Reconstructing

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her life to Christ. When I read MaryOliver’s poetry now, I experience notonly the exaltation of reading truthwritten beautifully, but also a profoundsorrow. How could I not when I seesomeone so close to the truth that theyare capable of writing about it, butnever reaching that point of grace?Inside our hearts as Christians, weeternally yearn to see the thirsting mandrink and the blind man see, preciselybecause we know too well this hungerthat can only be satisfied by Jesus.Oliver, even in her resistance to Him,writes about her own yearning to seeJesus “on the shore, / just walking, /beautiful man.” [1] Ultimately, onlyGod knows the state of her heartwhen her last breath came, but I amhopeful that in her final moments oflife, Oliver finally witnessed the fullradiant beauty of Jesus that she had solong sought after.If Christians limit themselves toconsuming art that is exclusively madeby other Christians, then we run therisk of missing the beauty that can befound in art made by non-believers.There is beauty in both Christian andsecular works if we strive to realizethe full splendor of the Gospel in thehalf-truths of the world. Perhaps in ourvocal appreciation and admiration ofChristian art, secular artists may findan unexpected deeper meaning withintheir own works. Only by seekingout the beauty, goodness, and truthin the world do we seek out God’sface and only by calling it out can weturn ourselves and others towards theloveliness and light of His glory.[1] Mary Oliver, “ The Vast Ocean Begins JustOutside Our Church: The Eucharist.” 2006.Reconstructing: Fall 2022
Growing YoungHannah TurnerAlejandra catches sight of me in thecrowd of caretakers and runs over toask if we could go to the playground.Yes, we can, as our afternoon scheduleaccommodates it. She runs to meether friends on the columpio redondo,taking on the responsibility to pushthe overloaded, upcycled rubber tire.I sit on a bench and watch laughterovertake their group. Another au pairjoins me to talk about how the dayahead looks: busy.I think in blocks of time as I planwhich bus we will need to take to getto basketball, swimming, or Englishclass on time. And then I strategizehow we can make a smooth transitioninto these activities. When the timecomes for us to leave the park,Alejandra pleads with me to stay andquestions why she even has to go toher afternoon class. Why do we haveto talk in English, too, instead of thelanguage she knows, Spanish? Thesewere pressing questions for the sixyear-old.I took this as a teachablemoment for Alejandra. Sometimes,I explained, we have to do things wedon’t like because of the person wecan become later on. For instance, I wasthere to help Alejandra become fluentin English even if she did not alwayswant to speak it.As the months went on I realized,however, Alejandra taught me morethan I taught her. I made sure we spokeEnglish everyday and went to all herafternoon classes, but it was simply inbeing present with her that I grew themost. I thought back to the scene atthe park, and Alejandra’s desire to stay.Children do need structured routines.But often the structure we impose, orobey is saturated with expectationswhich—if not met—destroy us.WE TEND TO VALUETHE CHILD FOR WHATTHEY CAN BE RATHERTHAN WHO THEY ARE.I realized that we tend to value thechild for what they can be rather thanwho they are.G. K. Chesterton, a late-modernphilosopher, commented that“because children have aboundingvitality, because they are in spiritfierce and free, therefore they wantthings repeated and unchanged.They always say, ‘Do it again’; andthe grown-up person does it againuntil he is nearly dead. For grown-uppeople are not strong enough to exultin monotony.” [1] Children simplyare. As Chesterton argues, they live avibrantly present life. They recognizean inherent value in day-to-day thingsfor what they are. This is something Inoticed in Alejandra. With her I sawmy weakness: I had adopted a culturalperspective that devalues the vibrantlife that is found in the child.As a result, we lose appreciation for thepure, present being that Chesterton seeschildren embodying. We prize childrenas the building blocks of our future,and desire to raise them into society’snext leaders. Even before they startschool, we ask children what they wantto be when they grow up. Teachingchildren to have goals (career-focusedor otherwise) is still beneficial. Andthose of us who know the struggle ofadulting know that time is a preciousresource and we use money nearlyevery day. The difficulty is not inteaching responsibility or wisdom, butin the dangerous implications we makeabout a human being’s value. Whenwe view ourselves, those around us, orchildren as failures for not reachingcertain goals, we deny our inherentworth.We are left lacking an ability to wonderand living in a society that revels inproduction and consumption over allelse. As a child, I would brim with joylogos . 33
Page 1 and 2: l o g o sYale’s Undergraduate Jou
Page 3 and 4: letter from the editorMatthew 7:25,
Page 5 and 6: contentsDialecticJustin FerrugiaLif
Page 7 and 8: logos . 7
Page 9 and 10: achieve a sense of understandingthr
Page 11 and 12: Life CityAmelia DilworthSometimes w
Page 13 and 14: with the poor.But I’ve found that
Page 15 and 16: (ESV). The Greek word for seek, ekz
Page 17 and 18: restorelogos . 17
Page 19 and 20: In chapter two of Genesis, tuckedbe
Page 21 and 22: Being with the DeadBeing with the D
Page 23 and 24: person becomes a corpse.” [5] Dea
Page 25 and 26: understanding of the good life. Hel
Page 27 and 28: tensionswe see in ourfriendships to
Page 29 and 30: logos . 29
Page 31: may not agree with, or know themean
Page 35 and 36: contributed to this in a unique way
Page 37 and 38: cannot always be trusted, clarifies
Page 39 and 40: THE FACT THAT JESUSIS THE ONLY PERS

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