The Wesleyan Quadrilateral

Nicole Lopez
EDUC 526 Capstone Experience in Digital Teaching and Learning
Jennifer Courduff
Azusa Pacific University, Azusa Campus
May 12, 2014

In the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, I would say that I use Reason and Experience
more the Scripture and Tradition, but I do use all four of the components. I read
Scripture and interpret it according to my needs at the time. It guides me through
times when I need healing. It enlightens me and symbolizes a voice that I enjoy
hearing. The words move me and develop a new perspective of life. Tradition has
allowed me to see who I am and to see whom other people are. Another persons
traditions are different than my traditions, but those traditions are what make them
unique. I use reason to try to understand my world and our purpose in life. Is there
a reason we are here? We are part of a universe, but does the universe know that?
Does my life have a purpose? I try to find the reason for what happens in my life.
But, I wonder if there truly is a reason. I want to believe in Reason, I want to know
the answers, and I hope someday, maybe when I die I will find them out. But, if I
dont find the answers, I will never know the reason why. Of the four components
Experience is who I am. My life unfolds and the reason I believe that there is a God,
a higher being that has created this universe for a purpose is because I have
experienced it or have heard stories about others experiences.
I rely on experience the most. What I see with my own eyes, what I live
through to tell about, is what causes me to believe in my soul and the creation of my
existence. I will share with you an experience I had that has changed my spiritual
being forever. I met a man about 13 years ago. We immediately connected.
Connections that scripture, tradition, nor reasoning can interpret. You just
experience it and believe in it because its there. We were lovers and friends for a
very brief period of time; about 3 months. He departed and we didnt see each other
again until October 17, 2011. He came back into my life after his sister passed away
from lung cancer in August of that same year. We became lovers again and I became
pregnant. He departed again, promising he would be back. I gave birth and didnt
hear from him, so I contacted him when the baby was 4 months old. He came back.
He met his child. His child met his mom, her grandmother, for the first time in
August of 2013. I met my daughters grandmother at that time. On October 17,
2013, this man departed for the last time. He died in a solo motorcycle accident. My
daughter was 10 months old. The night before he died, he came over, put his
daughter to bed and we were together for the last time. We dosed off and I was
suddenly jolted awake for no particular reason. I opened my eyes and saw a small,
dime-sized, splash of blood on his right shoulder. I thought my nose was bleeding. I
wiped my nose, looking away for a moment, and when I looked back the blood was
gone. It had seemed so real. I told him about it. The next night he died. After going
to the coroner, his mom told me that in the motorcycle accident his right arm was
completely severed off. His mom lost her first grandchild at 17, six years ago. She
lost her daughter in 2011 and her son in 2013. The only family left was an
estranged grandson and my daughter, her 10-month-old granddaughter. Reason
came into play during this episode of my life, but Reason always brings questions
that cant be answered. Was it coincidence? Was there a reason he came back into
my life when he did? Maybe. What I do know is that this experience brought me
closer to the belief that there is a spiritual power beyond our existence here on
Earth. Maybe we do have a reason to be here and that Scripture was written for us
to try to understand the truth. Maybe our traditions are created to pass down from
generation to generation, in order to keep the truth alive. And, through all of this,
through all of our experiences, we live our lives with a hope that there is more to
our existence than our physical being.
Scripture, to me, is a work of art that projects thoughts onto a page. The
interpretation of Scripture is based on who is reading it, what their life experiences
are, and what influences they may have around them. Scripture is read and
interpreted by the mind of the individual. It can be read and interpreted by the
religious group as well. The religious group guides an individual to interpret
Scripture the way they believe it to be interpreted. The interpretation of Scripture
can be changed within the readers mind. In one chapter of your life the words may
mean one thing, but as life goes on and experience causes changes in a humans
mind, Scripture can also change. In the next chapter of life, a person may read
Scripture through a different lens and produce beliefs that once werent there.
Tradition, on the other hand, has little interpretation. Tradition is what it was made
to be. Your tradition is based on cultural values that were passed on from
generation to generation. It is a statement of where you come from and can mold
you into who you might be. It is used in your world, it is passed on to your children,
or it is not. Tradition doesnt change, only the people that follow it. Tradition guides
a person to develop morals, a cultural value, and an understanding of their
ancestors. Tradition does not change as a person changes, it follows a person if that
person allows it to. Traditions will always exist as long as people exist for it.
My faith tends to rely on Reason. I want there to be a reason for us to be
here. To be living in happiness and pain. I want there to be a reason for all of the
suffering in the world. I want that reason to have a meaning that justifies our
actions as human beings. My faith relies on the fact that somewhere, somehow, we
will one day find the answers. My faith relies on the fact that maybe we dont find
the answers while we are alive because we will take death for granted. We wont
learn lifes lessons if we know why. My faith relies on the fact that people are
skeptical of stories that bring us closer to the truth because we are not ready for the
truth. I believe that there is a reason for everything. I want to believe that each
event in our lives affects the lives around us and makes us a stronger species.
Reason is a power that keeps us believing.
The reason I was born was to become a teacher. I denied this fact and
rejected it for a while, but through the years, the rewards and perils, I have come to
realize that I am a teacher. I was born into a family of teachers and we have a gift to
touch the lives of younger generations. We were put on this planet to teach and
guide students through their lives as they try to learn the power of choice and
decision-making. The hidden curriculum should not be hidden at all because it is
the most powerful component of a classroom. Our ability to influence the lives
around us is beyond our realization. Every word we speak, every action we make,
and every smile we share, is a mark on those around us. As teachers we are lost in
the academics. We become lost in an educational system that creates hidden
curriculums. We need to step out of this system and find the curriculums that make
a difference in the lives of our students. When we finally find the hidden curriculum
then the students will finally find themselves.