iCarli

The Invisible Man  Standing in a crowded room and feeling all alone is one of the worst feelings. Imagine feeling that all of the time. The anonymous main character, the narrator, lives his life “underground.” He lives his life as an outsider who has no place where he belongs and nothing he can identify himself as. He sees himself as better than others, but is also terrified and intimidated by others. Although he is very contradictory, the one understandable trait he has is that he feels lost and misplaced. The only place he can be is on the outskirts or “underground.” The question is, did society put him underground, or did he put himself there?  Relationships are something that humans naturally crave. Having human interaction is necessary for survival. However, the underground man has no real relationships and has very twisted views of relationships. He has nothing truly real in his life, almost everything is in his head. For instance, there he had a small encounter w...

What do we find as encouraging? For me, I know that it is hearing people singing, or giving me encouraging words, but I also find encouragement in beauty. All the sights we have seen on the duration of this trip has been beautiful and I have been overwhelmed at times at the beautiful sights. However, one of the most beautiful sights was the paintings in the sistine chapel in Rome. I couldn't help but think about all the time and effort that went in to making a beautiful, intricate piece of art for all the world to see. Every painting had great meaning behind it. The paintings of the disciples, the judgement day, and the creation of man, each had a story behind it and a great meaning. I got to hear all the Bible stories while I was growing up, but seeing beautiful paintings of those scenes was indescribable. Yes, it is encouraging to see and hear the Biblical stories, but I was heart stuck to see the beautiful paintings of the famous scenes we've read about all these years. ...

Hulag is vulnerable just like this rest of us, she just handles it differently. For most people, they just want to fit in, and they are ashamed of what makes them stand out. However, Hulga seems to purposely try to stand out. She gets a degree that is uncommon in her hometown, she changed her name to the polar opposite of her real name, Joy, and she has an artificial leg. The artificial leg is not of her own doing, but everything else in her life is. She does not dress herself or take care of herself well, she changed her name to something unpleasant sounding, and she chose a degree that no one else in her life has knowledge of. At first glance, you would view Hulga as someone who does not care at all what others think of her, but deep down, she seeks love just as anyone does. She distances herself from others, but still craves affection, and she seems to be content in her own skin, but she is not. Hulga is far from simple.  Why does Hulga change her name? Her birth-given na...

Growing up, we were always told that the Church is the people. We were told that it doesn’t matter how big or how pretty the church is, because it didn’t matter to God. What matters to God is the heart, not the outward. This is not the case for the churches in Italy. To the people of faith here, what matters most is the size and beauty of the church. They put all their focus on outward. As Christians, we know that Christ isn’t in a physical building, He is in our hearts.