An Introduction To Theological Reflection

An Introduction To Theological Reflection Stephen Pattison article entitled Some Straw for the Brick: A Basic Introduction to Theological Reflection introduces a model of theological reflection called critical conversation. In this model the conversation is between three parties, namely the students own faith presuppositions, the particular situation/context being looked at and the Christian tradition. Pattison is by no means suggesting that the critical conversation model is the only model of theological reflection. He has chosen it because its derived from others forms of theological reflection and lists seven advantages to it. ( pg. 139). According to Pattison, purpose of this model of theological reflection according is to help people think through and analyse their own experiences, the issues and the situations that they face and in so doing the practical theology gets underway. As far as Pattison is concerned the critical conversation has more to do with asking the right questions than arriving at the right answers. He also appears to suggest that theological reflection has less to do with academic ability than with inventiveness and imagination, creativity that seeks to discern patterns in a particular situation. Why critical reflection one might ask? Pattisons answer to that question is as follows: a). It helps us to bring about an understanding of human and religious experience in contemporary society whether superficial or complex. He suggests that, more complex the situation, require a depth in the conversation by drawing resources from other secular knowledge base, i.e. or Christian theology. b). It connects belief and practice to everyday life. c). Prevent people from making false assumptions. d). Helps one to grow deeper in faith and appreciation of theology. Theological reflection must become the filter of the ministry of the church. Critical reflection serves as a critical tool for the purposes of practical theology It is active enquiry, .dynamic, deep searching and open ended. Not intended to produce universally acclaimed answers by everyone and in every places in all cases. Theological reflection should not be seen as relevant to all people in all situations because of the different contexts. It is worth pointing out that theological reflection undertaken by individuals may well reveal more about the person and their perspective than it does about a secular situation or Christian theological tradition. To avoid that Pattison recommends that individuals be self-critical when doing theological reflection on their own. Theological reflection should be done as a group exercise instead. Helen Cameron illustrates the importance of this through her group work with TAP. Clearly this important point is articulated by all the other writers whose work form part of this review. Theological reflection in group setting is conducive to a deep and enhanced critical conversation likely to produce à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Any enquiry must aim at enriching the individual but crucially must be for the benefit of the Christian community. Such an outcome is bound to give new meaning and new orientation to the ministry of the church as has been the case throughout the churchs history. The weakness of this model of theological reflection is that it can be too subjective as it appeals to peoples particular theological bias, temperament and cultural leaning. Relativism, idiosyncratic are.. mutually interrogative method can lead to further questions, does not provide eternally valid answers which can be applied to everyday life. Asking questions and engaging in critical conversation is not an adequate way of conceiving theological reflection. Pg. 142 (limitations) Also the conversation may no be academic enough. One other criticism to be said about Pattisons model of theological reflection is that it assumes everyone can do it. The fact of the matter is not everyone has the skill Ballard page 2. Elaine Graham Elaine Graham etal recognises that the subject of theological reflection has been research extensively resulting in the production of numerous publications. However for her and fellow writers their article entitled Method or Mystique in Theological Reflection: Methods offers a challenge to the vague manner theological reflection is viewed. They point to the fact received understanding of theological understanding are largely under- theorised and narrow, and too often fail to connect adequately with biblical, historical and systematic scholarship (pg.1). As such they aim to help the reader engage in patterns of theological reflection that are richer in the source they draw on more rigorous and more imaginative. Their introductory chapter gives a history outline of the discourse. We have an account, of understanding practical/pastoral theology as a discipline concerned with practical training which is broader and understands theology as critical reflection in a variety of settings. Graham etal, sites Donald Scon who argues for a shift from theoretical knowledge, technical rationality and scientific precision which is all theoretically and not practically based consequently eroding public trust of experts. According to them, professional knowledge of expertise is only acquired in a particular context or situation that is implicit and problem based. Furthermore the learning takes place by responding with flexibility to situations, willingness to be a proactive learner and risk taking. (pg. 4) This view that knowledge comes by experience is also shared by Kolb in his book on model of experimental learning. (pg. 5) As such theology ought to be understood as a process rather than product. Christi an practice, alongside systematic biblical and historical theology is crucial to theological reflection. In their view such engagement with these traditional Christian resources is weak. It is to this interrelated problem of traditional Christian resources that Theological Reflection: Methods reverts. My third article for review is entitled Characteristics of Theological Action Research by Helen Cameron etal. The article comes from the book written by her and others called Talking about God in Practice. In it a methodology of research called Theological Action Research is introduced. TAR is a brain child of Action Research Church and Society made up of two teams that are ecumenical and interdisciplinary chosen. The team members are all theological practioners and researchers, made up of a team from Heythrop and the other team from outside. ARCS objectives are realised when dialogue goes on in each team and also across the teams. The teams demonstrate willingness to share good practice and ideas of theological research between teams. As a model TAR has four stages called a cycle of theological reflection and are the following; experience, reflection, learning and action. The methodology require that each stage of the cycle is carefully examined and documented using its action research process and social sciences methods of collecting data. Theology plays a key part in all the stages of the practice right from the beginning to the very end. That also includes the shared reflections of the practitionrs and researchers. We can conclude that the lessons learnt are the following: Theological reflection and theology is directed at life situations in every human experience whether be a believer, church community including those who confess to be atheists. According to Metz, as he made reference to Karl Rahners a critical observation of Vatican II. God is a universal theme, a theme concerning all humanity or it is simple no theme at all. (pg 57 M.K). Rahners ascertion is an attempt to address an abserd belief which was sectarian and excluded others in taking part the faith dialogue/God. It is also true to say that when theology becomes self-absorbed by ignoring the worlds reality of human suffering, poverty injustice etc. it loses its purpose. The theological reflection model looked at in this review appear narrowly focused atà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. with a particular racial group, principally white European and middle class. We live in a diverse à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. The church is a reflection of society that is multicultural, ethnic Robert Kinast in his article on the subject makes the same point that theological reflection is a threefold movement, which begins with the lived experience,

China and Debt Bomb

Six years ago, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao cautioned that China's economy is â€Å"unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable. † China has since doubled down on the economic model that prompted his concern. Mr. Wen spoke out in an attempt to change the course of an economy dangerously dependent on one lever to generate growth: heavy investment in the roads, factories and other infrastructure that have helped make China a manufacturing superpower. Then along came the 2008 global financial crisis.To keep China's economy growing, panicked officials launched a half-trillion-dollar stimulus and ordered banks to fund a new wave of investment. Investment has risen as a share of gross domestic product to 48%—a record for any large country—from 43%. Even more staggering is the amount of credit that China unleashed to finance this investment boom. Since 2007, the amount of new credit generated annually has more than quadrupled to $2. 75 trillion in the 12 months through January this year. Last year, roughly half of the new loans came from the â€Å"shadow banking system,† private lenders and credit suppliers outside formal lending channels.These outfits lend to borrowers—often local governments pushing increasingly low-quality infrastructure projects—who have run into trouble paying their bank loans. Since 2008, China's total public and private debt has exploded to more than 200% of GDP—an unprecedented level for any developing country. Yet the overwhelming consensus still sees little risk to the financial system or to economic growth in China. That view ignores the strong evidence of studies launched since 2008 in a belated attempt by the major global financial institutions to understand the origin of financial crises.The key, more than the level of debt, is the rate of increase in debt—particularly private debt. (Private debt in China includes all kinds of quasi-state borrowers, such as local governments and state-owned corporations. ) Enlarge Image Corbis On the most important measures of this rate, China is now in the flashing-red zone. The first measure comes from the Bank of International Settlements, which found that if private debt as a share of GDP accelerates to a level 6% higher than its trend over the previous decade, the acceleration is an early warning of serious financial distress.In China, private debt as a share of GDP is now 12% above its previous trend, and above the peak levels seen before credit crises hit Japan in 1989, Korea in 1997, the U. S. in 2007 and Spain in 2008. The second measure comes from the International Monetary Fund, which found that if private credit grows faster than the economy for three to five years, the increasing ratio of private credit to GDP usually signals financial distress.In China, private credit has been growing much faster than the economy since 2008, and the ratio of private credit to GDP has risen by 50 percentage points to 180%, an increase similar to what the U. S. and Japan witnessed before their most recent financial woes. The bullish consensus seems to think these laws of financial gravity don't apply to China. The bulls say that bank crises typically begin when foreign creditors start to demand their money, and China owes very little to foreigners.Yet in an August 2012 National Bureau of Economic Research paper titled â€Å"The Great Leveraging,† University of Virginia economist Alan Taylor examined the 79 major financial crises in advanced economies over the past 140 years and found that they are just as likely in countries that rely on domestic savings and owe little to foreign creditors. The bulls also argue that China can afford to write off bad debts because it sits on more than $3 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves as well as huge domestic savings.However, while some other Asian nations with high savings and few foreign liabilities did avoid bank crises following credit booms, they non etheless saw economic growth slow sharply. Following credit booms in the early 1970s and the late 1980s, Japan used its vast financial resources to put troubled lenders on life support. Debt clogged the system and productivity declined. Once the increase in credit peaked, growth fell sharply over the next five years: to 3% from 8% in the 1970s and to 1% from 4% in the 1980s.In Taiwan, following a similar cycle in the early 1990s, the average annual growth rate fell to 6%. Even if China dodges a financial crisis, then, it is not likely to dodge a slowdown in its increasingly debt-clogged economy. Through 2007, creating a dollar of economic growth in China required just over a dollar of debt. Since then it has taken three dollars of debt to generate a dollar of growth. This is what you normally see in the late stages of a credit binge, as more debt goes to increasingly less productive investments.In China, exports and manufacturing are slowing as more money flows into real-estate spec ulation. About a third of the bank loans in China are now for real estate, or are backed by real estate, roughly similar to U. S. levels in 2007. For China to find a more stable growth model, most experts agree that the country needs to balance its investments by promoting greater consumption. The catch is that consumption has been growing at 8% a year for the past decade—faster than in previous miracle economies like Japan's and as fast as it can grow without triggering inflation.Yet consumption is still falling as a share of GDP because investment has been growing even faster. So rebalancing requires China to cut back on investment and on the rate of increase in debt, which would mean accepting a rate of growth as low as 5% to 6%, well below the current official rate of 8%. In other investment-led, high-growth nations, from Brazil in the 1970s to Malaysia in the 1990s, economic growth typically fell by half in the decade after investment peaked. The alternative is that Chin a tries to sustain an unrealistic growth target, by piling more debt on an already powerful debt bomb.

Violence Involving Weapons

The Board of Education has removed the principal of the troubled Martin Luther King Jr. High School after a spate of violence involving weapons at the school. Most recently, on Friday, a student sneaked a knife into the bustling five-story building and threatened another student. The removal of the principal, Ronald Williams Wells, came almost three weeks after a crush of students, teachers and administrators dashed from the building and for cover in classrooms when a man shot two students in what appeared to be a dispute over a girl. The school is at West 66th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, a block from Lincoln Center. On Friday, two students were arrested after one student displayed a folding knife during an argument. He passed it to a second student after security officers arrived to break up the fight. The first student sneaked the knife into the building by passing it inside a book bag through the school's weapons scanner. Martin Luther King school officials did not call th! e Board of Education until hours later, said Catie Marshall. The Board of Education requires school administrators to call the board's emergency information center immediately after such incidents. During an investigation into the timing of the report, Tony Sawyer, the Manhattan high school superintendent, removed Mr. Wells Ms. Marshall said. The New York Post first reported the dismissal yesterday. Mr. Wells has been replaced by Steve Gutman, a 36-year veteran of the system who retired in September but came back to the board at Mr. Sawyer's request. Mr. Wells's new assignment has not been announced. After the Jan. 5 shootings, Mr. Wells came under criticism for not being at work. He was on duty with the National Guard that day. Schools Chancellor Harold O. Levy, who toured the building after the shooting, found that some people who were not enrolled in courses were carrying photo identification cards. The school has had its share of trouble in the nearly three decades since it opened. Efforts to improve the curriculum have faltered, and principals have quit. Next year, the school – which is large, with about 3,000 students – will be divided into two smaller academies. The removal of a principal cannot be seen as having fixed the problem,† said C. Virginia Fields, the Manhattan borough president, who is a member of the task force working to phase out the old school. â€Å"There is much work to be done. We need to address safety and security, as well as other concerns that have been raised, including academics and student selection. † My opinion on the whole thing is that the school made the right decision to remove the princible from the school. For one reason what if something happened again like Columbine. That would not be good.

Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen and Hydrogen Biogeochemical Cycles Free Essay Example, 1000 words

According to the research, there is a number of ways through which human have been interfering and disturbing these cycles and has resulted in changes in the climate, global warming, depletion of ozone layer, and an increase in the oxidative capacity of troposphere etc. Keeling Curve by Charles Keeling, an oceanographer at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, found that human alterations are highly affecting the natural carbon cycle. About 150 years ago, with the inception of the industrial alterations, the two major activities of human have paced up and unfortunately had lead to the long-term acceleration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. These are burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. Smoldering of fossil fuels liberates carbon into the atmosphere because of the burning of oil and coal. Its speed of releasing carbon into the air is far greater than any means of eliminating it. Such imbalance thus results in concentrated quantities of carbon dioxide. The process of deforestati on further worsens the scenario because then the ability of forests to remove CO2 from the atmosphere goes down even more, thereby, also resulting in the same result as in case of burning, that is a net increase of CO2.We will write a custom essay sample on Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen and Hydrogen Biogeochemical Cycles or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Yet another result of such changes is their impact on the growth patterns of plants all over the world. According to scientists, it is likely that shrubby species are going to raise, the reason being they are amongst those plants, which respond favorably to the increased concentration of CO2.

Knowledge And Power In Doctor Faustus - 1116 Words

Knowledge and Power in The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus and The Bloody Chamber Throughout literature, television and film you could name countless examples of different wordings of the aphorism ‘Knowledge is power’. This idea is popularly attributed to Francis Bacon’s Meditationes Sacrae, in which the phrase ipsa scientia potestas est, or â€Å"knowledge itself is power† appears. However, five years before this was first written, this concept was a belief of the titular character in Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, with knowledge and power serving as key themes. Another text which shares these themes is Angela Carter’s collection of subversive fairy tales, The†¦show more content†¦Faustus has gained an almost unlimited knowledge of magic, and therefore the ability to do almost anything he could imagine. However, he quickly ends up performing cheap tricks for his livelihood. As Stapleton and Scott aptly summarise: â€Å"In the opening scene, the hero aims for nothing less than power over life and death. But by Act 4 he winds up fetching grapes for a pregnant woman, whose big belly shows that she has more power to create life than he does. He calls for knowledge of God’s secrets that â€Å"stretcheth as far as doth the mind of man,† but in the end he accepts a career of staging entertainment for mere popes, emperors and dukes.† (M.L. Stapleton , and Sarah K. Scott) Faustus has the knowledge to control life and death, but when asked to raise Alexander the Great and his paramour he admits that he cannot raise â€Å"the true substantial bodies of those two deceased princes, which long since are consumed to dust†, only â€Å"such spirits as can lively resemble Alexander and his paramour†. As Faustus cannot raise true-to-life people as the pregnant woman can, he must be therefore less powerful than her, even though Faustus is far more knowledgeable in necromancy than any other person. Rutter goes onto further criticise Faustus’s lack of power: â€Å"Furthermore, who is to say whether the spirits who appear genuinely look like Alexander and his paramour? Neither Faustus norShow MoreRelatedDoctor Faustus978 Words   |  4 PagesPoor Faustus believes it is he who has called upon the demon Mephistopheles and it is his tongue that orders the servant of hell, yet he could not be any more mistaken. In reality, Faustus is the one with strings attached to him and it is Lucifer, Mephistopheles, and the Evil Angel playing the role of the puppeteer. Nevertheless, Faustus remains a student to the ideology of Christianity throughout his adventures, even amongst the bleakest of hours. God never leaves the side of John Faustus, as HeRead MoreEssay on The Five Knowledges of Dr. Faustus792 Words   |  4 PagesChristopher Marlowes Doctor Faustus is a play that questions both renaissance and medieval ideas. The character of Doctor Faustus is introduced as a renaissance man with degrees in various subjects and an abundance of knowledge fr om his high education. Unfortunately for him, this knowledge is not sufficient and his cravings for higher knowledge and power soon corrupt his mind and lead him to his ill-fated end. The opening soliloquy introduces Doctor Faustuss areas of knowledge as debate, healthRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Christopher Marlowe s Doctor Faustus1416 Words   |  6 Pagessex or power), or some other kind of motivational force? 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In the age of social, scientific and cultural rebirth, Marlowe examined the possibilities and consequences of reaching out the most from knowledge, powerRead MoreEssay about Marlowes Doctor Faustus1011 Words   |  5 PagesMarlowes Doctor Faustus Marlowes representation of Doctor Faustus changes direction through the play. We follow the change in ambition and greed of a human being who seeks pleasure so much that he sells his soul to the devil for a number of years. Does the power that Faustus obtains corrupt him or is he merely dissatisfied with the power he has and is greedy for more. At the start of the play, Marlowe uses powerful language when referring to Faustus search for knowledge. 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I believe that this deeper meaning is more important than the superficial

Determining Based Outcome Measure For Selecting The Gas...

What type of research did you use to determine what evidence-based outcome measure to select? In an effort to better serve clients in the counseling field, accountability in the form of evidence-based outcome measures has become an important component within the profession. Erford (2014) states that counselors must offer research based interventions that are empirically sound and has the ability to produce desired outcomes in their clients. In an effort to determine an appropriate evidence-based outcome measure, I went to Capella’s library and entered â€Å"mental health counseling† and â€Å"outcome measure† as search terms. After reviewing the abstracts of a few peer-reviewed journal articles, I selected Making Change Visible: The Possibilities in†¦show more content†¦The scale ranges from -2 (much worse than expected) to +2 (much better than expected). Zero on the scale is assessed as meeting the client’s and counselor’s expectations. When the goals are established, the GAS instrument is completed by the counselor and client to e stablish the client’s baseline level of expectation before treatment. A minimum number of counseling sessions will be established and counseling proceeds. Upon completion of counseling, the counselor and client complete the GAS instrument separately. How will you go about implementing a program evaluation model to determine client gains? In order to implement a program evaluation to determine client gains, there will be a team consisting of myself as the lead consultant, 3-4 program evaluation support staff members who will assist in the evaluation process and one staff member from the center being included to provide relevant center information. Key staff from the center will be asked to form an advisory group where all evaluation measures, outcomes and processes will be discussed, approved and presented. The program evaluation model will be implemented in various stages. The stages include evaluation planning, data collection, analysis/interpretation, and reporting/dissemination. The setting is a college campus’s counseling unit of their wellness center. The assessment will also focus on students that only utilize one-on-one, face-to-face counseling services.

Crater Lake Essay Example For Students

Crater Lake Essay Crater LakeCrater Lake is located at southwestern off Highway 62 in Oregon. It is Oregon?s only national park. It is the deepest lake in the United States and is the seventh deepest in the world. Crater Lake has an average diameter of 5.3 miles in length and is approximately 1,932 feet deep. Crater Lake is a result of a volcanic explosion that happened about 7,000 years ago. A long time ago, the pacific oceanic plate was gradually moving under the pacific continental plate in the process of plate tectonics. The pressure shaped the land to move upward and create a line of mountains that are currently located on the Cascade Range. These lavas piled and cooled on top of each other resulting in mountains like Mazama and Hood. Mount Mazama was built by successive flows of both andesite and dacite lavas. Mount Mazama was a stratovolcano, which was about 12,000 feet high after series of ash, cinders, and pumice explosions built it upward. During it?s final eruption the magma chamber was emptying and the underlying support for the mountain was lost and the walls of the volcano began to collapse. In just a matter of days the top of the mountain was destroyed and left a caldera. A caldera is a word used by geologists to describe large basin-shaped volcanic depressions. The destruc tion Mount Mazama was what marked the beginning of the formation of Crater Lake. The caldera was about 3,000 feet deep and over time, snow and rain fell into it and would eventually be filled. The lake would stop filling and the water gradually cleared to form one of the worlds purest and deepest lakes. The water in Crater Lake is very clean and clear because it contains few dissolved minerals and particles, and no streams run into or out of the lake. Precipitation entering the lake was offset by evaporation and seepage. The current variation of the lake?s surface level is only about three feet every year. As seen in person and in pictures, Crater Lake appears to have a very blue appearance. Crater Lakes depth and extreme clarity allow sunlight to penetrate many tens of feet into the water. Sunlight is made up of all colors, and as it passes through the water red light is the first to be absorbed. Orange, yellow and green are absorbed next, leaving only blue light to be scattered back to the surface. The color of the lake changes as the sun and clouds shift, and the appearance of the lakes surface is also altered by wind and wave patterns. One of the most popular features of the lake are it?s 3 islands and the probably the most popular one is Wizard Island because it is the only one of the 3 that is above water. Wizard Island is called Wizard Island because of its resemblance to a sorcerers pointed hat and because it is a cinder cone that resulted from blocky lava flows that came from its base. A cinder cone forms like a giant anthill from the fallback of hot lava fragments hurled from its crater. Since Wizard Island grew inside the caldera, after its collapse we know it is less than 7,700 years old. The oldest trees on the island are about 800 years old, so the Wizards age is somewhere between 800 and 7,700 years old. The elevation of Wizard Island is about 6940 feet and the island?s height above water is about 764 feet. An underwater map of Crater Lake shows a steep increase in the slope of Wizard Island at a depth of about 250 feet, which probably meant that the volcanic island formed when the surface of Crater Lake was that much lower. .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 , .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .postImageUrl , .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 , .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:hover , .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:visited , .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:active { border:0!important; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:active , .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532 .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u65d9ba90f36c286ed96e097a0e1f7532:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Superoutbreak of 1974 EssayThere are a lot of activities that go on in the winter and summer at Crater Lake. Winter backcountry ski camping, snowshoe camping, and snowmobiling are popular in the winter. In most of the rest of the seasons people go backpacking, hiking, bicycling, and fishing. However, private boats are not allowed in the lake as well as other activities such as rock climbing and hunting. I personally have been to Crater Lake once, about ten years ago, and the hike getting to and from the lake was horrible but touring the lake and seeing the great views make it worthwhile. Today there are many species of plant and wildlife living in Crater Lake Park. Crater lake?s water contained no fish until humans introduced them in 1888 to 1941. Today, rainbow trout and kokanee salmon are swimming in Crater Lake. Wildflowers bloom late and disappear early here, thriving in wet, open areas. Birds and other animals that are often seen are ravens, jays, nutcrackers, deer, ground squirrels and chipmunks. Other animals that of seen, but not as often are seen are elk, black bears, foxes, porcupines, pine martens, chickaree squirrels and pikas. On a side not, during my last and only visit to the lake I was told more than once to never to feed the animals because they would become dependant on human would and then when we would leave they would stave to death. The only animals I saw were brown squirrels and bluebirds. The parks black bears are not aggressive and are almost never seen. According to park forest services the bears do visit the Mazama Campground most nights in search of food and cooler chests that have been left out by careless campers. Mount Mazama or Crater Lake is still said to be volcanic because of the production of the 3 islands from the bottom of the lake. If the volcano were to erupt again it would seem impossible to predict when and would probably wouldn?t be in this century or millennium. The young age of this volcano shows many people to believe that we are yet to see a lot of activity at Crater Lake. Words/ Pages : 1,006 / 24