Week: 7
Mission: Find a plot twist that would have made your book more interesting.
Books: The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis, Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom.
Brief Synopses:
~The Great Divorce: C.S. Lewis dreams that hell is an endless space waiting for something sinister to happen. Before that day, the people in hell can take a bus to heaven. He hops on the bus finds himself in the land in front of heaven. He and the rest of the visitors from hell have lost their bodies and appear only as ghosts. People from heaven have traveled to this plain to try to convince the ghosts to stay in heaven, but C.S. Lewis sees ghost after ghost reject the help offered. Moral of the story: When people go to hell, it is their own fault.
~Tuesdays With Morrie: Mitch discovers that his old professor, Morrie, is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease and begins to visit him every Tuesday to learn from him.
Possible Plot Twists:
~The Great Divorce: C.S. Lewis begins trying to convince the ghosts to stay in heaven and needs to flee further into heaven after they violently oppose him.
~Tuesdays With Morrie: Mitch visits Morrie every year after he graduates from college. One year, they take a trip to Los Angeles. A producer for Dancing with the Stars sees Morrie dancing and invites him to make an unprecedented appearance on the show. Morrie declines because he does not care about fame.
Time This Week: 6
Total time: 54 hrs
Books Read: 10 (I am maturely dropping the .5)
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Strategical Documents Unclassified!
A formerly classified correspondence has just been unveiled to the public. The letters, which date back to WWII, were written by a demon, Screwtape to his nephew, Wormwood. They contain professional advice concerning the temptation of an unnamed English man.
The temptations suggested by Screwtape, a tempter who has earned an office job after years of service in the field, range from worldliness to hypocrisy to lust to despair. Time after time, he proposes a new mode of attack, although in the end his nephew is defeated by the untimely death of his "patient."
"Wormwood is an incompetent moron unfit for service," said Screwtape. "I am clearly not responsible for the failing of his mission. The unveiling of the letters does not affect me; it is unfortunate only because it compromises the strategies available to the workers of Our Father Below. We shall severely punish the man who has revealed them."
Wormwood was unavailable for comment. An anonymous source revealed that it was advisable not to investigate the matter further.
Also released with the above documents was a transcript of a speech by Screwtape entitled "Screwtape Proposes a Toast."
Books Read: 8.5
Time this week: 4 hrs
Total Time: 48 hrs
Saturday, February 11, 2012
We Are Thomas
Week: 5
Mission: 5 reasons I would or would not be friends with the author of my book
Book: The Case for Christ
Author: Lee Strobel
Credentials: Master of Studies Law degree from Yale Law School, 13 years with the Chicago Tribune
Scenario: An atheist is on the prowl with one purpose: Investigate Christianity, establish the facts, and determine how reliable the Bible is, how trustworthy the New Testament authors were, and exhaustively scrutinize the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Conclusion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_OTz-lpDjw&ob=av2e
Result: An atheist becomes a Christian.
Reasons we would be friends:
1. We love writing, researching, and asking questions.
2. Our minds follow a similar pattern of operation. We sift through data, select and analyze the pertinent facts, and come to a conclusion. We view situations with a detached, non-emotional clarity and possess a down-to-earth, practical attitude.
3. We do not easily trust. I am not a skeptic, but I do not have an easy time believing something without proof. We have asked many of the same questions about faith. We have both wondered, "Who is this Jesus?" I know what it is like to wrestle with doubt. We need to see the nail marks.
4. We know who we are. That is, we know exactly how much we need forgiveness. We have no illusions about our true nature. We know what we've done, but we also know that Jesus loves us even when we look at ourselves and hate ourselves.
5. We are passionate about what we believe. Faith cannot be something that is lived one hour a week on Sundays. Faith changes and controls lives. We cannot have our hearts halfway into our faith--it's 100% or nothing. We believe what we preach.
Hours this week: 6
Total hours: 44
Books read: 7.5
Mission: 5 reasons I would or would not be friends with the author of my book
Book: The Case for Christ
Author: Lee Strobel
Credentials: Master of Studies Law degree from Yale Law School, 13 years with the Chicago Tribune
Scenario: An atheist is on the prowl with one purpose: Investigate Christianity, establish the facts, and determine how reliable the Bible is, how trustworthy the New Testament authors were, and exhaustively scrutinize the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Conclusion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_OTz-lpDjw&ob=av2e
Result: An atheist becomes a Christian.
Reasons we would be friends:
1. We love writing, researching, and asking questions.
2. Our minds follow a similar pattern of operation. We sift through data, select and analyze the pertinent facts, and come to a conclusion. We view situations with a detached, non-emotional clarity and possess a down-to-earth, practical attitude.
3. We do not easily trust. I am not a skeptic, but I do not have an easy time believing something without proof. We have asked many of the same questions about faith. We have both wondered, "Who is this Jesus?" I know what it is like to wrestle with doubt. We need to see the nail marks.
4. We know who we are. That is, we know exactly how much we need forgiveness. We have no illusions about our true nature. We know what we've done, but we also know that Jesus loves us even when we look at ourselves and hate ourselves.
5. We are passionate about what we believe. Faith cannot be something that is lived one hour a week on Sundays. Faith changes and controls lives. We cannot have our hearts halfway into our faith--it's 100% or nothing. We believe what we preach.
Hours this week: 6
Total hours: 44
Books read: 7.5
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Sound of Music
For all of you that cannot sleep at night because you wonder what a sound track for The Five People You Meet in Heaven would sound like, I have good news: It has arrived.
When Eddie arrives in heaven, he discovers that he will visit five people who will explain a part of his life to him. He meets each of them in a place that is their own personal heaven. The first man he meets is a former freak show employee at Ruby Pier, where he worked for most of his life. I chose Basin Street Blues by Louis Armstrong because it is a bit upbeat, like Ruby Park in its prime. More importantly, the Blue Man has a sad story to tell, but doesn't dwell on the unpleasantness of his story. His general attitude is that life goes on, and the world keeps spinning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHkR5tmxHk&ob=av2n
The next person he meets is the Captain, from his army days in Vietnam. I chose this Jewish lullaby from WWII because it has a heavy, military drumbeat. It isn't the usual upbeat military music because it reflects the Captain's sacrifice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-B_r4tookc
The next person he meets is Ruby, who teaches him to forgive. Her heaven is a serene mountain scene with a brightly lit diner to welcome anyone who was hurt at Ruby Pier. Her song is "This is Where the Healing Begins" by Tenth Avenue North.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFUHrXfuNU4&feature=related
The next person he meets is his wife, Marguerite. She lives in a world of weddings and happiness. Her song is "I'm A Believer."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts
Eddie's fifth visit is to a little girl that he somewhat accidentally killed while in the Philippines. Her song is "Heaven is the Face" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Eddie didn't know that she died, and is horrified to learn the truth about the shadow in the flames. He loves the girl, and is comforted by the fact she is in this beautiful place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JTwJ_1lzE
Hours this week: 10.25
Total hours read: 38
Books read: 6.5 (The Firm, Cosbyology, Gone With the Wind, Torn, Bow's Boy, The Five People You Meet in Heaven)
When Eddie arrives in heaven, he discovers that he will visit five people who will explain a part of his life to him. He meets each of them in a place that is their own personal heaven. The first man he meets is a former freak show employee at Ruby Pier, where he worked for most of his life. I chose Basin Street Blues by Louis Armstrong because it is a bit upbeat, like Ruby Park in its prime. More importantly, the Blue Man has a sad story to tell, but doesn't dwell on the unpleasantness of his story. His general attitude is that life goes on, and the world keeps spinning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHkR5tmxHk&ob=av2n
The next person he meets is the Captain, from his army days in Vietnam. I chose this Jewish lullaby from WWII because it has a heavy, military drumbeat. It isn't the usual upbeat military music because it reflects the Captain's sacrifice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-B_r4tookc
The next person he meets is Ruby, who teaches him to forgive. Her heaven is a serene mountain scene with a brightly lit diner to welcome anyone who was hurt at Ruby Pier. Her song is "This is Where the Healing Begins" by Tenth Avenue North.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFUHrXfuNU4&feature=related
The next person he meets is his wife, Marguerite. She lives in a world of weddings and happiness. Her song is "I'm A Believer."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfuBREMXxts
Eddie's fifth visit is to a little girl that he somewhat accidentally killed while in the Philippines. Her song is "Heaven is the Face" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Eddie didn't know that she died, and is horrified to learn the truth about the shadow in the flames. He loves the girl, and is comforted by the fact she is in this beautiful place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9JTwJ_1lzE
Hours this week: 10.25
Total hours read: 38
Books read: 6.5 (The Firm, Cosbyology, Gone With the Wind, Torn, Bow's Boy, The Five People You Meet in Heaven)
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