Crystal Cyr, Megan's Bay, St. Thomas (one of four entries centered on a topic of the student's choosing)

Over spring break my husband and I went on a Southern Caribbean cruise. I am typically not the type who likes cruising very much. It feels a bit too rushed. I prefer to take my time enjoying the nearby sites and chatting up the locals. A cruise however, has a strict itinerary which only allows for small intervals of enjoying whatever locale your boat is parked at. However, my husband really needed a relaxing vacation, as work and life in general were becoming quite stressful. So we packed our bags and headed to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where our ship was to set sail from.

Our first stop was St. Thomas. I had never been to the Southern Caribbean before so, being the early riser that I am, I woke up at 7am the first morning of our vacation and looked out the big window that was in our stateroom. The view was exhilerating. A smile spread across my face and I was nearly jumping up and down as we approached the island. It was like something out of the Johnny Depp flick,"Pirates of the Carribean." The water was an awesome pristine blue and there were huge rock formations, which resembled small islands of their own, protruding out of the aqua blue abyss.

After waking up a very groggy husband, I proceeded ashore and we went to a nearby beach called Meghans Bay. The bay is in a square shapped inlet. There are mountains on two opposite sides and a beach on one side looking out to the Caribbean Sea. The water is calm here since it is in an inlet between the mountains. It is the only beach I have ever been to where you could see striaght to the bottom and there is no plant life on the bay floor. Just smooth white sand under the most gorgeous blue water you've ever seen.

Clint and I staked out a quiet spot on the beach and spread out our old checked beach blanket. I peeled off my swimsuit cover and sat down on the blanket. My super pale Irish skin was in dire need of some sunshine. I sat there for sometime soaking up my surroundings. I love beaches. I have found beaches to be these sort of peaceful, healing type of places. Its why I moved out of the midwest to the East Coast. It is why my husband and I drove twenty one hours to Florida in the end of December to get married on a beach. It is why every vacation I have taken in the past five years was required to have a trip to the beach. For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to beaches.

This beach, Meghan's Bay Beach, was different from any other beach I'd ever been to however. It had mountains. My dad had always found peace in the mountains. When I was growing up we always vacationed in the mountains. I remember my dad driving the old pickup truck south all night until we were in the mountains the next morning. He used to always say,"Someday, I am going to retire here. Someday, I am going to buy me a mountain, build a house way up in the holar, grow a big ol' beard, and be a mountian man." He love to talk about moving to the mountains. To him it was the most peaceful place he could think of.

As I relaxed in the awesome beauty of Meghan's Bay and the lovely cliffs that surrounded it, I couldn't help but feeling connected to my dad. He passed away last Summer. It felt somehow like he had lead me to this place where we both would have felt an overwhelming wave of peace. Him because of the mountains soaring above the cove and me because of the soft sandy beach with cool crystal waters lapping up to the shore. I doubt anyone else there was having the same experience. It was definitely something precious that I will never ever forget. All I could think was,"I know you are resting in peace daddy. I know you are."

Jennifer Vance Free Choice #3 Martin Buber I and Thou

The excerpts from Martin Buber I and Thou made my head spin. I read it atleast 25 times and each time it made me feel unintelligent. I read it to my friends, parents and grandparents and by the end of all of this I can say I got the just of it. In the excerpts Martin Buber makes the distinction between expierence and encounter. He states that “Those who experience do not participate in the world. The world does not participate in experience. It allows itself to be experienced, but it is not concerned, for it contributes nothing, and nothing happens to it. I could not wrap my brain around the part "it contributes nothing" I understood nothing happens to it but doesn't the object contribute itself? For example if an object in the world causes me to fall and get hurt it has to contribute something to this event and the event would not take place? Maybe I didn't understand because they were just excerpts.

Jennifer Vance Landscapes of the sacred #3 Three approaches for understanding sacred place

Lane presents three approaches to understanding sacred place. He argues that all three of these approaches are necessary in understanding the complex character of any sacred place. While studying these three approaches I found the Phenomenological approach to be the most confusing. Below is my understanding of what he was trying to articulate to readers.
The ontological approach focuses on intuition and reason alone. It is based upon being or existence and suggest that a sacred place is perceived only as a matter of transcendent experience. The Cultural approach is opposite from the ontological approach. It suggest that places alone do not have any inherent meaning but peoples values, beliefs and disagreement have greater influence on a place being deemed as sacred. The Phenomenological approach is a more objective view of the place. The place itself participates in the meaning of a place being sacred. For example, the particularities of the place (all of the land, the animals, trees, sky, and geographical feautures) are significan in understanding sacred place.

Jennifer Vance Landscapes of the Sacred # 2

How can Mount Rainier be considered a mask of the Holy-

In Lanes Landscapes of the sacred he suggests that ordinary landscapes can be viewed two ways. A landscape can be valued simply for what it is (ordinary) or when seen through the eyes of faith, valued as something far more than ordinary such as a mask of the holy.
A mask is something that reveals and conceals something at the same time. A mask identifies the character but its identity is hidden. A sacred landscape that is considered to be a mask of the Holy is Mount Rainier. Lane describes certain aspects of the mountain that can make one who encounters it feel insignificant. Standing over 14000 feet Mount Rainier is referred to as Tohoma, The Mountain that was God. Locate yourself next to one of its 27 glaciers and you will gain a sense of their power. Professor Redick mentioned that the sounds that penetrate from the glaciers cracking and the rivers that roll across steep boulders can make one tremble. Although I have never been to Mount Rainier I can understand how these characteristics can prove Mt. Rainier to be a mask of the Holy. Mt. Rainier reveals that it was created by God and it gives us a part of him but because of God's majesty we are incapable of coming face to face with Him therefore a part of him is also concealed.

Jennifer Vance Image and Pilgrimage #1

In Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture Victor Turner presents the concept of communitas. He explains it as an unstructured community where people are equal. Communitas is similar to community but communitas contains strong feelings of togetherness and is characteried by sharing a liminal experience usually through rite of passage. Rite of passage is the sacred component of communitas it usually involves a ritual a person must go through to pass to the next stage of life such as marriage and baptism. Communitas brings everyone to a level of equality, even if you are higher in position, you have been lower and you know what it means to be in a lower a position. You can relate and sympathize with the individuals who are where you have once been. After reading this I felt like commumitas could also be defind as an attitude of humility.

Jennifer Vance Natural Setting #2 Botancial Gardens

One of my girlfriends favorite places to visit is the Bontanical Garden. During this semester she invited me to go along. The trees and flowers we encountered there were breath taking. We were both fascinated by two massive redwood trees that were planted side by side. From a distance they stood proud over all of Botancial Garden. It was as if they grew up together. As we approached these trees I could feel a strong connection between them. Standing under them it appeared they were holding hands. Although their branches were touching they grew outward, each protecting the other from anything that might come between them. Attached is a picutre that was taken from that day. By looking at this picture one can get a glimpse of what we encountered that day but it doesn't do it any justice. This picture can never replace was is planted vividly in my memory from that day.

Jennifer Vance Free Choice #2 Requied Compassion

I have always wondered why God would allow so much pain and suffering in this world since he has the ability to prevent it. I’ve learned about sin, Adam and Eve, and the antichrist but I still struggle to understand why. After much thought I’ve decided this is his way of preparing us for Gods Kingdom. The one thing that is certain in this life is death. Many of us will experience the loss of a mother, a friend or loved one. The pain and feelings of sadness that go along with this type of loss is almost unbearable. I recently lost someone close to me and those feelings are still very fresh. Around this time my sister’s girlfriend called her upset about a break up between her and her boyfriend. Later that night my sister called me and said she had a hard time sympathizing with her after what had just happened to me. I reminded my sister that at this point her friend had not experience the death of a loved one and what her friend was experiencing with her boyfriend was real to her, she was hurting and my sister needed to be there for her. I reminded her of how she felt when she broke up with her boyfriend of 7 years. She was devastated. Then it dawned on me that until walk in someone’s shoes you don’t fully understand what they are going through. When my five year old has a melt down because one of his toys broke I need to remember that in his short five years on this earth this is something of great importance to him. It isn’t until you experience something very similar to another that you can truly understand what they are going through. This allows individuals to become compassionate and sympathetic both of which I believe are needed before you enter Heaven to reunite with God’s children.