Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Out of the Best Books

Tell us about a piece of writing that has impacted your life. It could be something you wrote, something you read, or even something you wish that you'd written. What was the text, and how did it affect you and your choices? (For this exercise, I'm going to forbid quoting scripture. You all already know that words of scripture can be transforming. I want to push you beyond that, to see the hand of God not only in holy writ but also in "the best books" and the skill of your own pen.)

11 comments:

  1. I'm going to go a little bit out of the box with the piece of writing that has impacted my life the most and say that it is "On the Transmigration of Souls" by John Adams. Presented at the year anniversary of 9/11, this is a combination of orchestral music, choral music, and spoken word. The words are what stand out to me the most, however. They include names of people who died, quotes from witnesses of the disaster and family members of the dead, and other various words. The piece puts these words into a chaotic spread, coupled with very dissonant and chaotic music. This piece causes your mind to wander back to the day of 9/11 as if you were there. The quotes from witnesses of it are in crying tones, as if you are among the survivors. You can feel the emotions that were felt by the family and friends of the dead.
    Before I became aware of this piece, I never really understood what 9/11 was like. I was taught about what happened many times, but I didn't comprehend what it was like for the people who were influenced by it or who lived through it. This piece brings me as close as I can to feeling what those people felt. I am so grateful for it because I can now somewhat understand how terrible it was. That may sound counter-intuitive, but I am grateful for my new understanding of it nonetheless.

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  2. There was a book that kind of just fell into my hands that I began to read just because. After I started reading I, quite literally, could not put it down unless it was absolutely necessary that I put it down. It only took about two days to finish. The book was called "The Message". Long story short it's the first hand account of a man who fell into a coma and his spirit left his body and moved to the other side. During his time spent there he met many of the people who had died before him. They taught him about the importance of families and the potential future of America and what could happen if things don't change. The book puts special emphasis on the one principle that, if all people were to enact, could literally change the world: service. I actually read this book while I was serving my mission in New York only a few months ago, and of course that amplified the message of the book. It was only a few weeks after I read the book that Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast; and we, as a mission, decided to take off the ties roll up our sleeves and get to work serving people, doing for them what they couldn't do themselves. This was probably the greatest experience of not only my entire mission but of my entire life. Dropping everything and spending five weeks straight of just going out and serving people all day every day. It was then that the message of "The Message" really got to me and I learned from firsthand experience that if you want to be happy, serve others.

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  3. A book I've recently read that has impacted my life is "The Running Dream" by Wendelin van Draanen. In this novel, a 17-year old track star is in a bus accident and ends up having her right leg amputated at the knee. I was touched by this book because, while it's not my favorite book ever, it made me reevaluate a lot of things I take for granted. After reading this book, I realized that I need to be grateful for so many things; even something as seemingly simple as having two working legs. If I'm not grateful for having two working legs, it's like a slap in the face to anyone who doesn't. This book helped me to get out of my little bubble and realize that just because a blessing--such as being able to see or hear or walk--is common, doesn't make it irrelevant.

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  4. Other than my textbook and the lack of reading thereof which really impacts my life, I haven't had much time to read. But recently I read a book that gave me a view into people outside of our social bubble in Utah and even our time period. I think the title was something like, American Heiress. But what I found interesting was how strict the culture was back 150 years, how little direction people had, and how self-centered they were. It made me realize that although they had splendor and jewels, but as they got older people moved their interests to the young, up and coming. I'm just glad that I have the gospel as a guideline and that I can have purpose and morals in my life.

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  5. A book that I recently read was titled "Flags of Our Fathers." For those of you who have never read it, it is about the lives and experiences of the soldiers who were in the very famous picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima, during World War II. The book was written by the son of one of the flag raisers, who had almost no idea what his dad had been a part of, because his dad never talked about it - he only learned about his dad's participation in the flag raising after his dad had passed away. After reading this book, there were two things that impressed me. First, the determination and bravery of all the soldiers who fought in World War II - in the face of danger and certain death, they maintained resolve and fought on, caring little for the safety of themselves, but caring completely for the safety of their brothers in arms. The other thing that so deeply impressed me, was the humility of those who we praised as heroes. The flag raisers never thought they had done anything spectacular, they never wanted to go no national tours - they just wanted to go back to the fight, where they knew their friends were dying. Then, after the hype died down, those that survived never went around bragging about what they had done. When asked about the flag raising, the author's father would simply say "The real heroes are the ones that never came back." These two things really impressed me, and have given me a new-found respect for all those serving in our armed forces.

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  6. One of the best books that I have read it Way To Be by President Hinckley. I just love how even through a book, you can feel his love and concern for each of us. This book was the basis of the 9 bee's that came out a few years ago. It is basically an extended and more detailed version of the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. In high school, I knew what was expected of me and I knew what was in the pamphlet that we always talked about, but it never really set in. (In the way that it didn't mean something to me personally). After reading President Hinckley's book, it all clicked for me. Not only did I gain more insight and knowledge of the standards of the church, I came to love them and to be grateful for them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and I promise it will change your life for the better.

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  7. I would say that one of the pieces of writing that has impacted me most is my journal. This may sound a little bit out of the ordinary, but I truly have gained more from writing in and reading through my old journals than anything else. One of the reasons for this is I find that when I write my feelings and experiences down, when I read them later I learn even more from them than I did when I was initially experiencing them. Rereading old journal entries can also fill me with love and gratitude as I gain a greater appreciation for everything that my Heavenly Father and Savior have done for me. Lastly, I am an extremely forgetful person. If I dont write something down than it doesn't take long for me to forget it forever. If it weren't for my journals, I would probably have only half as many good memories as I do now!

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  8. Well other than my o chem book, I haven't had a whole lot of spare time to pop open a book and sit down for a nice read. But, when I was a young lad, I did enjoy reading quite a bit and this may sound ridiculous, but some books that impacted me were the Harry Potter series. Loved those books. Its not like they transformed my spiritual life or motivated me to be a better person or anything like that. But they impacted my life because they were the first books that really stimulated a love of reading in me. I didn't particularly care for reading up to that point but as soon as I read those, I LOVED to read. And probably because of that, I read many many other books that have impacted my life as well. They kindled a fire inside. Which lead me to read other books and enjoy reading.

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  9. Well, I'm going to mention poetry that has impacted my life. It has caused a flame of determination to rise up inside of me whenever I recollect upon its contents. It's called The Race, and it's by D. H. Groberg. It was about a man that was staring failure in the face and was receiving criticism from others where they were telling him to quit, but the man remembered a race where he kept messing up and falling. He would remember his dad's face and words that came to mind during that race and be filled with renewed determination to "get up and win the race" though winning meant rising from each time he fell. I'm a runner, so the pathos of Groberg's work is extremely effective for me.

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  10. A piece of writing that has impacted me the most is my journal I kept whilst living in India. I was overwhelmed by the culture shock and felt the need to express myself, so keeping a journal was my best option.From time to time, I will re-read what I wrote and I'm instantly reminded of the many fun experiences I had. Walking down memory lane has always been a big part of my life as I have moved every 3-5 years. Thus, I'm grateful for the time I took to write. I really enjoyed writing in my journal as I could do so in any manner and choose my audience. I included numerous stories, quotes and pictures which helped bring my journal to life.

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  11. The thing about me is that I love to read, but I can't exactly place one book that affected my life more than others. The only one I cant really think of is my first manga book, because it got me really into japanese culture, and through that I made a lot of the friends I have today. But I don't want that to be the book I choose for this entry, because that's just embarrassing. So, I was thinking of the better written books that I've read and loved, like Jane Eyre, Macbeth, or any of the other classics. But despite how much I loved them, they didn't really seem to have a big impact on my life. The series I think that has affected me the most was the Sword of Truth series. For one thing, it helped me form my opinion of capitalism and communism, and a lot of times made me think a lot about my faith. The author was strongly anti-religion, so a lot of times, I'd have to stop reading and think about why I believed what I believed. It was one of those things where I loved the book, and respected a lot of the author's opinions, so I really had to think hard and research it when he made another point on the evils of religion. Another thing is that through that book, it made my best friend and I a whole lot closer. Most of our inside jokes are centered around that book. So even though it wasn't an insanely philosophical book, I love it because of its affect on me, personally.

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