Two Questions

            The two questions "Who is writing the script of my life?" and "Whose to say what's right?" are very easy to answer for me. I have grown up in church my whole life and I have not thought of anything different then that God is "writing the script of my life" and that the bible is what tells me "what's right. 

             "Who is writing the script of my life?" I have been taught my whole life that God plans everything that happens in life. I am not saying that God makes a man murder someone or makes them rob a bank, but God puts us in certain situations and we can either choose to do the right or wrong thing. At the same time I believe that we can choose our overall outcome. God already knows what we would do in the situation that you are put into and has a reason for whatever it is that you choose to do. This may not make a lot of since because it is kind of hard to explain and is even confusing in trying to explain it to myself but I think it is best summed up as God has a reason for everything that happens in life the good and even the bad.

            “Whose to say what’s right?” I believe that God chooses “what’s right”. Even though there are several different authors of the bible, there is also a verse that says in a way that the bible was written by God or guided by him. I cannot remember the exact verse, but remember going over the verse on day in one of my Sunday school classes.  Since God created the bible I believe that overall God says what is right, but I use the bible as a reference to see how I should live my life. Even though I believe that the bible is what “says what’s right” I do not follow both testaments completely. In my church we have always gone over the New testament in more detail and that is about all of the bible that I have a little bit of knowledge about and sadly even that knowledge is still very slim. In the Old Testament there are verses that say that you should not eat pork or cut your hair. I cut my hair and I love bacon. I don’t just follow the new testament because I like bacon, but that is all that I have ever known my whole life and I believe the New Testament is New for a reason and that is because there may have needed to be slight changes that people needed to go by that were not in the Old testament or that were maybe to over the top. My church has always followed the New Testament and there is nothing about cutting hair and pork in the New Testament so I do not think either of them is wrong. Overall I follow the bible to see what is right but to be more specific the New Testament.

Group Meeting 1

2 Essential Questions

When I ponder the two essential questions “Who’s writing the script of my life?” and “Who’s to say what’s right?”, I immediately have pre-disposed assumptions that color my perspective. I grew up in an agnostic home, while I have recently become a Christian in the past couple years. Both my agnostic background and my new roots in Christianity give me a unique perspective on these subjects.

In considering the first question, I believe that GOD has an overall idea of the person that He wants us to become, and that He places opportunities and occurrences in our paths that both give us the chance to live up to our full potential, but that also shape us into unique beings through the path we take to realize His plan for us. In my opinion, there is not a single way to become the person GOD wants us to be, and we are free to take the journey we choose to take in order to get there, (or not get there). Some people believe that GOD is responsible for every twist and turn that comes about in our lives, but I believe that we mostly act with free will and that our consequences and rewards are a direct result of our own actions. By accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and doing our best to truly listen and pay attention to what we feel GOD is trying to do in our lives, I believe we may have a much easier time in our journeys, but I also believe that those that refuse to accept GOD into their hearts and change direction when He clearly interferes in the paths we have chosen, have a high possibility of never realizing their full potential.

In considering the second question, I am a firm believer that the Bible is not the only source of Truth by which we should guide our moral compass. Overall, the Bible sets guidelines like the Ten Commandments and Book of Proverbs that set out essential teachings of Jesus that should ultimately be followed, but I do not believe that things are always black and white. Over time, society has also grown and evolved into a place that is not comparable to the society in which Jesus lived, and I believe that issues arise that should be handled by gut instinct. I’m a huge believer in the principle that if something intrinsically feels right or wrong, it probably is. For that reason, I try to follow overall Truths that the Bible has laid out for us, but I live my day-to-day life by acting in the way that I feel in my gut to be right. I also try to consider that Christianity is not the only religion in the World, and that many people form their moral beliefs based on religions that I may not understand or adhere to. However, at our core, we are all human, and by treating each other with basic respect and kindness and using our heart to guide our actions, we can coexist peacefully.

Ambition

Every human attempts to advance their position in life and exceed their social class. When someone is living below the life they want, it instills an insatiable need within them to create the life that they want to live. In Leo Tolstoy’s H ow Much Land Does a Man Need? h e presents a man who lives a simple life as a farmer. This man can support his family and grow a healthy crop. However, when he hears of a man who has more land than he does, he develops an intense need to become more wealthy than he already is. This is the human nature of ambition that is created within all of us. However, when a man craves more than he needs, it is not always a healthy ambition.
Ambition is an innate human characteristic. All humans desire to be as successful as possible at what they are doing. Pakhom went from being an ordinary peasant farmer to desiring more land in a far away country. Just like any man who was attempting to provide for his family, Pakhom set out to develop a life that was above average. Due to his success in his first endeavor, Pakhom felt invincible. However, just because one business venture was successful, doesn’t mean that the man should invest his entire livelihood into one property of land. When Pakhom hears about a village that can be taken advantage of for their cheap price in land he jumps on it. However, he underestimates their price. Instead of money, the village tests the character of the buyer by his stamina. Pakhom, blinded by the vision of wealth in land, doesn’t understand that he must have a strong will too. This is the downfall of those blinded by ambition. When one has a dream of becoming more successful than needed to support their family, they must be able to accept the moral consequences of their ambition. Ambition is a dangerous emotion that can trap a human into making poor decisions. Many other literary heroes have been blinded by the emotion of ambition. Icarus was given wings, but flew too close to the sun. Gatsby was blinded by love. Victor Frankenstein dreamed of being God but instead was betrayed by his creation. Countless literary heros attempted to become a greater version of themselves but instead were betrayed by their ambition. This desire must be controlled in order to mold it into a successful endeavor.

Although ambition can often be viewed as positive characteristic, it can bring out the dark side in those who are not properly ready to take on a huge responsibility. Pakhom doesn’t comprehend that when you develop ambition, you should also develop a desire to be satisfied. By creating an unquenchable thirst for more money, Pakhom destroyed his ability to be content with what he has. The moral of this story can be boiled down to living a life that is not complex. Ambition can be healthy to a certain degree, but once you attain what you are striving for, it is important to be thankful instead of being ungrateful. 

How Much Land Does a Man Need? Greed

  How Much Land Does a Man Need? Greed

Clay Payne

            How Much Land Does a Man Need is about a man who always wants something more in his life and is never content with what he is given. This story can teach the reader many different lessons, including learning how to not be too greedy. Pakhom is the main character in this story and begins as a very poor man who is barely able to provide the necessities for his family, but his family is content with that lifestyle. Pakhom's wife meets with her sister one day and they talk about their lives. In this meeting her sister brags about how much money she has, all of the luxuries she has, and how she has all of the food that she wants. Pakhom hears his wife's sister talk about different luxurious that she is able to enjoy such as skating and endless amounts of food. Pakhom decides that he wants to have a little bit more in life just as his sister-in-law describes.

     Pakhom decides that he needs to buy more land so that his possibilities are endless and no one can stop him; "even if the devil himself tried to stop him." The poor peasant starts off by trying to purchase 40 acres of land. He is very grateful for the opportunity of obtaining extra land, and believes he can do anything now that he has acquired more land than he has ever had. However, Pakhom runs into trouble when his neighbor’s animals trespass on his land and graze on his crop. He then has the desire to find more land away from the pesky animals next door. Soon enough, he hears about an area where anyone who moves in is given an additional 25 acres for free, so Pakhom decides to move his family and is able to buy a total of 125 acres at his new settlement. Even with increasing his land from just 40 acres to 125 acres, Pakhom hears about an even better offer where the area only will cost him 1,000 rubles. 

     Pakhom and his servant set off to take a look at the land and meet up with the landowners, the Baskir's. Pakhom talks to the Baskhirs and gives them vodka and tea to motivate them to sell their land. The Baskhir's meet with their chief and decide that they will sell Pakhom as much land as he can walk in one day. Therefore, Pakhom walks the land and decides to get a little too greedy with his route and ends up pushing himself too hard and dies as soon as he is emerging the ending mark of his route.

     The moral of this story to me is to be happy with the circumstances you are given. When you want more and more, there is never an end. Having the most money or land in life does not make a person more happy; but rather having a loving family and all the necessities is all that you need.

"How Much Land Does a Man Need?" Response

In Leo Tolstoy’s “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” Tolstoy examines the tendency of man to be ever unsatisfied with the life that he has and the possessions and blessings that make up his lot. In this way, man is restless and always unable to accept that the grass truly does not grow greener on the other side. In this parable, Pakhom begins as a poor peasant who works hard as a farmer, and never complains about living a life of scarcity. As his wife explained to her rich, elitist sister, “The peasant’s stomach may be thin, but it is long. That is to say, he may never be rich, yet he will always have enough.” Upon hearing this comment, Pakhom contends that if only he had a little more land to till, then he could do anything; even if the Devil himself tried to stop him. As the parable goes on, the Devil leads Pakhom into constant temptation at every turn, even when it seems that Pakhom has settled into the life that he set out searching for.

Pakhom starts out buying 40 acres of land from a local landowner, in which he takes tremendous pride. As Tolstoy writes, “He felt overjoyed whenever he rode out to his estate, either to plow or to inspect the crops and meadows. The very grass seemed to him different from other grasses, the flowers to bloom differently.” However, when trouble from the locals strikes and he hears of an opportunity to be allotted 25 free acres of fertile land, he convinces himself that he does not have enough space to grow in his current situation, and relocates to the community of Samara. There, Pakhom is able to purchase 125 total acres in all (a huge leap from the 40 acres he originally owned), and sow wheat on his own land. But still, even as he continually makes a profit on his crops and is living comfortably, Pakhom leases more and more land and grows tired of fighting over divided land plots with the other peasants. After hearing from a passing merchant of a land inhabited by the Bashkirs, Pakhom sets out with gifts, vodka, and the intention to buy as much land as the eye could see for 1,000 rubles.

The crux of the parable lies in the last few pages of this short story, where Pakhom travels 300 miles to try to acquire an immeasurable amount of land for 1,000 rubles. As the chief of the Bashkirs designates, Pakhom is able to purchase a lot comparable to the amount of land he can walk in one day, as long as he is able to return to his starting point before the sunset. Overcome by the vast landscape and the wide open frontier, Pakhom traverses too wide of a radius and literally dies of exhaustion in his attempt to make it back to his starting point. In my opinion, Tolstoy is trying to convey that the natural urge of the human heart is to feel restless, unsatisfied, and always certain that something greater lies beyond what we already have. However, if we constantly strive for different circumstances, we will never be able to rest in the blessings that are already bestowed upon us. GOD is our principal provider, and can always ensure that our needs are met in whatever situation that He brings us to. By running towards temptation and forsaking what we have already been given, we are running straight into the trap that the Devil has set for us.