Leandra Jacobson 4/15

I went into the desert, a weeklong trip. I walk the hallway to the bathroom sink and in my reflections couldn’t bring those eyes to blink. I watch my lips part and the words slip, “I left my prints in the sand and He swept them clean.” For that brief moment, I broke from the mundane. Then that hallway back to myself went dark again.

This is, I suppose, a “poem” of some sort I wrote in History of Christian Though today. It is just a random spillage of thoughts, nothing fancy or too artistic so it’s not to be taken as a legitimate poem and just as rambling. The significance of this poem was brought on by reading sections of The Idea of the Holy by Rudolf Otto, a book mentioned in this class several times. I was distracted because I have reviewed the book in this class as well as Religion and Film, so I understood the basics that I’ve been taught already. The experiences of being present in the vast areas of nature bring this idea of an aweful tremendum, a fear in the face of God’s almighty power. It is seen in silence, in vast landscapes, and grandiose scenes of nature like a desert. I thought about what my reaction to that would be in the personal experience of wandering through one of these vast areas and discovering who I am. In visiting this imaginary voyage I picture I would have an arduous path with an equally awesome religious experience, eye opening and shocking. When I would leave a place like a desert my presence would all the more not have been felt because of how magnificent in size it is, and ability to be impacted in comparison to me. It is so easy, once it is experienced, to lose that feeling of awakening. The realization I have in the mirror, reflecting on my reflections of myself, happened but was lost quickly. I believe that this is how life can be; greatness is experienced and has only so long of a lasting impact until the feeling is forgotten. The goal is to continually recall these feelings until the ultimate gratification, whether it be satisfaction by God or whatever may be your supreme goal, is reached.