In life, people crave guidance. At some point, everyone needs a helping hand. Some people turn to one another, while other turn to great forces of power, such as God. Many people live accordingly to the rules of God, and in turn are directed in leading a better life. In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa Blakeslee is such a person. Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God.
Grandpa turns to God whenever he needs true help. Grandpa is a type of person who is mild, witty, and rather religious. Grandpa uses religion to solve many of his problems. At the beginning of the story, Miss Love was the target of gossip. The entire town viewed her as an outsider and couldn’t understand why she married Grandpa, especially after his wife had recently died. After Grandpa elopes, he comes back to the house and finds a group of people mourning the sad death.
When Grandpa prays, “Lord above, afore this gatherin’ assembled, I ask You to bless the memory of Miss Mattie Lou” (99). Everyone stood shockingly, in silence as Grandpa continued the prayer. When he finishes singing the praises of his deceased wife, and asking for guidance for his new one, the crowd has a change of heart.
It was a strange thing that happened then. My mama went up to her pa and kissed him and, crying, hugged Miss Love, who, crying, hugged her back. My daddy kissed Miss Love on the cheek and then shook hands with Grandpa. Uncle Camp naturally did the same thing (100).
Slyly, Grandpa used the power of God to divert the feelings of the crowd.
While Will is talking to Grandpa about his frightening encounter with the train, he asks Grandpa if “[he is] alive [because] of God’s will” (97). Without fail, Grandpa responds with wise words. He tells Will that “God gave [him] a brain” (97). This shows that Grandpa believes God doesn’t deal with the everyday mumbo jumbo, only the things that are life altering. He believes that God doesn’t need to be there for us twenty-four hours a day, but will give us certain abilities that assist you when you need assistance.
Conclusively, Grandpa starts to give Will a sermon.
Grandma’s worship of Jesus and the “Good Lawd,” Joe Starks’ worship of himself, Mrs. Turner’s worship of white characteristics, and Janie’s worship of love, all stem from a lack of jurisdiction in the society they inhabit. All these Gods represent a need for something to believe in and work for: an ideal, which they wish to achieve, to aspire to. Each individual character is thus able to find himself or herself in the God that they worship. Grandma embodies the initial faith in the book. Her faith is in the Spirit and her allegiance is to Jesus and God.
Grandpa turns to God whenever he needs true help. Grandpa is a type of person who is mild, witty, and very religious. Grandpa uses religion to solve many of his problems. At the beginning of the story, Miss Love was the target of gossip. The whole entire town viewed her as an outsider and couldn’t understand why she married Grandpa, especially after his wife recently died. After Grandpa elopes, he comes back to the house and finds a group of people mourning the sad death. He introduces his new bride and then out of no where, Grandpa says, “Lord above, afore this gatherin’ assembled, I ask You to bless the memory of Miss Mattie Lou” (Page 99). Everyone stood in silence as Grandpa continued the prayer. Then all of the sudden, people also began to pray along with Grandpa. This is amazing. Grandpa used the power of God to divert the feelings of the crowd. It is very sly of Grandpa to do that. Later on, Will is talking to Grandpa about his frightening encounter with the train. Will asks Grandpa if “[he is] alive [because] of God’s will” (Page 97). Obviously, Grandpa responds with wise words. He tells Will that “God gave [him] a brain” (Page 97). This shows that Grandpa believes God doesn’t do everything. He believes God only does major things. He isn’t there twenty four hours a day but God gives one certain abilities which help at all times. Furthermore, Grandpa starts to give Will a sermon. Grandpa tells him that “[One] don’t git thangs jest by astin’” (Page 98). This shows that Grandpa is an well-educated man who understands the importance of God. He doesn’t even waste his time asking for petty little things because he knows that God would not listen.
In all the above religious concepts, Grandpa has always contradicted his views with the organized religion of Cold Sassy. Grandpa’s reason for this contradiction is that Grandpa likes to hear about the loving, caring and forgiving God, instead of hearing about a threatening Lord from the preachers in his town. He also discloses to Miss Love that the only reason he went to church was to please his first wife, Miss Mattie Lou. This disclosure means that Grandpa did not ever agree with the traditional beliefs of his town.
From the very beginning of this story, it came to my attention that Granny continually repeats are "there's nothing wrong with me" and "that's for tomorrow.” This repetition, to me, shows two very important aspects about Granny Weatherall as a person – she’s stubborn and hardworking, yet procrastinates all the time. When she felt death come upon her on her bed that day, she wasn't expecting it. We know this because of the repetition of all that she needs to do and that she'll get it done tomorrow. At the same, who can blame her for not expecting it? I mean, who really expects to die every day they wake up? Sure, one knows they are going to die, but they don’t wake up planning it to happen that day. Aside from that, it stood out to me that Granny Weatherall didn’t fail to mention that she thought she was going to die once before during her sixties. From this near death experience, she somehow, in my opinion, allowed herself to think she was invisible and immortal simply because she managed to survive.
...ng the corpse and the grandma’s nephew switched from playing everyone’s “favorite tune” to playing an hymn that suits the situation.
Faith is something that the author lacks as she only see 's herself as this defiant child. However, this changes as she realizes that she shares a special bond with her grandmother, rather than taking care of her for an obligation. In the very last scene, the author watches her grandmother as she slowly passes away and cries with “sobs emerging from the depths of anguish,” finally realizing that she actually had a very close relationship with her grandmother, developing a type of respect. The author had always felt her grandmother’s gray eyes watching over here, like a safety net, for every move she had made (Viramontes
The grandmother; is not godly, prayerful, or trustworthy but she is a troublesome character. She raised her children without spirutuality, because she is not a believer, she is Godless.
“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,” a short story by Katherine Anne Porter, describes the last thoughts, feelings, and memories of an elderly woman. As Granny Weatherall’s life literally “flashes” before her eyes, the importance of the title of the story becomes obvious. Granny Weatherall has been in some way deceived or disappointed in every love relationship of her life. Her past lover George, husband John, daughter Cornelia, and God each did an injustice to Granny Weatherall. Granny faces her last moments of life with a mixture of strength, bitterness, and fear. Granny gained her strength from the people that she felt jilted by. George stood Granny up at the altar and it is never stated that she heard from him again. The pain forced Granny to be strong.
When he talks to the men that call his car the "bastardmobile" what he 's thinking about doing they are all down on him and just tell him that hell never stick to his word. Grandpa relized that he was going to prove them wrong and he showed up at church Sunday morning and listened to the service and then after church service he then decided it was time for a true change around his house and junk yard. Once he goes to church and he realizes things he goes home cleans up his yard and removes all the junk vehicles and things. After he removes all of these things he then replace some of the things with kids stuff like a tire swing. He decides he wants to paint the porch and change the way things look for the grandkids. He wants his grandkids to change and show them how to live the right way in life.
On earth, God uses various religious leaders as instruments of His love and guidance—chaplains, counselors, pastors, and lay leaders. It is through these instruments that Jesus tells the grieving that it’s OK to cry. God is with you and will protect you. He is your counsel in your storm. We are not orphans. Instead, as Christians we belong to the family of Christ, who will comfort the afflicted.
My sister Deborah always said our father would not go quietly into the night. How right she was. Dad fought up to the very end. Deb and I thought we had lost him the Sunday before Easter but he rallied once again. For too long I have wondered where he got his strength from, a man imprisoned in both mind and body. I believe he was ready to go; that Sunday night when I was told - once again - that he would not last the night, I told dad I was going home for a quick shower and that I would be right back. I didn't know if he could hear me or not. Twenty minutes after my return, dad quietly stopped breathing. I believe he was waiting for me to be by his side, as I promised him I would be.
One day I got a call from my grandma in Ohio who had heard through my father that I was struggling. She was a very religious women and had called me to give me help. She said “Samuel you are a gift from god and you need to realize it”. This got my attention and began listening to her to hear what she had to say. She told me “Sammy god loves you and I know you don't think he cares, but I promise He will be there for you always.” I don't know way this got me but we immediately and a long conversation of god and religion. She got me thinking about how religion could help me and my situation. I wanted to learn more. My grandma and I had a very close relationship even though she lived all the way in Ohio. The next summer when I went to Cincinnati, the first person I wanted to see was my grandma so I could spend time with her and see how she was. I did not get to see her the first day, but I rode over with my dad we all talked. The day I saw her was Friday which meant the sabbath started at sun down. The sabbath is a rest from work, school work, and everyday life. It starts Friday night then we go to church from sunrise to
Spirit : My Grandma, Mildred Johnson, is a true woman of faith. For as far back as I can remember, my Grandma has been a conveyor of the word of God in developing her family and living her daily life. Never would she miss a Sunday to share the word and love of God. As time moves forward not all of God’s children remain strong enough as before to lead his flock. Nor can all of God’s choir continue to sing quite as loudly as they always have. This is the time when the Lord takes them into his hands to rest their souls as he has now done with Mildred. Make no mistake, however, as the legacy of spirit that she has created in all of us will continue to live on.
Jamie is a Reverend’s daughter who stays to herself and loves acting. Whenever there was a good or bad event in Jamie’s life she would always refer is to “Gods plan”. Jamie has faith no matter what and as Landon look back at these specific details he notices how distant he was to his own religious beliefs. Landon does not have interest in religion, he simply think he attends church because he is supposed to. Landon was a teenager of a single parent home, his father married another woman which caused hatred towards his father. QUOTE Simply because of the hard ache within his own home, he personally he did not care. Yet in one scene of “A Walk to Remember” Landon says” that one must have faith, although he does not really know what he is talking about, and he knows that he does not, and he soon steers the conversation away from God and toward romance.” He stated this scripture because Jamie mention that sometimes the Lord plans are not always understood. As Landon looks back at his high school life, he thinks about not only his personal crisis but the one with Jamie and her battling cancer and
God should read this to see how magical his powers are, how family and faith can bind together