Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Journal Four

Two profiles that stuck out to me throughout the book Holding On were Tommie Bass, the Folk Doctor and Dewey Chafin and his mother, Barabara Elkins, the serpent handlers. These two really stuck out to me because of the dedication and hard work involved in what they did. Tommie Bass gathered herbs and helped heal people by putting the herbs in the tea that he gave to the ones who needed it or asked for it. Themes in this profile were dedication, hard work, helpfulness, etc. Tommie Bass wanted to help others. He did not expect anything in return. He knew he was not a doctor, but he also knew that the herbs seemed to help people. He said, "Men, I'm not a doctor. Not even a son of a doctor. All I know is just what the herbs has done over the years." The other profile of Chafin and Elkins stuck out to me as well. These two people handle serpents as part of their job. They truly believe they are doing what God has set them to do. Chafin said, "The Bible says, They shall take up serpents, so I'm just doing what God told me to do." A theme in this profile was accepting. They had to accept that this is what God wanted them to do. Another theme was dedication because they said, "It's all up to God, if God wants me to live, I'll live." They have to have dedication to know this fact.
These two profiles really caught my attention because I really liked the way they showed dedication and hard work. Also, making a connection to today, there is a lot of hard work and dedication in our world. We have to work for the things we achieve; therefore, these can relate.

5 comments:

  1. the only thing i have against tommy bass is whether or not the folk medicine really works. does it actually work or does is bolster one's confidence to the point where our own bodies take care of the problem? how many people has he tried to help and his herbs have not had any effect?

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  2. I actually watched a documentary about snake handling and their faith and dedication in God is really that strong!! It is amazing to see them work with the snakes.

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  3. The profile on Dewey Chafin and his mother were are hard for me to read. I am terrified of snakes and struggled to understand what I thought was a gross interpretation of that scripture they cited and also outright dangerous.

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  4. Its cool how religion can impact a persons life so much. These are true examples of Americans practicing their freedom of religion. All of the profiles seem to be American Dreams.

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  5. I think you pointed out a interesting theme: helpfulness. I think this is something easily seen in Bass' Profile but is something that does lack in today's society. It was nice to read about someone who wasn't doing something strictly for personal gain or to get ahead, but rather just the friendliness to help someone else out.

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