.

 

On Freshman Composition

      Lately, I've been looking into the traditional freshman composition class--what it's original purpose was and whether it's still fulfilling that purpose.  Many students abhor academic writing or have odd ideas about it (as comically evinced in the comic above).  As for composition class, teachers and students alike question whether it is too formulaic or too abstract and inapplicable to other disciplines and life.  However, as it is a requirement in nearly every college, we can't seem to do away with it, and many do argue for its continued existence.  (And here I shall break form and leave out my thesis--one of those "artificial" impositions of composition's traditional "five-paragraph essay"--choosing instead to explore the topic before stating my main idea.)

      It seems, just before the turn of the century, colleges found that students weren't prepared for writing at college level--and in the 1800s, college classes were heavily language-based (Greek, Latin, English, etc.), so this was a huge problem.  Thus, as a stop-gap measure until high schools could improve, they introduced a rhetoric/composition course that could train students to write with the logic, organization, style, and good grammar that they expected.  Unfortunately, high schools never have closed the gap, and more and more unrealistic pressure has been put on this single course to shape students up for the rest of their college classes.  Over the years, opponents of composition have gone back and forth between seeking to reform the class or seeking to abolish the class, sometimes by proposing higher entrance standards, which the current learning disability community would certainly decry.  Other campaigns like Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing Across the Disciplines have urged for writing instruction and practice in all classes.  Still others have suggested, instead, a seminars class that would rely heavily on writing but focus on various topics or issues, from which students could choose one that interested them.

      In practice, the usefulness of the traditional composition class depends heavily on various factors--among them, the teacher and curriculum, as well as the student's prior knowledge of writing, respect for the teacher, openness to ideas, and work ethic. My own honor's composition served me fairly well, I think, in introducing me to various kinds of readings and thoughts, and giving me greater practice and structure for my essays--but then, I have always liked writing, so I have no reason to assume this is the norm.  Later, I taught writing for GED students and three classes of Basic English--remedial composition for college students.  I was amazed by the students' ignorance of matters I considered elementary: when to break paragraphs, what to capitalize, what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, how to introduce an idea . . . how to make sense.  And while my (questionable) teaching could easily either help or hinder their learning process, I found that students' diligence affected their performance far more.

      My own tentative conclusion is that a well-developed and well-taught composition course can prepare students for the general college experience, showing them how to think deeply and to organize and express their thoughts, which is useful for verbal and non-verbal communication in school, at work, and in personal relationships.  Furthermore, the practice of concentrating on complex material, comprehending and analyzing it, and communicating new thoughts helps students deal with any intellectual challenge more comprehensively and creatively; it develops critical thinking skills they can transfer to any field of study or profession.  The system is not without its problems, however, and I believe that it can be improved first by requiring high schools to raise their expectations before allowing their students to graduate.  Next, composition--in whatever form it retains--should involve non-literary reading and writing, and focus more on thinking and organizing ideas (logical writing) than on faultless grammar, which I believe is the domain of high schools, not colleges.  But how shall this become reality?  That's an issue for another day.

On Fiction and the Christian: The Problem

Since the earliest time I can remember, I have been fascinated with words and stories.  Even before I could write, my mom tells me I’d spend hours pretending to write words, covering pages upon pages in childish curly-cues.  Even in elementary school, I read with precocious concentration and speed, having greater stamina for long stints of reading than many of my classmates.  As I’ve aged, I’ve ventured many writing projects (rarely finishing the longer ones) and continue to read voraciously in nearly every genre of Christian and secular fiction (particularly juvenile fiction, as it’s often more interesting and less likely to contain objectionable material). 

I knew “adult” books were taboo, but it wasn’t until the Harry Potter controversy years ago, and upon hearing other comments from Christian acquaintances, that I began to wonder if I unconsciously sinned by reading and enjoying certain (or all) non-Christian fiction, especially those dealing with magic and presenting worldliness as normal.  Eventually, I began to wonder if even Christian fiction were acceptable because of the way it influenced my thoughts in non-Christian ways.  My own experience validated the argument that the excitement and eventfulness in novels can stir in us a dissatisfaction with our own more mundane lives, which we may have been content with previously, leaving us ill-tempered and restless for inappropriate goals.  Unlike Jesus's parables, humans' stories--even works written by Christians--may come out of somewhat skewed worldviews or doctrine, which may subtly introduce the idea of sin or doctrinal fallacy as acceptable.  Repeated exposure could numb us to its wrongness.  Also, reading fiction can become an addiction valued over real relationships and responsibilities, which hurts our friends and family, hurts our Christian witness, and robs us of time we could use for more godly pursuits. 
Then again, how much of these problems are due to fiction or to the fiction reader?  When one finds reading a temptation, what balance between fiction and the rest of life would be acceptable and pleasing to God? 

I felt vaguely guilty, but I didn't want to give up my precious pastime, and not having many clear answers, I pressed on as I had been.  Yet, from time to time I would still come up against the questions “should a Christian read this kind of book?” and “as a Christian, what kind of stories ought I to write?”  Some Christian publishers, for example, require a conversion scene in every fiction book they publish, which often comes across as ham-fisted; must I write that way?  I'd also think, "We are called to be in the world, but not of the world..." but what does that mean, specifically?  I want to please God, but does that require giving up parts of a hobby I enjoy so much?  My mind rebels at the idea.  Yet if it’s true, mustn’t I submit?

As the reader can see, I am favorably disposed toward writing, but above everything, I’ve realized I’d rather be obedient to Christ than fulfill my own desires, so I have set out–I pray with an objective perspective–to find God’s view of the matter.  Posts on this topic (which I'd originally thought to make into a book--but those who know me are aware how reluctantly I work when faced with such a long task) are the result of my study.  I draw most heavily upon Scripture, but also on the lives and works of other Christian fiction writers.  Many of the points brought up on this topic could be similarly applied to other forms of entertainment: movies, plays, and video and computer games. I hope other Christians similarly struggling will feel free to use this as a springboard for their own study and conclusions.  

Preface

      I've been slow to join the blogging trend since it seemed the domain of those with more interesting lives, more prolific minds, more numerous connections . . . or more enlarged egos.  Still, I recognize that blogs provide a better forum than social networks for longer and more serious musings.  Having an abundance of those, I have decided to contribute--not, I trust, to join the latter group of bloggers, nor merely to "jump on the bandwagon."  Rather, as most writers profess, I begin with hope that I have something worthwhile to write that others shall wish to read (though admittedly, the audience who enjoys "serious musings" is relatively small).  Naturally, this means I have no intentions toward a recitation of daily events nor boasts of our accomplishments or derring-do; I leave that to the realm of social networks and email, which are apt vehicles for such news.  Instead, herein I propose a journal of what thoughts I believe readers may find amusing, profound, or worthy of contemplation.

      (Given this lofty aim, it feels rather natural to lapse into archaic phrasings, and I pray you'll forgive me if I occasionally revel in them.  Notwithstanding their requiring greater cognitive effort while reading, I find such expressions rather diverting.  :)

      Be aware that contemplations within this blog may be complete offerings of resolved ideas or, more likely, essays (attempts) on the issues--incomplete explorations that will stir deeper thought but not necessarily conclude.  Also, while posts will not focus on any one issue or topic of contemplation, I will definitely revisit certain topics to explore different aspects of them, so if an idea seems particularly incomplete, you may see more written later on that topic.

      As a parting thought on the subject of contemplations, I will share some of Emerson's words, which seem fitting:

      "If we consider what happens in conversation, in reveries, in remorse, in times of passion . . . wherein often we see ourselves in masquerade,—the droll disguises only magnifying and enhancing a real element, and forcing it on our distinct notice,—we shall catch many hints that will broaden and lighten into knowledge of the secret of nature."  
            --Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Over-Soul," Essays, First Series (1841, repr. 1847), via dictionary.com.