"Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

God thinks that we are special even if the world doesn’t. He sees our inward beauty like no one else. That is why I love this saying, Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder . I read a book called “You Are Special” by Max Lucado, who is a Christian writer . The book was about a town of wooden people, who judged others by placing stickers on them. Star stickers meant that you were a talented person and dots meant that you were not very talented, in the town’s eyes. Punchinello, who was one of the wooden people, did not have any stars instead he had dots. He struggled to do tricks like jumping astoundingly high, but he just got dots for what he did. One day Punchinello met a girl who had no stickers at all! He questioned her about how she didn’t have any stickers. She explained to him that the stickers wouldn’t stick to her and that everyday she went to see the wood carver, who had carved everyone in the town. So Punchinello went to see the wood carver. The wood carver lovingly told Punchinello that he was special to him and that if he came to see him everyday, sooner or later the stickers wouldn’t stick because he would trust what he said and not what the town said.
I think that this is a good example of the saying; Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, because the wood carver looked at Punchinello’s beautiful inside but the town looked at the outside. This book confirms the fact that God focuses on our inward beauty, not our outward beauty. -Ellen, South Carolina

Honor and Glory

Honor and glory were worth alot in ancient cultures. We see honor and glory strived for in all three of the books we have read so far.
In Gilgamesh, there is a desire to be known and remembered. It is why he and Enkidu went to kill Huwawa. Gilgamesh specifically told enkidu, "If I should fall, my fame will be secure." He didn't even care as long as he received fame. Honor and glory was the motivation for taking on the bull of heaven: "The life of men is short, let us contend with the bull of heaven and win." Their thinking was so messed up! The book ends with Gilgamesh boasting about the city he had made. Why'd he build the city? I bet you can guess! He wanted to be remembered and glorified for it.
In the Odyssey, we also see this motive. It was the cultural importance of honor and glory that drove him to fight in the battle of Troy. When Odysseus went down to Hades and talked to Achilleus, Achilleus requested news of his son. He asked, "Whether or not he went along to war to fight as a champion"- meaning has he made his mark and received glory and honor for it?
In "Histories," Solon of Athens speaks of Tellus who died a glorious death in battle and was given great honor by the Athenians. This is why Solon says Tellus was the happiest man he had ever come across. Again, it's all that counted!
Honor and glory alone are not unbiblical principles. However, you have to ask yourself, "Who am I bringing honor and glory to? We are instructed to glorify God. Colossians 3:23 says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."There are many men and women throughout christian history who died to give us the privileges we have now. That is honorable. These people died an honorable death, but they did it to honor and glorify God. That is what we are here for, the very reason we were created, to honor and glorify Him.
-Myriah in Michigan

Plutarch's View of Virtue

Plutarch's view of virtue is portrayed to us through the three basic parts that he argues make up every man's life. A man's birth, his education, and his work are these three parts.
Coming first in the basic parts of a man's life, although not the most important in Plutarch's opinion, is his birth. His parentage, a big factor of his birth, can help determine who he becomes in life, however it doesn't mandate how he develops. If his parents were drunks, he may become a drunk because of the example they set for him or he may choose to overcome that heritage to become a man of virtue. Plutarch argues that a man's gifts can be educated enough to overcome all obstacles of birth.
For this reason, Plutarch highly valued education. He recognized that man has no control over his birth and sought to compensate that with education. Unfortunately, education is not the key answer to living a virtuous life although it can do and give us many good things. Plutarch directly contradicts scripture when he states that man is not evil by nature but simply doesn't know what is good and therefore needs to be taught. Our Omnibus text says "Education can teach people what is good, true, and beautiful, but it cannot make us love those things, or give us the wisdom and strength to do them." Only Christ gives us the strength and will power to do good and this Plutarch totally misses!
Finally we come to the last part of a man's life, his work. Plutarch believed that the deeds a man performed in his lifetime would be the reason for him being deemed virtuous or not. However, although his work can earn him the title of being virtuous among men, God sees the heart and the truth. Altogether too often deeds that seem done for honorable reasons are out of selfish ambitions.
So, as I have written, the ultimate piece that is missing from Plutarch's analysis of life is God. His basic parts of life to obtain virtue all include what man can do. It's not about man, it's all about God!
-Myriah in Michigan