Clture Shift

One of the biggest culture shifts I have seen in my life time is the way that people are entertained and spend their free time. When I was younger I remember my siblings,  friends and I playing house, making up silly games and playing outside all of the time. We would spend hours on end playing with each other. I remember one winter there was four or five feet of snow on the ground, yet we were still outside sledding or making snow men. I rarely remember ever watching TV, playing video games, or playing on other electronic devices. In todays society, watching TV and playing video games are daily activities that most people participate in. Not until the last five years or so have cell phones become a " necessity" that everybody must have. When I was younger, not everybody had cell phones; they were more of a thing that people used for business or if parents were not home a lot they could be contacted in case of an emergency. But today most people have them, even people as young as first and second grade are walking around playing games on their smart phones. In the past, when you would go out to a restaurant you would see families having a good time laughing and talking about what had gone on that day, but now one is more likely to see a whole family sitting at a table in a restaurant all on their smart phones. In my life time, one the biggest and most noticeable culture shifts that I have observed is the way that people entertain themselves.  

Color: In Everyday Life

 

 Colors. Seriously, I cannot remember the last time I really thought about colors. Well, that is, aside from what color shirt would go best with a certain color pants or the color of my favorite sports team. Color is not rare to see, yet it is so relevant in the world that it becomes the essence of background noise. 

            As a small child, we were instructed on the names of the colors we had been seeing more or less since birth. The naming of these colors, much like everything else to us at the time, were both fascinating and confusing. Parents and teachers would point at various objects and quiz us on the names. At times it was fun, while other times it was just frustrating. After all, who wants to try and remember a name like “orange” when it looks a lot like the color called “yellow” and there is a box of LEGOs calling your name in the next room. Obviously, we learn the difference between “yellow” and “orange,” despite our best efforts to just run away and play, eventually. Now, in our age, we can grasp the basics. Why go much further unless you are willing to devote your life and career to topics such as “Brain chemistry, the interaction between the unconscious and the conscious by way of the language of colors”? There are still more interesting things, whether it be an iPod, cell phone, or soccer ball, calling your name in the next room. Now, the parents and teachers are trying to focus your attention of math equations with letters instead of numbers and books about dead fictional characters with names you can't clearly call to mind. So, why drag your mind kicking and screaming back to the topic of something that couldn't hold your focus for longer than 3 minutes in kindergarten?
            As a young adult, the truths of the world come often without warning. The worst part of it all is realizing that along the way the basics have been lost along with most of your LEGO collection. I may still be able to identify one color as “blue” and another as “purple,” but I forgot or never learned the importance of knowing these facts. When I am forced to think back to colors, I am forced to think of many things I have also forgotten. The color of my favorite shirt now, for example, is blue. This was the color of my favorite pajama dress at the age of six and the color of my favorite stuffed animal at the age of two. Purple is the color of the walls in my room, which is my favorite color of fireworks and the color of the baby blanket my parents use to swaddle me in. Green is most often found on my sports jersey, but I don't mind too much, because I have been staining my clothes the color grass green for as long as I can remember. Red happens to be a favorite color when I watch the sunset. It is also the color of an old grade school backpack and my favorite pen I keep at home, hidden and safe from all my siblings. Most of my color choices were for reasons I forget or maybe for no reason at all. It is a furniture of my life I often let fade to the background, because more pressing matters were calling my name. Yet, I have a favorite color to wear, a favorite color for my notebooks, a favorite color for my bedroom, and favorite colors for many other things. Perhaps the best example of the importance of colors is when I decide something as simple as what to eat at lunch. The perfectly red apple looks a lot better than the brown pear sitting right next to it. The brown lettuce looks less appetizing than the bright yellow mac and cheese. Chances are, unless I am allergic to apples or cheese, I will be eating a bowl of macaroni and cheese with an apple for lunch that day. Which I will enjoy in my favorite red top, since the yellow shirt seems to have somehow gotten a large brown stain on it.
             Color plays an important, though often subtle, role in life. Since they are important and have managed to infiltrate nearly every aspect of my life, colors deserve a bit more attention. How is this possible? It can be as simple as asking a younger brother why his current favorite color is red or as complex as asking myself why I seem to like to like the color blue a lot more than usual lately. This way I may even learn a little bit more about myself and those surrounding me.

Land of the Free or Land of the Controdictions

My brother's world changed on 9/11/2001.  His ten year old mind tried to come to grips with the fact that Muslim terrorists had attacked and managed to kill innocent, helpless, unarmed citizens on U.S. soil.  He remembered back to the period in history called the Christian Crusades.  During that time period, Christians fought to fight off the Muslims and regain holy sites that had been desecrated and stolen from them.  Something changed in my brother that day. He started thinking about all of the great Christian martyrs and how they were willing to die for Christ. He started looking at men in uniform differently.  He would thank them for serving whenever he saw a military person in union.  It was then that he decided he wanted to be a warrior for freedom.


Tommy is "one of the few, the proud." He graduated almost two years ago to the day from Marine Boot camp. He is one of the brave young men that is willing to sign up for the military when he knows we are at war and there is a huge possibility he will go to war.  He took a year to do missionary work after high school and pray about what he should do.  He took another year at home working, to think about what he should do.  After all, it is a life changing and possibly life ending decision.  Ultimately, the call to fight for freedom won out.  How ironic that the little boy that wanted to be a warrior for freedom and who values religious freedom more than his own life signed up to fight for his country, the model of freedom.  Why is that ironic? It's ironic because that same model of freedom that he signed up to fight for is not allowing him to practice his faith. Because of the furlough, military chaplains have been arrested for saying Mass.  Of course, the priests offered to do perform their duties for free, but the politicians couldn't make a point then, could they?

The point they have made is a lot different than the point they were trying to make.  The point they have made is that this country is dangerously close to becoming what they have always fought against.  No longer a model of liberty and justice for all, it has become a model of pathetic contradictions.  We scream freedom, yet we don't allow unborn children the freedom to be born.  We scream freedom, yet we don't let citizens have a say in whether they want to partake in health insurance plans that go against their morals. We scream freedom, freedom, freedom, yet we don't allow our military to have a priest on board ship while they wait to go into Syria. The soldiers that signed up to fight for freedom are not allowed to scream freedom because they are censored.

God bless Tommy and all of our soldiers.  Just because we don't hear them screaming freedom, nobody can take away their faith, their hope, or their love.  The government may try to take God away, but they can't.  Not only can they not take God away, but every time Christians have been martyred, their blood screams out to heaven and God raises up more saints than before.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/10/04/catholic-priests-in-military-face-arrest-for-celebrating-mass/

Eating Rituals

Dishes clanking, a woman bustling around in a hurried, yet relaxed manner serving food and taking orders for drinks ( although we always drink water), a party of ten filling in around the colossal sized table, finding their spots and asking what there is to eat.  This may sound like a scene from a busy restaurant.  However, it is actually just an ordinary dinner at the Satkowski house. There is rarely a meal where there isn't a spill of some sort of at least one comment of, "Do I have to eat my....(you fill in the blank)?  Despite the barrage of negative comments and the chaotic mayhem that ensues at the beginning of dinner, dinner in the Satkowski house is not only a time at the wonderful food that mom has prepared, but also a time to unwind, make memories, have a good laugh and be united as a family.  After everyone gains composure, Dad begins with a prayer, reminding us of how blessed we are, and how there are those less fortunate whom we must remember in prayer. Then Peter prays that the food mom made doesn't kill us. After that mom will put the delicious dinner she made that night along with a big salad on all of our plates; then we will talk about how all of our days went and what happened at school, work and home. There are usually some funny jokes said or some good natured ribbing to go with the ribs, not to mention the puns.  Some of the greatest childhood memories I have are around the dinner table.  For example, there's the time that Peter at the wise old age of four stated, "I don't mean to be mean or anything Mom (after she had just spent fifteen minutes serving while everyone else ate), but you are the logical person since you are up.  Could you please get me some more water?"  Everyone burst out laughing.  With eight kids all having activities after school, it has not always been easy to find time to spend as a family. However, having dinner as a family every night ensures that we stay united.  It is important that we stay cohesive in our goals and dreams and faith. It is important to feed the stomach, but it is just as important to feed the soul.  United around the dinner table, we stay connected to each other and even the community at large.  When one of the children mentions that someone needs prayers or is struggling, the whole family can join together to figure out how we can help besides praying. It is not just a time for problem solving, but it is a time for getting to know what is going on in each of our lives. This is where we find out that John Paul is frustrated with his lack of time to read now that he has so much school work, Caitlin is having a great time with her new friends at swim team, Teresa is loving piano and wants to be in the school play, Peter does not like not having everyone not having as much time as they used to, to play as a family, and that Sophia likes Princess Sophia and can't wait until her friend comes over again.  Most of all, we find out that there is always a place to go where people will laugh with us, (even if sometimes it is at us), cry with us, sometimes be frustrated and disagree with us, and most importantly love us unconditionally for who we are and what we bring to this crazy, gregarious, uproarious and dedicated family.  So... next time I am tempted to skip dinner because I have too much AP homework, I need to remember that time with family is precious and one of the most valuable things we can do as a family.

Hot or Cold Versus Luke Warm

"Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of  ill will" - MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

There will always be people around who are evil and want some people to suffer.  This may be due to absolute misunderstanding or it may be due to just being evil.  The apostle Paul comes to mind when I read this statement.  He persecuted the Jews because he had an "absolute misunderstanding" of what the Christian people were all about.  He thought that the Christians were blaspheming God so he thought it was his duty to put an end to it.  Because he was pure hearted and trying to serve God faithfully, the Lord revealed to Paul that he was persecuting Christ who is God Incarnate.  He did a 180 degree turn around and became a Christian, eventually dying for Christ.  This shows what can happen when someone is passionate about something.  If a person is convicted and passionate, even if it is on the wrong side of things, he can change and turn to the good if someone proves to him that he is misguided.  This is because a person of conviction, actually cares enough to be convicted.

Contrarily, the person who is of "goodwill", but has a shallow misunderstanding, is not convicted about anything.  There is no passion, rather there is a merely superficial acquiesce to whatever the issue is.  I think of the passage in the Bible that states that it is better to be hot or cold than lukewarm.  God says he will spew out of his mouth, those that are lukewarm (rev. 3:16).  The reason for this is because people who are lukewarm have nothing to stand on and merely blow whichever way the wind is blowing. God can work with those that are hot because they are passionate toward Him.  He can work with those who are cold because they, like Paul, have cared enough to feel or think strongly about something. Lukewarm people have a shallow understanding of things because they have not cared enough to take the time to have a deep understanding of things and most likely never will.

If people have a shallow understanding of things, but are of  goodwill it will not be of benefit to anyone.  One cannot have a good argument with a person of goodwill who has a shallow understanding of things because he will not know how to argue his point.  He will not care enough to look deeply at the issue at hand to truly understand the effects of whatever he believes.  He will not even care enough to change his mind.  He will not be able to advocate for anyone or anything of any importance.  He will not effect change.  A person who has an absolute misunderstanding and is ill willed will argue vehemently and passionately and if he is on the wrong side, a person will be able to point out where the person's logic is failed.  This will in the end, help the person's side he is against.  He may also see the error of his reasoning because he cares enough to think about it.  Martin Luther King Jr. is correct, a "[s]hallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."

The Crushing of Intellect: The Banning of Books

 There are so many reason why a book maybe banned or challenged but a few seem to stick out the most. The book may have content that does not agree with the government, it may be telling the people that they should rebel against  the government and how to do so. Although there may be need for rebellion the government may ban the book because it goes against them. Not only the government banns books but also churches or  schools . Churches may ban a book because it goes against the church teaching. A school  may ban a book such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it is not politcaly correct and uses terms that are not apropreat for the times. 
     A group or person may want to protect a child from content in a book for more than one reason. First, because what a child reads he believes is true so if a child is given a book that calls people inappropriate things or has explicit content then the child is going to think that those things are okay to do or say, which they are not. Secondly, at a young age children do not need to be aware of all the awful things that happen in the world; children should be allowed to live in a world that they think is rainbows and butterfly untill they hit the age of reason and can logic things out.  Although these things are  true for younger children, when people get to high school and college this argument does not apply any more because the more mature person can make up his mind on what he believes and does not believe concerning everything he reads.
   Although young children do not need to be exposed to controversial or sensitive topics, as students get older, it is important for them to explore these ideas. When children get older they need to know what ideas and topics are out there, so they can decide on their own what they believe. They need to be exposed to these topics because somebody out in the world believes that that is true or right.  It would be better for the student to read a book about it and to be able to discuss it while he is in a safe environment so then he will be more prepared to make his or her own decision and  live out in the world on his own.
    Controversial books may be used to break down stereotypes and bias. If somebody is able to read a book that talks about the life of somebody else it might open their eyes to see how they really live and not just the stereotype of their society. For example, in the time that the book The Narrative of Fredrick Douglas was written, many people thought that slaves were not capable of reading or writing and were not intelligent at all. However, if somebody would have picked up his book he would have read a book written by a slave who was intelligent, articulate, thoughtful and compelling. They would be forced to doubt their prejudiced assumptions and if they were honest with themselves, they would have to realize that those assumptions were not true. Today we know that what they thought about the slaves and their society were not true because Fredrick Douglas was very smart and could write. This is just one of the many examples of how reading about somebody and their society could change ones opinion on it.
    Should books be ban? No. There is always a choice whether you or your children should choose or be allowed to read a book. If the book does not teach what you believe or want to read then you have the choice to not read it but others should be able to if they choose. The negative effect of banning books out weighs the good. Evil dictators and controlling governments have used the banning of books to control what people think and know repeatedly throughout history.  Freedom of speech is protected in our country to prevent such atrocities.  It is important that we protect those rights.
    

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/about

Introduction:)

My Name is Mary Satkowski I 'am a 11th grader at SkyView Academy. I' am one of 8 children, I am the third oldest. I have two older brothers and two younger, I also have 3 younger sisters. Having ALOT of siblings is tons of fun but also a little chaotic. I play 4 sports. In the fall I run varsity cross country and play competitive soccer, in the winter I  play basketball, and in the spring I run varsity track and play soccer. When I am not playing sports I love to bake, hike, and ski. If I had time I would love to read but during the school year it seems like I can never find time:)