JC by Mikey Famiglietti

I was pondering on what Jesus meant to me and had a small but significant realization. I believe that Jesus was a normal human being just like the rest of us, but indeed a great prophet. But the difference between him and us is simply fear. Today we are constantly pumped with fear, whether it is future terrorist attacks or the oncoming event of World War 3. Our motivation to make a change we want to see is obsolete because of our fear of death. Jesus was not scared of death. He took the time to leave society…retreating to the wilderness to collect his many great thoughts and proposed them to the world when he returned to civilization. He was willing to die for what he truly believed in. He wanted to see change in the world because he felt something was not right. Jesus is the most glorified person that died for what he believed in, but I feel he was not the only person to do so. Jim Morrison, John Lennon, and Martin Luther King are all people I see on the same page as Jesus. They all were not afraid to be the change they wanted to see and they were willing to die for it. For thousands of years the world has been in chaos, violence about beliefs, money, and property. People die for what they believe in every passing moment and even though they may never be glorified throughout the world as Jesus is, they go to rest knowing their purpose in life and are the seeds of the change they wanted to see in this life.

Music by Mikey Famiglietti

Music seems to be a very important thing to human beings. It has been on this planet since the beginning mankind…cave men playing rythms with stick and stones…to the what music is today. Why do we desire this organized sound? Sometimes words cannot express what one is feeling…Music is what feelings sound like. Film scores illustrate this notion very well. Ranging from eerie, dark music to beautiful, inspirational music…its truly amazing. As a musician I experience a completely different type of conversation when I play music with other people, this is how I feel today…(play a line)…oh really? Well this is how I feel today…(the other person plays a line). It is an experience only musicians can experience and truly understand and I am grateful I get to experience this unique sensation. Painters use paint to express their feelings on a canvas…Musicians use sound to express their feelings on silence…Music is the moonlight in the gloomy night of life.

Response to outside reading “On the Spiritual Benefits of Wilderness” by Baylor Johnson/ by Mikey Famiglietti

The sublimity of wild nature humbles us, minimizing the importance of our individual selves, yet comforting us with its own grandeur” (Johnson).

Wild nature leads us to experience the sensation of self-forgetting and also comforts us in the idea that our worries and problems…that seem to be so important and central to us…are nothing in the big scheme of things. When we are not noticed by society we feel insignificant…we are left feeling empty and upset. It reminds us that we have not achieved anything society sees as significant…we have not met the expectations of others. But on the other hand, being insignificant can be comforting. By demeaning our desires and weaknesses, we realize that that our worries are too small to produce any disturbance in the big scheme of things and therefore are also very insignifcant.

Response to outside reading “Wilderness Spirituality” by Michael Comins/ by Mikey Famiglietti

“Mindfulness is the great gift of wilderness” (Comins).

In wilderness we notice all the cycles, masked by civilization, that we as God’s creatures are bound to. In wilderness and through solitude, we can transcend our rational mind and focus our perception on the present. We can enter a path that is beyond ego, more oriented about our place in the big scheme of things. We enter a meditative state, clearing and calming the mind, eliminating the notion of getting lost in the “to do” list for the day that we experience daily in civilized life. Wilderness allows us to live in the moment and that is very foreign experience for people blinded by civilization.

Response to outside reading “The Spiritual Dimension of Wilderness” by Roger Kaye/by Mikey Famiglietti

“A characteristic of all spiritual traditions is the premise that concern with your self-image, status, and approval of others are barriers to transcendence” (Kaye).

Being a person who understands the value of solitude, I can relate to this passage very well. When you are in society, you are constantly aware of the vibe you are putting off. Whether it is how high you stand on the social ladder, how good you look, or if you fit into the norms of society, you always want to put off a good vibe because you never know who is observing you…we want to give people good first impressions. But if you think about it, everybody is doing this…nobody is really thinking too deeply about anybody…unless your in a close relationship. It’s almost silly, to cloud your mind with such nonsense…but we can’t help it…we’ve done it for so long…it is just instantaneous. Solitude is the key to breaking these barriers. You are free of all these unnecessary thoughts.

Response to Gatta’s “Making Nature Sacred”/ by Mikey Famiglietti

Certainly humans occupy a privileged place in this scheme, since they most obviously represent the “intelligent part of the system” and are uniquely qualified to know and to respond to the beauty of God’s self-communication” (65).

I once heard that humans are the only organism that can picture their own demise. This is why we have religion… the wonder of how we got here, our purpose for existing, and where our spirit goes after this life. These are the unsolved mysteries of the universe, that we all struggle with. I always wondered if other animals wonder about these things, but I don’t think many other animals have reached that stage of evolution. But if they don’t wonder about these mysteries, what is the meaning of their life? If they can’t wonder like we can…does that mean their life is meaningless? They don’t make scientific discoveries and develop philosophies like we do…we do have a very special place on this planet…we have a very special relationship with god in comparison to all the other organisms on this planet. We can somewhat interpret God’s messages and recognize his glory through his beauty. I’m glad to be human and have this relationship with Him.

Return to Lion’s Bridge/ By Mikey Famiglietti

As I traveled down the path a patch of yellow flowers along side of the path caught my eye. They all looked so delighted to be alive, reaching high for the sky, radiating a vibrant yellow. I could not resist, I picked one and stuck it under my nose. The scent of the season quickly filled my nostrils. I stared at the flower, observing its many pristine features. The petals, indistinguishable from each other, connected together in perfect harmony, forming a perfect disc. The core of the flower had its own character, a bit more orange than the petals. It held the flowers potent aroma, bearer of the scent of spring. This single flower will spread its beauty across the land, by an insect, the flowers’ carrier of life. This flowers beauty will be experienced by many, but only for a brief moment. It brings the scent of the season, summer is just beyond the horizon, I enjoyed it while I could. Lion’s Bridge is coming back to life…