Sydney Smith 
Denysha Taylor We learned in class that Gestalt means form, essence, or whole in German. This school of Psychology focuses on the big picture, the whole of a person and their experiences, not just a certain part. The Gestalt school also looks to the simplest answer for problems. To me this pointed straight at Redemption.
When I think of redemption and salvation, I think of how God loved us with his whole heart and sacrificed his whole world to save us. I also think that a key part of how we are taught to view others is a whole. You can’t judge someone based on one interaction, we are to look at the person and their life and their heart as a whole, a whole loved by the father.
Jessica Weeden
8:50 pm, 11.01.13
Meredith, I like that you took the “whole” concept of Gestalt and applied it to how we should view people. I agree with you that the life of an individual should be considered through multiple facets. It is quite redeeming when we give people the benefit of that and live life receiving the benefit of other’s holistic understandings of us. Sometimes though, would you say that we fail to do this? I know that I do. It’s pretty easy to make initial judgements, which an evolutionist might say is a survival tactic. Maybe that is an aspect of the Fall within us. When we look at the “whole” that you described through the perspective of God viewing us that way — that’s when I understand that receptive qualities of your post. Thanks for the thoughts!
Rachel Easley
7:46 am, 11.04.13
Hey Meredith. I like how you related Gestalt psychology back to the idea of God’s grace and love for us. He does indeed love us with His whole heart and that is a sweet gift to get to rest in! Thank you for your encouraging, heartfelt words.
Nicole Flores
4:19 pm, 11.04.13
I agree. We should view others more as a whole. That is the only way we can fully understand one another. That would help our relationships and also helps us love more like God, which is what we are called to do. Great thoughts!
Mengyuan Tang
10:25 pm, 11.03.13
I like how you related the “whole” concept from Gestalt psychology to the category of redemption and salvation. Firstly, God love us with his whole heart and we love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind. Secondly, judging others only from one aspect can easily lead to bias. We really should view others is a whole. It is true that sometimes concentrating on wholes than on parts is more beneficial for us. It is an interesting post. Thank you!
Anna Pierce
9:16 am, 11.04.13
Yes that is awesome! i liked how you compared gestalt and redemption. It is important to view people as a whole because that way you can see people more clearly and be less inclined to judge.
Kasey Morgan
11:20 am, 11.04.13
I think your blog post points to something at the very core of our whole faith. Looking at someone as a whole, and not just for their faults or shortcomings, is very central to what we believe. I like that you connected faith to (most of our) major. I thin it was very interesting!
Nicole Flores
4:20 pm, 11.04.13
I agree. We should view others more as a whole. That is the only way we can fully understand one another. That would help our relationships and also helps us love more like God, which is what we are called to do. Great thoughts!
Taylor Chitty
10:36 pm, 11.04.13
I feel that helping show others your whole self can also help them try to show the whole of them as well. Understanding all the depth of a person helps relationships by also getting a back ground of their behaviors. I also agree that this helps us see more good in people which is what God wants us to do.
Tyler McCuistion
10:55 pm, 11.04.13
I like the thought process behind this. You said that Gestalt psychology teaches us to view things as a whole and not judge them based on anything less than their whole. Relating that to faith was spot on for me. That is what we are called to do by God.
Sydney Smith
11:15 pm, 11.04.13
This is exactly what we need because it is so hard to not judge a book by its cover. We need to a whole view the person as a whole. I feel like most people need to focus on the life God gave them instead of making it their job to judge someone the minute they wake up until the end of the day. Relationships will form and last longer if we can do this.