Ben Boyett - Restoring At-Risk Communities

A few summers ago I worked as an intern in the Fredericksburg area, working with the youth in an at-risk community. Over the summer I was assigned a book to read as part of my internship. The book was written by a man named John Perkins and decribes effective methods for turning at-risk communities into self-sustaining communties with strong cores. It wasnt until I did this internship that I realized how close these neighborhoods are. I think we all know where the neighborhoods are but we dont give them much thought other than to avoid them. Do we owe any obligation to the people who live in such communities? You might say that it would be a nice thing to do to help them if we could but is there anything compelling us to help? Well if you are a Christian, you are commanded to love your neighbors. Also from the book of James,"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

How much then are we to give to help those in need? Most people are willing to donate money to a cause that they think is noble or "good" but beyond that I don't think people are willing to step outside of their comfort zones to actually go themselves. If you have never gone on a trip to help those in need, either in this country or another I would urge you to go. With the economy the way it is people need help more than ever.

Ben Boyett - Blade Runner

A classic. Set in a fictitious future, the plot unravels as we learn of a struggle between two groups; the replicants, and the humans. I find Roy's character fascinating. He is the leader of a group of replicants who disobey the law to pursue longer life for themselves. He is a semi-messianic character as he is a strong leader and superhuman. He is regarded as a near perfect specimen. Roy's last lines depict the struggle that the director is trying to convey. He talks about his his amazing life experiences and the things that he has experienced. It is only our experiences that allow us to gain or commununicate knowledge. What does it mean to be human or to live a meaningful life? I think that Roy gained what he really sought as his life slipped away, acceptance of his existence.

Ben Boyett - Silence of Adam

Picked up a copy of this book by Larry Crab awhile back and never really read it until recently. I have read spiritual themed and very scripturally books speaking to the masculine heart, but this one I like more than a lot of the others I have read. Many books speak of unspoken hurt or injuries that we have suffered from or turn into a pity party. Conversely others turn into chest thumping as they declare,"WE ARE MEN." To me this book has called me out on issues where I have struggled, particulary in relationships, and challenged me greatly. One of the things that I like most about it is, its very scripturally grounded. It speaks much of being action oriented, and being full-hearted. A good read at least and a challenge to live up to.

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 5

Recently I have moved from Newport News to Fredericksburg to be a part time Youth Minister at a church up here. As part of my compensation for my job i get to live in a house that is owned by the church. Now this house was built in the mid 1940s and hasnt had any proper upkeep in over twenty years. As such I have had to completly redo a good portion of the house. New floors, walls, ceilings, lights, the works. The church is paying for most of the materials but the labor has all been volunteer and mostly done by me. From this experience I have learned that people are willing to volunteer to help on such a project, but only for a couple of weeks. They very soon lose thir enthusiasm and stop showing up when they say they will. If I need anything done I have to specifically ask for help and keep hounding them until they come. Really learned the meaning of diffusion of responsibility.

This past week I went to the chirch business meeting and part of the discussion was the progress being done on the house. During the discussion someone had mentioned that the previous tenant had had to move their childrens beds away from the walls when it rained because water would just run down the inside of the walls and soak everything. I was a bit shocked that the people of the church knew how bad it was but never bothered to do anything about it. They certainly would not let their own homes fall into such a state or disrepair.

I think what gets at me most is the churches lack of outreach or willingness to do anything different than what they've always done. They are great at giving offerings to other people to do God's work, but when it comes to doing it themselves they are nowhere to be found. Guess we all get a little too comfortable and complacent sometimes.

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 4

Been thinking about marriage a lot lately. I have been daitng my girlfriend for a long time now and hope to get engaged soon. I was having a conversation recently with a friend about how 50% of marriages end in divorce. I view marriage as a sort of goal, that once attained problems go away but that clearly isn't so. What is it that makes so many marriages end in dovorce? One of the most common culprits is the way our societies notion of self-gratification and taking the easiest, most convenient way out. People blame financial situations, stress from work, death or injury of children or loved ones. Another frequent one is they dont feel in love any more or they fell in love with someone else. I'm not trying to say that divorce is never the right thing, but why is it so prevalent? Call me an idealist but people should fight for their relationships more. That and take their time getting into it. So many of my friends grew up in split homes and they turned out alright, but I don't think that is giving a child the best shot they can get. I guess I'm just a little angry with my cousin who is getting a divorce from his wife after it was discovered that their three adopted girls had possibly been abused. I know that kind of thing isn't easy and I don't know all the details but all I can think of is the poor little girls who now have another obstacle in their development. Kinda sad. Fight for it.

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 3

During a recent conversation I was having with a friend we started to talk about our most important or powerful life experiences. His was when his daughters were born, merely being in the presence of a life coming into this world. I think it would be a safe bet to assume that many parents would echo his reply. What is it about it that is so powerful? I'm sure for some it is a bond between the two partners. For others perhaps a looking forward to continuing a name or family tradition. Having not yet experienced it, its hard for me to say for certain. Interestingly the term birth is used not only to describe the completion of a pregnancy, but also to the beginning of natural phenomenoms; particularly ones that are impressive in complexity or scope. Sometimes religious experts and scientists speculate about the "birth" of the world.

I am a Christian and as such believe in the creation story described in the book of Genesis. How did God feel when he "birthed" the world? How does that affect us? God is often referred to as "God the Father." The scpriptures also speak of us as God's "children." No matter how we grow up, we can't maintain the same type of relationship with our parents as when we were infants. As you have grown from a child into an adult how has your relationship changed with your parents or parental figures? What implications does that have in your relaionship with God the father?

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 2

Everyone I know worships something or someone. Some worship religion or a God, some a relationship or a loved one, some worship alcohol or drugs, some worship food, some worship work, some overindulge themsleves in whatever they feel like at the moment, but everyone of them worships something. What does it mean to worship something? Worship literally means worth-ship, or the attributing of worth to something. What are the ways that we attribute worth to something? Perhaps by spending excessive time with it? Perhaps by lending of ourselves emotionally to it? What do you spend your time doing? Where is your heart? What do you worship?

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 1

Recently I was leading a Bible study and we had a first time visitor come who was a good friend of one of the members. I got to talk to him afterward and found out that he is atheistic. During the conversation he mentioned that he would never accept a religion unless he had a logical proof stating that it was in fact a true experience of the supernatural. The problem with this lies in the definition of supernatural. Anything that is supernatural is above and outside of nature and therefore will not act according to our scientific laws. What then is left to communicate the experience of the holy? Personal experience is all we really have of proof that anything supernatural exists, but personal experience is inherently flawed in that we can't allow someone else to experience just what we ourselves have experienced. All that remains is simply faith.

Ben Boyett - The Jacket

Enjoyable, thought-provoking film. Does he die in the jacket or does he actually manage to escape and live in the future? Is it just the drug that causes him to experience what he does or is there a deeper mystery surrounding being wrapped in the jacket and placed in the morgue? The morgue drawer symbolizes death very overtly as he is placed in a position that normally only dead people are in. Pretty terrifying prospect. One of the things that I don't understand is why people are so reluctant to give information about his death. If he really died there why would they lie about it and try to avoid the issue? This film makes me think that if I knew how I was going to die would I try to avoid it? Surely most people would, but can one cheat death? To quote the film, "How much time do we have?"

Ben Boyett - Bunny

Funny little film. The old bunny is trying to bake a cake but keeps getting distracted by the moth. We get early implications that the moth is in some way tied to her deceased husband. This idea is confirmed again at the very end when it focuses on a picture of the two of them with two moths flittering around in the reflection. One question I have about it is when does the bunny die? Does she die while she is dreaming and life gradually drifts away from her, or does she actually die when she crawls in the oven? What really happens there? In my opinion she dies in her sleep and while dreaming she drifts away. I really liked the transition from the oven to the sky and the bunny flying away with the rest of the moths. Also it is interesting that while she is trying to creat something, she gets so frustrated that her new goal is to destroy rather than to create. In her fervor we see the most passion.

Ben Boyett - Romans 1

After writing a blog on The Butlerian Jihad I was reminded of a section from Romans 1 that I have read recently where Paul calls himself a slave. Romans is a letter from the apostle Paul to the church in Rome introducing himself to them and explaining why he is coming to visit them. The introductory section in verses 1-7 talk about who Paul is. In the first verse Paul calls himself a slave, an apostle, and says that he has been singled out for the mission. In an introductory letter I have never described myself as a slave. In Rome slaves were consided lowly so why would he call himself a slave? In the Old Testament once Israel receives a king the people are called to be slaves to their king, and the king a slave to God. I think that in this section Paul has removed the middle man and directly become a slave to God. Not a slave in the sense that we usually think of it but rather as a voluntary servant, who is bound out of obligation. Paul also writes that he has been freed. Freed to be a slave? What is freedom? Can we be totally free under self-rule?

Ben Boyett - The Butlerian Jihad

The Butlerian Jihad is a novel written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is a prequel to the original Dune but is still set in the distant future. As the book opens there is a conflict between two warring factions, the humans and the cymeks. The cymeks are former humans brains that have been put into robots bodies. This book addresses several issues such as what it means to be human, human slavery, and the moral implications of scientific advances. The most interesting thing to me was humantys struggle for freedom from their robotic oppressors. The robotic army controlled by an artificial intelligence named Omnius capture and subjugate most of humanity and are closing in on the few remaining strongholds. A woman named Serena Butler becomes the catalyst for revolution when Omnius finds out she is pregnant and kills her baby. Why didnt it spark a revolution when he massacred whole planets? Was her baby that important? I think that we are willing to tolerate a whole lot more than we are willing to put our children through.

Ben Boyett - Dune

I have always been a fan of Frank Herbert's Dune books, and recently I picked up a copy to reread it. I am fascinated with the way he ties Messianic prophecy into the story. Through a specialized breeding program a group called the Bene Gesserit hope to cross breed all good human traits into a single bloodline and in so doing create a superhuman capable of reaching outside of our time to see reveal the past and the future. Should that be the ultimate goal of humanity? To be able to circumvent time would be an incredibly powerful tool, one not to be wielded lightly. Herbert explores this idea through the experiences of the protagonist named Paul Atreides. After realizing his potential as this superhuman he shortly goes mad and in the ensuing book he leaves his position as Emperor of the Universe to wander off into the desert, a blind, penniless prophet. This reminds me of Oedipus, who only realizes what it is to see after he has lost his vision. Very deep book and I intend on finishing the series in the next few weeks.

Ben Boyett - Koyaanisqatsi

Interesting film. In Hopi it means "Life out of Balance" or "a state of life that calls for another way of living". Through the series of time lapse videos the director implies that the lives that we live need to be changed due to our harmful impact on ourselves, those around us, and our environment. For a film that doesnt use spoken language it speaks volumes about our race. I don't enjoy watching films like this because all it feels like is a guilt trip. The director doesn't suggest any alternative way to live, but seems to suggest that the world is more important than human life. It can ispire people to action sure, but only to the extent that they will buy a hybrid instead of a large SUV. I do agree that we need to slow down and take a look around us more often, but the ending to this film seems to be prophetic of an apocalyptic end.

Ben Boyett - Minority Report

I really enjoyed watching this film. Steven Spielberg is a very talented director and he comes through in this film. The story is set in the future in a near perfect human society. The film explores the idea of whether or not humans are capable of creating a perfect society. It reminds me of Zardoz in that sense because even though things seem to be under control, inside the system is bursting at the seams. Cruises character John Anderton is a policeman whose job is to prevent crimes through the developed sense of pre-cognisanse. The plot heats up when John is accused of commiting a crime. To me the movie points towards the concept of original sin; no matter how civilized we become, humans will always be capable of great harm to ourselves and those around us.