SYNTHESIS | tvep.
This class was quite the experience. I was half expecting to sit through indoctrination gritting my teeth, but that’s not what I got. What I got was trying to understand life and relationships through others and their experiences.
It was an interesting take on TREDFOR. I'd had my fair share of stories about professors droning on about set roles and practices. Arguably, there still are maybe things that need to be fulfilled and that are sacred to catholic teachings; I definitely cannot fault them for that.
We watched two movies in class. The Passion of Christ, where, afterwards, we discussed further what set Christians apart from other religions and how a lot of Christians have forgotten what it was. There is an understanding about true love that the Passion of Christ displays. Jesus dying for our sins is a widely known narrative, belief even- but it is perhaps lesser known that it was something he had chosen.
People often forget that as Christians as well, they are given a choice as well. But it's not that they need to make the conscious decision to live a life full of love either. It's just that I think it's consequential. The more you love, the closer you get to God.
The other movie that we watched was, I Do, which was a movie about a couple and their families. Common tropes were displayed; the possibility of a shotgun wedding, families that don't like each other or their in-laws. It had reinforced the lesson about choice and about true love. It had reinforced as well the idea that timing (perhaps fate?) would have role to play in all this. But marriage and true love is the some total of several parts.
The genogram and the reflections were meaningful parts for me because through it, I learned and understood things about myself better. But what was most interesting about the class the most is how it ties into the married life or going for a long term partnership with someone. How, will it does factor in that you have at least some semblance of a ‘self’, you also need to strike the balance between that and making room for others. For your spouse or partner. No relationship is going to last if a person stays self-absorbed. A partnership cannot sustain itself that way. These are things that are a given, I suppose, but it was a good reminder.