tale as old as time

Since this is my first post, I want to explain what this blog will be about and why I decided to create it.  Over the past few years, my mind has been opened to a new way of thinking, a new way of analyzing, and a new way of understanding.  I’ve come to realize that analyzing literature and art is more a way of thinking than it is the actual results of the analysis.  What I mean is, learning how to examine a passage or painting creates the capacity to think about occurrences in everyday life in a similar way.   This is why I firmly believe that a liberal arts education, while parts of it seem irrelevant and useless, prepares our minds to process day to day information in a more effective way. 

I love art history and medieval studies, but it’s very rare in today’s society to find people that share that same interest.  Instead of imposing my interest on you, I hope to extract modern-day/relevant topics from ancient and medieval culture.  What I think we will find is that there is a common theme, a common story, which has been and will always be repeated throughout time.  There is a unifying factor that ties every generation through a common struggle, the struggle between good and evil.  It’s deep concept that I won’t explain now, but it’s something worth considering as I explore various generational trends and ideas.

One thing that God has taught me recently is that He is omniscient, meaning He knows everything that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen.  Yes, I knew that before recently, but it wasn’t until I began reading the writings of Martin Luther, viewing the Gothic architecture of medieval Europe, listening to the hymns of the 19^th century, and watching the sermons of Billy Graham that I realized how God spoke through people that had no contact with each other, but who sought similar goals and shared the same ideologies.

Some of the first people I want to look at are Martin Luther and Mother Teresa.  Martin Luther because I have studied him so much in my history classes, and because a lot of what he said about salvation coming through “faith alone” (not by works) is coming back to haunt us in today’s society.  I want to talk about Mother Teresa because she saw the face of Jesus in every person and obeyed God’s command to love them as she loved herself (something I think we forget in all the business of our everyday lives).  I will post on Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions; how they began and evolved over time.  I plan to write about Gothic cathedrals and how the medieval man saw God’s divinity in a way that I think has been lost in our culture.  I think this sounds like a good start, but who knows where the blog will actually go once I get started.  If anyone has ideas, please share!!