theglogang

Jonathan Edwards was the last American Puritan. He was born on October 5, 1703 and lived a great life. Edwards was the heritage if great thinkers and preachers. He was so smart that he went that he went to Yale at the age of 17, 17!! By the time he had turned 21 he had already had his masters. Edwards was a pastor at Northampton Congregational church for 24 years. At the age of 24 he married a woman by the name of Sarah Pierrepant. Once Edwards was in his fifties, the Congregation voted him out for his commitment to conversion. Unfortunately Jonathan Edwards passed away on March 22, 1758 because of smallpox.

The song “The Man” by Aloe Blacc is unique song. To me, I believe that this song means that the singer is the guy who is the best. “Yeah you can tell everybody go ahead and tell everybody, I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man.” When this part is said, it refers to this guy being the head guy. He believes he is number one. Another part where this man is sort of cocky is, “I got all the answers to your questions, I’ll be the teacher and you can be the lesson.” To me, that sounds like he is referring him to be smarter than the other person. This guy knows all, and is a mastermind.

Jonathan Edwards and “The Man” are similar because they both compare to being smarter than anyone. Edwards was an extremely smart guy for his time and he knew it. The song “The Man”  compares to the singer being smart and the hot shot. “I’ll be the preacher you be the confession,” goes hand in hand with Edwards because he was a pastor. Jonathan Edwards was someone who made something of himself, and in that song the singer knows he made himself something.

-Brianna Seigfried

Edward Taylor and the song “Help!” by the Beatles have more in common than one would first think. The poem, “Huswifery“, is about Edward Taylor asking for help from God to become a better missionary. While “Help!” is about asking someone for help to gain confidence again. In similar pleas for help, Taylor says “make me, O Lord” while the Beatles plead “Help! I need somebody”. In both instances they are asking for help outwardly rather than from within themselves. ” Thy holy word my distaff make for me. Make mine affections Thy swift flyers heat” is similar to when the Beatles sang “Now I find I’ve changed my mind I’ve opened up the doors”. In the poem quote, the author wants the Bible to support his efforts to be a good Christian and the Beatles realized they want some help and they are going to receive the help. In both instances the men are seeking guidance and help.   In asking for help the authors give detailed explanations for their need of guidance. An excerpt from the poem, Edward Taylor says “Make me Thy loom then, knit therein this twine: And make Thy Holy Spirit Lord, wind quills: Then weave the web Thyself. Thy yarn is fine” which translates to, I need the spiritual gifts of God because I am only a weak human. In similar detailed fashion, the lyrics from the Beatles song read ” Help me if you can, I’m feeling down. And I do appreciate you being around. Help me get my feet back on the ground”. When Taylor said ” Then dothe therewith mine understanding, will, Affections, judgment, conscience, memory, My words and actions, that their shine may fill” he meant he wanted God to recreate him for Heaven, which is exactly like the Beatles when they said, “And now my life has changed in oh so many ways”. Both pieces of art illustrate powerful expressions of asking for help while admitting that they cannot do it alone. Both poems and songs can covey these messages in a more meaningful way than simply stated by words,

By: Faith Strickle

   John Winthrop was born in January of 1588 and died in March of 1649. Winthrop was a wealthy Cambridge graduate that came over to the American colonies with the C.O.M.B.I.N.E. Winthrop was also a puritan. On November 29, 1630, Winthrop writes “Letter from Boston” which is a letter to his wife, who is still in England, confessing his undying love to her.

   Eric Church was born May 3, 1977 in Granite Falls, North Carolina. Eric Church attended Appalachian State University to get a business degree. In January of 2013, Church released a single off of his album Chief called, “Like Jesus Does”. In the song, Eric Church explains the love that him and his wife have for each other.

   The two men, John Winthrop and Eric Church, are alike in many ways. They both publicly express their love to their wives, but in different ways. John Winthrop expresses his love by writing his wife a letter to let her know he is thinking about her while he is in the American colonies. Eric Church chooses to express his love by writing a song showing how much he loves her and how much he appreciates her loving him like she does.

   John Winthrop says,”I will say nothing of my love to thee, and of my longing desires towards thee. Thou knowest my heart.” which means that he doesn’t need to explain and express his love to his wife in the letter because she knows how he feels in his heart. Eric Church says in “Like Jesus Does” , that his wife, “…knows the man I ain’t. She forgives me when I can’t. The devil, man, no, he don’t stand a chance ’cause she loves like Jesus does.” which means that she loves him no matter what and that even when he does wrong, because she loves him like Jesus does; which is an unconditional love. Both of the men have a great love in their life and they use their writing to express that love.

By; Madison Jordan

The journey of the Pilgrims, as they set out to sail to the New World, can be related to the song, “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey. The story of the Pilgrims and the message of the song may be a strange correlation but can be viewed as having similar obstacles. When the Pilgrims first began their voyage they were traveling to the unknown. In Journey’s lyrics, they describe “a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere” and “a city boy, raised in South Detroit, he took a midnight train going anywhere.” In both instances voyages were set out with unknown destinations. Many frightening, unforeseen experiences were awaiting in their paths. During the trip to the New World “the winds were so fierce and the seas so high, they could not bear a knot of sail, but they were forced to drift with the wind.” The small town girl and city born boy face strange sights, sounds, and smell such as “wine and cheap perfume”. In both moments in time, one in the 1600’s and other in the 1980’s, both parties were met, at their end destinations, by strangers. Whether it was “strangers waiting, up and down the boulevard” as the lyrics imply or as the Pilgrims stood by “while the Indians came skulking about them, and would sometimes show themselves aloof off”.

I’m sure many Pilgrims wanted to and/or did give into the immense hardships they endured, but many strong survivors faced their fears, along with the adversity. The small town girl, along with the city raised boy faced fears of their own. Conquering a strange scary place after taking the “train going anywhere” would be the classic “what doesn’t kill you, will only make you stronger” case. Unfortunately for many Pilgrims, their unknown journey to the New World was a death wish for many. As for the survivors, overcoming starvation, scurvy, and sometimes “inaccommodate” conditions, becoming stronger was their only option.

Both journeys, including obstacles, strife, and sorrow can be used to demonstrate that all things are possible as long as you “Don’t Stop Believin'”!

By: Faith Strickle

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The struggles that John Smith had when he first arrived in Virginia can relate to Colson ‘MGK’ Baker’s struggles coming up in Cleveland. John Smith writes in “The General History of Virginia” that they didn’t have much food and the food they did have was infested by bugs. He described the food as  “…contained so many worms as grains so that we might truly call it rather so much bran than corn”. In ‘MGK’s’ song ‘See My Tears’ he states that his dad told him he needs to get a job, but he couldn’t pay the bills so the electricity was turned off.

Even though their struggles to survive were quite different, they still had that same feeling of desperation for survival. In MGK’s song “Swing Life Away” he says he begs people outside of McDonald’s just to get a cheeseburger because he’s so hungry. This shows he struggled to have food at home but he still managed to find a way to eat and survive, “17 running up to Mickey D’s begging for a double cheese”. John Smith struggled to find editable food to eat until the savages, what we know as Native Americans, brought them fruit and provision because of what John Smith explains as God changing the hearts of the savages because he is “the patron of all good endeavors…”. So throughout time this shows people who are struggling can find ways for survival to make it through the hard times and make things better, whether you were born in the 1500s or the twenty-first century. John Smith and MGK are both great examples of people who overcame there struggles and made themselves successful. The key to success is to never give up and to keep fighting through to get to the good times. These men show this a lot throughout their stories.

By: Kayleigh Harlow

September 22nd, 2015