Reflection Paper

Love as God created it, is visible in the Bible, an inerrant ancient text that says over 550 times, “I love you and this is why.” And yet, today 's version of love appears quite out of context compared to God’s original design. For humanity to exist and thrive, we need this idea of safety and protection

Carrie Fisher once proclaimed, “Stay afraid but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually, the confidence will follow.” I had to learn the hard way that confidence does not show up ready for you to utilize, just as the quote says. You have to put yourself out there and the confidence will develop. In the seventh grade, I joined the beginner band and chose to play the flute. Beginning band was far more terrifying than my twelve-year-old self imagined it to be. I learned that each student would have to perform in front of the class for a weekly grade. Even worse, the one other flute player next to me had already been playing for a year and I constantly compared myself to her. Later in that semester, this girl and I were talking and she said to me, “When we first started, I thought you were going to be the worst player in the band!” I was completely baffled that this girl, who had only been playing for a few more months than I had, would have the audacity to say that to my face. I did not understand that, at the time, it was okay for me to not play as well as she could. I had only been playing for a few weeks at most after all. Twelve year old me took it to heart and I felt like I was two inches tall. Sadly, that was not the last negative interaction I had with that girl. She stayed with me all throughout middle school, where she made fun of me for making last chair in eighth grade, and overall, put my

“The greatest thing in life is love, and be loved in return” (Eden Ahbez). “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (Cor 13:7). Love also influences all things. It is a powerful force that drives people to do things they would normally not do. In the news, there are several instances of murder in the name of love or robbing a bank because a person needs money for the person they love. There are also everyday instances of moving cross country for the person you love, leaving the person you love just to see them happy, or choosing another career path just to be with your significant other. In the literary works The Epic of Gilgamesh and Medea. Gilgamesh and Medea prove

“To love we must know each other,” and when we examine ourselves and other, we find more similarities than differences (Dorothy Day). In this community of humans, the love I see show me glimpses of the love God has for us. “It was human love that helped me [Dorothy Day] to understand divine love. Human love… gives us a glimpse of the love of God for man…. [and] we learn to understand the love of God for His creatures (Dorothy Day).”

The exact definition of love is: “A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.” 1 Corinthians 13 defines love as “patient and kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but rejoices with the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.” This is the love that Jesus has shown throughout his life on earth and the love that we must strive to imitate. There are four different types of love as explained by the Greeks; Eros, Phileo, Storge, and Agape. Eros is love within the body. It is defined as romantic love and a state of the heart. Phileo is love of the body. It is love of the soul and of those close to you such as your friends and parents. Storge is love of community and family. This love is known to have the power to pull you towards a lesser path. Finally, Agape, which is the

The most controversial and discussed subject in the Holy Bible would be the subject of spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are “gifts of God enabling the Christians to perform his or her…services in church” (Elwell, 2001, pg.1135). Spiritual gifts are given by God to help complete His work here on earth and also glorify His name. When we are chosen to by God to receive these spiritual gifts, He expects us to use those gifts in fulfilling His commission, building up the churches, and giving back to Him. That “gifts are given for the common good, that the church may receive edification” (1 Corinthians 14:5, New King James Version) Town defines a spiritual

As I was first raised as a child, the biggest influential individual in my life is my mother. Nonetheless, she comes from a background from how her parents raised her to treat others in the same manner as you would like to be treated. With this standard, this has been the “golden rule” throughout our family today. By belonging to a Catholic Church since I moved back to the state of Pennsylvania before entering the start of 2nd grade, I attended St.Ignatius of Antioch in Yardley, Pennsylvania.

I remember the warm summer days and the feeling of joy and have no worries in the world. The days of getting off the bus greeted by the warmth of the sun and the cool breeze. Those are they days I like to remember, the days before worry and despair, before stress and sadness. I remember the day it all started, the night my parents told us they were separating, the ground beneath me was crumbling, the warmth was fading away and clouds were rolling in on the horizon. This came as a shock to nine year old me, but as with most things I moved on. I later met my now step-mother and life changed, lives came together and after a while it all seemed normal and life was normal again. After some time though, life decided it wanted to throw another curveball, my step-mom was diagnosed with cancer. Now at the time she wasn’t married to my father, but it was still difficult to cope with. The months moved slowly and I could finally see the light, the cancer was gone and everything returned to normal or so it seemed. That was when life seemed to flip, that was when I found out my sister had depression. This destroyed me on the inside, how could it have happened and why did it happen. The question of how something like this happened is in fact simple to answer, but not to solve, it’s understanding differences between generations and how different things affect different people.

I was living in a apartment and had a bedroom in the basement. And so, my room was in the basement. One day, I had pulled 50lbs weight at work and so after I got home, I had issue breathing in my basement. In fact, I couldn't breath or yawn properly. It was weird, but it was getting better and so i went to bed. But I couldn't sleep due to breathing and I kept turning and tossing around. And so I started thinking about if I was rolling my back and crossing my arms the way vampire sleeps in the coffin. I started looking up at the ceiling, trying to sleep and then suddenly i felt like I was frozen still. I can not move my legs or hands. I tried everything to move my arms free but I felt like I was submerged in molasses. I began to panic every time I had those movement.

There have been plenty of times where I found myself asking if what I was doing was truly worth it. I have always been one to struggle with getting things done, because I have this mindset of questioning certain things I do. Why am I in college? Why do I put myself through stress and torture to get good grades when I could just be mediocre? Oh right, I will not give up until I get to where I want to be. Even though it is going to take a lot of time and effort, the thing motivating me the most is knowing that once I walk across that stage to receive my diploma that sense of accomplishment is the ultimate prize. I set extreme goals for myself because I am a very competitive person; sometimes too extreme. I have to build up a lot of will-power to get some of things done. It is all really in my head though. Some tasks take more will power and effort than others, but the feeling of doing it myself is so empowering. Now whenever I take on new tasks, I just keep in mind that even though it may take a while for me to accomplish, when I do finally finish it all on my own there is no greater feeling.

“We wish you all a productive course.” A simple, dry line uttered by the teacher as I headed in for what I knew would be a grueling experience. A meditation retreat conducted entirely in “noble silence” and dedicated to finally understanding what enlightenment is. Noble silence, they called it, was the act of working as if we were alone in complete silence; alone I was in a secluded place, two hours north of Chicago amongst miles of flat cornfields where the roar of speeding cars overshadows the squawks of Canadian geese flying overhead. The place was the Illinois Vipassanā Meditation Center and it is where I chose to make my final attempt at achieving spiritual enlightenment. This silence was said to help get previous students to the goal of enlightenment. It was a goal that, at the time, I could barely define and had little clue to the gravity of what I was about to embark on. In the end, I would witness one of the noble truths of all existence: Impermanence is inherent in all physical and mental phenomena; all that arises in the Universe will surely pass away.

When I was around seven, I learned a valuable lesson of listening to your parents. Even to this day my parents would bring up that time to warm us not to do anything dumb. Whenever I am near the water, it reminds me of the stupid game that my brother and I used to do.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority,” Colossians 2:6-9 (ESV). The words of the Apostle Paul echo in warning to the people of Colossae, ones stressing the importance of being firmly rooted in the Christian faith. The observations that took place in the classroom and on the playground lead me to believe in the importance of a strong Christian foundation starting at a young age.

I hope all is well. Yesterday, October6,2017, when I stepped outside of Hennepin Health’s office suite into the hallway my eyes immediately began tearing. When I returned back to my work space my eyes continuously teared. Since, my former manager resignation, I have been reporting to Marilee Moritz, Customer Service Manager. She witnessed the tearing of my eyes and redness. I asked if I could leave and work from home. She replied, "No" one can work from home, and then I asked her if I work in office suite, 222, since that office suite has been empty, around July 8, 2017. If I could work in an enclosed office space with my air purifier I could remain in the building for 8 hours. Marilee, said no, since leadership team is interviewing for the person I can’t occupy that office space.

“We need all empty hospital beds to the trauma center now!” I, the baby-faced medical scribe, yelled to the medical staff in D-pod of the ER. Ten police officers and two citizens had been shot in nearby downtown Dallas. I was assigned to work with Dr. Schaff who instructed me to recruit the open beds needed to accommodate the influx of patients. Walking into the frantic trauma room, I appeared with a blank face, dazed by the situation. I regained a perceptive state of mind when Dr. Schaff began asking me details about a patient while telling me to track down an extra tourniquet for a heavily bleeding gunshot wound to the leg. In such a chaotic situation, I became amazed by Dr. Schaff’s skill to quickly assess and treat the patient to allow a higher chance of full recovery. The patient’s wife arrived at the ER and was overcome with emotions. As Dr. Schaff entered the room, she was still in shock from her husband’s condition. Dr. Schaff proceeded to sit down and have a long and considerate conversation with her. Her tear-covered face transformed to a glimmering smile when she realized her husband would make a full recovery, and she joyfully hugged Dr. Schaff. Watching Dr. Schaff interact with her gave me an intoxicating feeling I had never experienced. It demonstrated to me that being a doctor involved not only scientific knowledge and skill, but also human compassion and interpersonal qualities.