The Darkest of Nights

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, you read about the experiences of a Holocaust survivor who tries to make sense out of the suffering both he and his people have experienced. In your blog post, reflect on Wiesel’s experiences and his attempts to make sense of them in light of religion.

In your reflection focus on the following questions:

· What do you think of the way that Elie Wiesel makes sense of the suffering of the Holocaust?
I read Night in high school and after rereading it again, I remember why it is one of my favorite books. Wiesel is really good at saving the picture and sharing what happened during the Holocaust. I was able to not read of the suffering but to be able to imagine what people went through. It was horrible, so I would think. Wiesel is able to explain what all happened and through it all he is strong enough to keep going to make it out, he was determined.

· How do you think you would respond if you experienced what is described in Wiesel’s book?
I don't have to think hard to know that I would not have responded like Wiesel did if I was in this experience. He is a strong man to be able to live out the way he did. I for the most part would have given up pretty early into the Holocaust, and if I had made it through the beginning I know I would have been to devastated to keep going if I watched my father die like Wiesel did. It also amazes me at the end of the book Wiesel states "No thought of revenge, or of parents. Only of bread." He goes on to say again there was no thought of revenge. It takes a lot not to want to get revenge after everything they went through. I honestly don't think I would have been able to do it, but I also will never know unless I would physically go through it myself.

· How might the various perspectives of wisdom literature documents discussed in this module help people cope with suffering?
I am not quite sure how it could help others, unless it helps them like it helped me. I am in the midst of suffering right now, but rereading this book it gives me hope. The suffering I am going through right will never be compared to Wiesel's adventure in the Holocaust, but to me it is similar to my own Holocaust. Being able to read and understand how Wiesel went through all the crap and all the struggling that he endured allows me hope, because he was able to share in this literature. I think what makes it so impacting is that it seems like a made up story but there is so much proof that it is not. This is life and this crap happens. This book is living breathing proof that crap happens but God provides.

· Describe an experience you have had that required you to make sense of some kind of suffering and reflect on how something in the wisdom literature might have helped you cope.
I'm tempted to just say see above to answer this question, because it is the same answer. I'm in my own Holocaust between myself right now. I have made myself a prisoner in my own life and I am the one turning myself into the corpse that Wiesel saw in the mirror at the hospital. I'm slowly killing myself because I don't have the hope to help me through. But God has been providing me with this hope, and one of those ways has been through literature, and not just this book. I have read a lot lately and it seems that every book I have read is God just speaking directly too me. I can honestly say too that because of that I am still alive and willing to fight today. I hope that God continues to give me hope and if it is through literature well then I'll keep reading.

Prophets and Power

• What implication does this have for understanding what God really cares about?
• God doesn’t care about what we have; he cares if we love and worship him only. Some may say that this makes our god selfish but it doesn’t. God tells Solomon that he can pretty much have anything he wants but lots of horses, money, and women. When we start to cherish our material items we lose sight of God. That is what happened, Solomon got a lot of horses, money, and women; thus, leading him to worshiping other gods. God could have completely taken him out of rule and the world if he wanted to but he didn’t, he kept his promise to David and God just wanted him and his people to love God and others.
• What implications does this have for the “proper” worship of God?
• I see that “proper” worship back then was being able to sacrifice things to God, like it mentions in 2 Kings 19:35. How I see it should be though is that we sacrifice living a “good and rich filled life” to live a Godly life. What if our biggest concern was loving God and loving others and not if we have the newest gadget or the coolest clothes? Our worship of God should be filled with love, not what we can give God other than our love. What if we sacrificed our wants and desires to worship and love God? This is what I think would make God happy.
• If a prophet appeared in America today, what do you think that prophet would say about our concern for social justice?
• I think if a prophet appeared today they would be outraged. America has so much money compared to others, we drink Starbucks drinks like water they cost roughly 3 dollars a drink, there are countries where people live on less than two dollars a week and people that don’t even have clean water. But then you have the people in America; we have poor people right in front of us. I know I’m not the richest person in the world but I’m am blessed and I should send that back to others so they can be blessed. If everyone just thought of others there is so much we could do. I just got back from a mission trip to Nashville and I went to serve but I was also served in return. I talked with people that were Christian and still didn’t understand why we were doing what we were doing. God wants us to love and to serve, but so many people are losing that in their lives. We can serve the poor and help our social justice. How often do you think of what you could do for others?
• What are some ways that you, as an individual, can "practice what the prophets preach" about social justice?
• I can continue to serve my neighbors. I have heard of love and care ministries that help the homeless and the poor and I can volunteer to help them. Also I can go through my shoes and clothes and donate them to the poor or even buys some clothes to donate. I don’t have all the money in the world and I am struggling with my own bills and what not, but I am blessed with material items and I can sacrifice to give up a lot. I used to keep gift cards to food places to hand out to people I see on the street or I would take them to go get something to eat. I could volunteer with big brother big sister, and I can just lavish my love on others. This trip to Nashville truly showed me how easy it is to love and serve others. I want to make my life a life of loving and serving God and his people.

God's faithfulness in light of prayers and requests that either God does not answer or answers in ways we do not expect

I have struggled with having negative and suicidal thoughts in my life. I remember I would pray that God would just put me out of my misery and kill me or do something. I thought my life was awful and all I wanted God to do was take me out of the awful life and let it all be over. The prayer was never answered even when I begged that I would die if I took a bunch of pills or other things, instead I was alive and had many people tell me that I was very lucky to still be a live. This affected my life even more than what was already going on. My life was already messed up and it made it worse when God would answer my prayer and end it when I asked him too.
What I didn't know is that God was answering my prayer. I was asking him to take care of my life and he was he was protecting me so I would have a life. I felt like Abram might have felt when God promised him and heir and he had to wait so long, because I thought God would care for me. I got tired of waiting and tried to take it into my own hands by trying to take my own life. Abram also did this by have Ishmael.
After reading and studying this story it helps me realize that God has a plan and that even though we don't think it is what he plans and we try to make it our plan God will still have his plan work out in the end. God's plan is still working out in my life and I'm still learning to trust him and his timing.