When I'm home in Washington, I serve as a youth leader for my church's youth group. Due to covid, I was home, and youth group was online. Nick Rosas, the youth pastor of my church, taught on the Lord's prayer for a number of weeks over Zoom. I will never forget when he referred to the act of prayer as a secret place where heaven and earth combine. He portrayed prayer as larger than life; it is a privilege. No longer are prophets or priests needed to communicate with God. I found myself challenged to look at prayer as something greater than just a symbolic ritual. During this time, my fear of the dark and night heightened. I would not characterize this fear as nyctophobia, but it definitely was real and affected my mental health. Yes, even a 6'3' twenty year old college student can be afraid of the dark. I first remember experiencing this fear the night before my first day as a high school senior. For some reason, I ...
I really think love is a huge theme in this book and how it redeems Raskolnikov is a great way to show how important it is. We see Rodya commit awful acts, but still finds happiness in the end thanks to the love of his friends and family. It is also interesting that you point out how this scene lacks the evil and insanity that usually surrounds Rodya. It reminds me of 1 John 4:18 which says, "Perfect love drives out fear. For fear has to do with punishment..." I believe Sonya's perfect love drove out Rodya' fear of punishment. I agree that when people hit rock-bottom, only love and giving up your pride will save you.
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