Simple objects, such as my bracelet and my picture serve as symbols for one of the most important people in my life. My little cousin, Cole DePriest, died on April 3, 2015, just a day after his eighth birthday. When he died, everybody’s lives were changed. The bracelet I wear says, “Cole DePriest Walking With Jesus”. I wear it at all times, except when I have to take it off for athletics and when I shower. It is a constant reminder of how precious he was to me, and to everybody for that matter, and for the miraculous events that followed his death. After he died, strange things kept happening that could only be little signs from God. A few of days after the incident, Cole’s best friend, Jett, came home from school and told his mom that one …show more content…
of the boys in his class gave him a bracelet that Cole had given to the boy a couple of weeks ago. Cole told the boy to give the bracelet to Jett if anything ever happened to him. The bracelet said “Walking With Jesus”. Cole was at his grandparent’s house during spring break when he got it from church. That’s where the idea for the bracelet I wear came from. To me, I thought it was weird how Cole had given him the bracelet just a couple of weeks before it happened and that the boy still had it and gave it to Jett. Then after that, something even stranger happened. It was the end of April when Colette woke up one morning and found a box with a note on top of it in the driver's seat of her car. Colette said her first thought was “How did someone get in my car?” because she locked it the night before. She opened the box and saw a white blanket. She put it in the seat beside her and drove to her mother’s house to open it. When she got the white blanket out she saw that it was Cole’s blanket that had been stolen about four years ago when they were moving houses. In the letter the writer explained that they did not know Colette, and Colette did not know them, but that they found the blanket at Goodwill and knew it was a sign from God. They said they were in the Goodwill store in Center the day after Cole’s accident looking around when they found the blanket. On the blanket it said “DePriest” and the writer said, “I just knew at that very moment that God was in every minute of this experience. He was there from the time I entered the store, to the time He led me to the place where the blanket was, to the moment He revealed the miracle I held in my hands. All I knew for sure was that God was telling me this was your little Cole’s blanket and I knew He wanted you to have it.” Colette said, “Somehow the day after the accident, someone found this blanket and got it back to me. We never saw anyone come into our yard. We never saw anyone. They found out where we lived and put this in my car. I had prayed and prayed for a sign, just something, and I get this. This is truly the work of an angel.” How they found out where she lived and how they got into her car we still don’t know, but it truly was a miracle. In my room, I keep a picture of Cole from his last school play where he was the Grandfather bunny for Easter.
He looked so happy and joyful in the picture and that’s why I like it so much. It is a true representation of his personality and how outgoing he was to everyone he met. When Cole died, everybody’s lives were affected. It was all so sudden and unexpected that it just left everyone speechless and in shock. I remember the day it happened. I was shopping at the mall in Longview with my mom, aunt Michelle, and cousin, Lauren, when my dad called me. He said, “I just thought I would call and let you know that Cole had a horse riding accident and he didn’t make it.” When he said that, I just stood silent on the phone, unable to process what he had just told me. I thought I heard him wrong at first. “Cole who?” I asked in shock. “Colette’s Cole. He was riding horses and his horse tripped and fell on him. He didn’t make it.” I didn’t know what to say, there were no words. I remember getting off the phone with my dad and I just started bawling. Right in the middle of the mall. I really could not process what was happening. I had just played basketball with Cole two days before that. He had just turned eight the day before. How could this happen to him? And why? I told my mom what happened and I went to sit in the car while she finished checking out. Lauren came and sat with me and I just cried. I started getting texts from people, and seeing tweets and posts on Facebook about it and it just made me more upset. When I got home I just went and laid in my bed for the rest of the day. I’ve never had anybody that I was close to die, so I didn’t really know how to handle it. Cole’s funeral was the second funeral I’ve ever been to in my life, and it was the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. So many people I knew and loved all in one room full of people crying. When I first saw the casket I remember thinking “Caskets aren’t supposed to be that small.” It just didn’t seem
real. Losing Cole taught me to not take anybody or anything for granted, because you never know what could happen. Things can change just like that. It has been hard for everybody involved to lose someone so young and precious to us, but we just have to trust that God has a greater plan. All we can do is pray for peace and comfort. Cole was such an incredible little boy that everybody loved from the moment they spoke to him. Cole’s grandmother said it best- “He was called home too soon, yet far too special to stay long on earth.”
N.T. Wright: During my first semester at Northwestern College, I was assigned the book, “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright for one of my Biblical Studies courses. This book and every other book Tom Wright has written has dramatically impacted my Christian faith. Dr. Wright has not only defended the basic tenants of the Christian faith, but also has shown how an academically-minded pastor ought to love and care for his or her congregants. N.T. Wright was previously the Bishop of Durham and pastored some of the poorest in the United Kingdom. His pastoral ministry has helped shape his understanding of God’s kingdom-vision which he is diagramming within his magnum opus “Christian Origins and the Question of God”. This series has instructed myself and countless other pastors to be for God’s kingdom as we eagerly await Christ’s return. Additionally, I have had the privilege of meeting with N.T. Wright one-on-one on numerous occasions to discuss faith, the Church, and his research. I firmly believe Tom Wright is the greatest New Testament scholar of our generation and he is the primary reason why I feel called into ministry.
From the excerpt from the novel, “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character is Estrella, a young Spanish girl with a powerful desire to learn to read. Although she is persistent, her teachers refuse to educate her because they are more concerned of Estrella’s personal hygiene. This leaves Estrella resentful because of the barrier between herself and knowledge. Estrella remains silent until a man named Perfecto Flores teaches her how to read by using his expertise in hardware and tools to represent the alphabet. Viramontes depicts the heartfelt growth of Estrella through her use of tone, figurative language, and detail.
The book Under the Feet of Jesus by Helena Maria Viramontes shows you the story of Estrella and her family and the struggles they face as migrant workers. Among all the symbolism in the book the one that stand out the most is Petra’s statue of Christ, which symbolizes the failure of religion and the oppressive nature of the Christian religion especially in minorities. Throughout the book, Estrella’s mother, Petra relies on superstitions and religion to get her through the hardships in life. In tough times, she turns to the statue and prays for guidance. Her thirteen-year-old daughter Estrella is the first of her family to realize that she needs to stop relying on religion and take control of her life. This brings in a wave of self-empowerment, not only for Estrella but eventually for all the characters as well. In the book, you’re able to see how religion exemplifies the failures of religion in minorities and how it hinders the growth of the characters while helping some of them.
When I was twelve years old, a close friend of mine passed away. At first, I didn’t know how to process what was happening. How can someone I’ve known for the majority of my life be gone? But then it finally hit me. My friend was really gone. There would be no more days challenging
In “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, the whole story revolves around Lia, the thirteenth child of Lee family. Lee family was a refugee family in USA and Lia was their first child to be born in US. At the time of time of birth, she was declared as a healthy child but at the age of three it was founded that she is suffering from epilepsy. In the words of western or scientific world the term epilepsy mean mental disorder of a person and in Hmong culture, epilepsy is referred to as qaug dab peg (translated in English, "the spirit catches you and you fall down"), in which epileptic attacks are perceived as evidence of the epileptic's ability to enter and journey momentarily into the spirit realm (Wikipedia, 2014)
This bracelet means a lot me, it can be compared as “objects that are as evocative as snapshots. They’re documents, but they can’t be reproduced” (last name, par. # ). My bracelet is special to me because it is the first bracelet of la virgen, a bracelet that I bought from a sacred and spiritual place. When I am feeling upset, worried, or scared, I hold on to this bracelet and seek guidance and protection from La
In The Meaning of Jesus N.T. Wright and Marcus Borg present different views on issues relating to how Jesus is viewed. While Borg and Wright do agree on central ideals of Christianity, Borg tends to have more liberal views, whereas Wright holds more conservative views.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is a nonfiction book that brings to light the clash of Hmong culture and Western medicine in Merced, California. Anne Fadiman tells the story of a Hmong immigrant family, the Lees, and the unfortunate condition of epilepsy that their daughter Lia suffers from. Throughout the book the reader sees great conflict inflicted on medical practitioners due to the Lee’s own cultural beliefs and the frustration suffered by the family due to miscommunication. Anne develops the story by giving a detailed background of the Hmong peoples’ lifestyle in their indigenous land of Lao, how it contributes to their beliefs, and their struggle to understand and accept Western practices.
The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, was a rebellion which was the result of Henry VIII’s religious reforms which aimed to provide Henry with more control of the church. The Pilgrimage of Grace is significant in many aspects. These are that it was the first rebellion to have religious causes, the rebellion united the whole of the north of England and that, it is the first rebellion to have demands presented from the rebels and that it posed a great threat because of its scale, the pardon for the rebels came with conditions. The most important aspects are that the rebellion had such a strong common cause, it was able to unite the North of England and that it was the first rebellion
Collins uses visualization, emotions, and comparisons within several natural and man-made objects in respect to all the victims that tragically passed away that dreadful day. By specifically identifying several individuals in this poem, Collins found a way to honor those people that died on September 11, 2001.
During the past few days, many of our friends and family have come to our home to show their love for us and for Arlyn. I have been especially moved by the fact so many of her teachers and principals have shown up and cried with us. I am also touched by the love her young friends had for her. Our memories of this sad time in our lives will therefore not all be bad.
There are certain objects, places, and people that remind me of those who have passed away. My loved ones that have died live on through my memory of them. Some days my
Months past since the last time we’ve seen each other. Months since the time I saw him giving it his all during conditioning. Words cannot describe how much this person impacted the lives of many people in my hometown of Smithfield, RI. It was mid-November. My brother was heading home from college and I picked up my brother from the train station. He distressingly broke the news to me about his sudden passing, and my heart dropped to my stomach. During the whole ride home, I was too nauseated to even speak. I wanted to believe that I was simply having a bad dream. I cried myself to sleep that night. I had school the next day and wasn’t able to function properly. Walking through the crowded halls, I watched all of my classmates walking to their classes in tears. As the announcements came on through the intercom, I could hear the sorrow in my principal's voice as he was speaking about weekly events. I had continuous flashbacks of the cheesy jokes he used to tell, his lustrous smile that brought happiness to others, and his curly perm that he never wanted to cut. I just wanted to stay in my bed and let every single tear drain from my glands. I went to the candlelight vigil for him the next day. Almost everyone from the town attended with a candle. The iridescence reflecting from the candles illuminated the sky with an angelic glow. I felt like he was there next to us at that moment, smiling for what
A couple years after he passed, my grandmother on my dad’s side bought me a curio cabinet with a glass casing and six shelves. It was her’s and my mom’s idea for me to place things in there that belonged to dad or things that my dad have given me that I wanted to preserve, yet still be able to see regularly. This is where the cactus skeleton and the cotton that I mentioned earlier in this essay are currently. Along with those two things, I have many more objects that were once my father’s, and held by him in his hands. Not only do I have objects, I have his notebook that he wrote in while he was out driving. It has a bunch of random writings in it, of numbers and what seem to be nearby stores at whatever location he was at. My mom even gave me some of the post-it notes that he would
Life is filled with lessons, and often times there are little reminders to keep those lessons in our minds for later use. Sometimes lessons learned in life are learned the hard way, like in Cole’s instance. One of the lessons Cole learned is in order to heal he must first right his wrongs; stop blaming those around him for his problems, and to forgive. To Cole, these were just cliché sayings repeated on and on by others around him who didn’t trust. He always brushed these words aside thinking he could do everything on his own and life only revolved around him. After being mauled by the Spirit Bear and having to survive on his own, he began to open his eyes for the first time. He began to grasp it was not anyone’s fault but his own he was stuck in his position. Cole finally started to recognize if he held on to his grudge against his father he would never be able to let go of his horrible past and start living again. Most importantly, Cole learned he could never live with himself if he did not help Peter Driscal. I think this life lesson Cole learned will forever be symbolized by the Spirit Bear. Without the bear, Cole would have never learned integrity and being trusted is real power, not the fake power of freighting people into doing what he says.