Oil And Water

While I advance through the Bible, I can predict God’s action because he repeats most of them. Once more a son of God had his faith tested with agony. As Job lost everything he had build during his life and his family, as well did Abraham in the Genesis. “And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son, and the angel of the Lord called unto him out from heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.”(Genesis 23:10). Job also had to mourn during seven days and seven nights, after his entire family and wealth was swept.

In addition, I found it unusual the point of view of God opposed to the ones of Satan. As rivals, I believe they both have to have different points of view in most subjects, especially in sufferment. Satan was being cruel when he challenged God to test out Job, but God did nothing to stop him and finally accepted the challenged. Also, God had agreed to test one of his son’s, faith in the Genesis with pain and misery, and so does Satan.

Many things are impossible, such as testing faith unless you are God, of course. Personally, I couldn’t test someone’s faith, just like I couldn’t test a pals love or desire, since they are spiritual and intangible. For instance, Job could have perfectly prayed and served to God, only because he knew that if he did not do so bad would come to him. But in that case, what Job had inside him was not faith but ambition. Also, as the American writer, Carlos Castaneda once said “A man of Knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting”. I think that all humans are permanently acting, that is why Dante named his trilogy The Divine Comedy, because we are always in a stage. Therefore, there is no way of knowing when someone is lying, specially if they are good actors.

Nevertheless, I would assume that God is the only one excluded from this statement, since he is beyond any human. But why would he want to test humans? Why would he want to prove to others, such as Satan, that we are faithful? If God lives within our hearts, wouldn’t he know if we are faithful?

Snowball of Fear

“The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.” – William Penn

In the first book of Samuel we have two crucial and totally different characters, Saul and David. Like most people in Earth, Saul is ambitious and cares more about material objects, than the health of his spirit. Therefore, Saul was punished by God, “But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.” (Samuel 16:14).

But David arrives to cheer up the scene. He is a small child, with the courage of a tiger that leads him to the battle with Goliath. David has the innocence and creativity to slay his opponent with rubber plant. Also, he softened the Lords and the people’s heart, by being a faithful soul and not a material one. “Thou comest to me with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.” (Samuel 17:45).

However, the two characters seemed to be friends with each other. David cleaned up Saul’s spirit by playing the harp, and healed him once again. But these good actions that David made were taken by Saul in the shape of jealousy and reasons to take David out of the scenario.

Saul’s envy started to arouse. First he was “afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.” (Samuel 18:12). Saul is filled with anger, and orders the death of David, he orders the death of the man that healed his heart.

Writing His Soul

I never understood politics, I think of politics of a mixture of failing projects, corrupt people, and the steeling of a lot of money. Also, I dislike the hypocracy between the politicians and the way they ignore the others mistake. But for the first time in my life, I have had the desire to watch the news, I have had the desire to watch Barack Obama.

During his acceptance speech in Ohio, I thought it was crucial the way he recognized the problems many Americans are dealing with, and was not afraid to blame someone. “Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit cards, bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.” I believe this is a demonstration of trust, and a great courage to face the real problems.

Nevertheless, a master is the sum of the union between head and spirit. For me there is no better measure of spirit than once intuition, but senator Obama was a able to write his soul. “America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.” Also, within his soul there is a huge patriotism and between every syllable he pronounces, there is a shout for a change. “This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.”

Believe In Second Chances?

Exodus 22-35

“Give me reason but don’t give me choice
‘Cause I’ll just make the same mistake again” ~Same Mistake by James Blunt~
“Second chances they don’t even matter
People never change” ~Misery Business by Paramore~

God gave Moses a second chance, after breaking the tablets he had given him. God said “Hew thee two tablets of stone like unto the first” (Exodus 34:1) giving Moses a second chance. In that moment Moses was so humiliated of himself and the other humans that he swore to be loyal and obedient to God. However, did Moses swear in vain?

Little by little Christianity has lost power, and there are hardly any true believers in the world. In every generation, the believers have been very flexible with the liberal and different ideas. Also, the Ten Commandments have been replaced with government laws, and updated laws have received more attention.

With this the church has lost a lot of power, and believers themselves do more and more sins. Therefore, there are more excuses for not following the commandments, like the confessions. This system is a fake spiritual doorway, which believers have invented so they are excused for not following the church. This only demonstrates more the weakness of Christianity.

As a result, I believe that God made a mistake when he gave us a second chance, because for the last centuries we have done nothing but go against God. Ass well, I think that Moses was too hasty and promised to God in vain.

Presidential Debate

MACCAIN
Past- “You told him you wanted to spread the wealth around.”

Present- “Nobody likes taxes.”

Future- “We ought to put our homeowners first.”


OBAMA

Past- “I think everybody understands at this point that we are experiencing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.”

Present- “In fact, independent studies have looked at our respective plans and have concluded that I provided three times the amount of tax relief to middle-class families than Senator McCain does.”

Future- “I also want to give them additional tax breaks, because they are the drivers of the economy.”

Building Chains

Exodus 16-22

Reading the Exodus, I found out several differences from the book of the Genesis. There are many different details, but one of the ones that took my attention was the communication chain that the Exodus has that the Genesis lacked of.

In the Genesis, the relationship that God had with the humans was very vulnerable. “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”, in chapter 9:1 of the Genesis, shows the tight relationship God had with humans. To begin with, God and Noah have a very personal relationship and tight confidence between them. Also, anything God said, hardly any received the information, because only sympathized with few.

Unlike the Genesis, the Exodus had a wider radius of listeners. In the beginning, God talks to Moses in a very serious way, and then Moses spreads the word between people. Later on, God communicates directly with the people with the ten commandments and all the Israelites follow and listen to them. In addition, God not only talked about the commandments, but also he specifically said his desire to be the only god, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am jealous God” (Exodus 21:5).

I believe the chain of communication that God was able to build in the Exodus helps emphasize the power God has gained, and the importance that the humans are giving to him.

Does Power Have Any Limits?

Exodus 8-15

“The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while.”~ Albert Einstein


“Everyone is God’s child.”, I was told by many adults, but in the Exodus I have perceived everything but that. In chapter 15 of the Exodus, I was impressed by the way “Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Exodus 15:27). I was used to think that God loved everyone, including the people of other religions, but the way he treated and disadvantaged the Egyptians in such a rough way, made me think that God was more of a cruel figure, than a loveable figure. Also, before that incident, God sent pests to the Egyptians making them suffer as much as the Israelites did before.

In addition, I thought of the pests as a selfish reaction that God had. While reading the text, I rapidly connected God with a spoiled and scandalous child, that doesn’t have any limits. I thought so, because God has no parallel, nobody that can match his strength and power, so he can do anything to anyone, and not follow their rules. As a consequence, God’s image has turned more into an unfair and spoiled figure, rather than a holly and fair figure.

At the same time as I read the text, I started questioning God. Is God the correct, or the best figure to have the power over everything and everyone? Could God love every equally?

The Only Hero

Exodus1-7

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” ~ Helen Keller

Moses, a fine representation of an ordinary person, someone that is afraid and is has no responsibility whatsoever of the luck he has received. He was very fortunate during his early years, by being rescued from death by the Pharaoh. Nevertheless, Moses has many of the most common feelings and reactions a human person has.

The first situation that gave this perception of Moses, was when he runned of fear after killing a Hebrew, “And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known” (Exodus 2:14).
Also, I was very moved, with Moses’ reaction while he talked to God. Like any current human, Moses didn’t believe until he saw “the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (Exodus 3:2).
Finally, I believe the finest example of Moses human and believable characteristics, was his questioning. “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM.” (Exodus 3:13- 3:14).

As I said before, Moses is one of the only or the only character I feel connected with, for his characteristics and feelings. Nevertheless, for the way Moses challenged his fears, took the risks, and strengthened his character, Moses is able to be one of the few figures that break the human disgrace and become heroes.

Trimming The Religion

Genesis 17-24

There are two figures, they are completely different, both are right, which one to follow?

Lord God and God, are the two terms used to describe the ruler in the Genesis. These two names are for two different figures, Lord God refers to Jehovah and God to Jaweh. Jehovah is more radical and strict, while Jaweh is a calmed God. For example, in Genesis 6:7, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast” were words used by Jehovah, that threatened the innocent and the sinners. I believe that two figures were used to represent one, because there had two be a dark side in God, just as every human in earth. Also, it was fundamental because God is an explanation for events, and there has to be a reason for the bad and good.

However, I wonder wether having to figures have any impact in the religion itself. First of all, if there are two powers that command the religion, why aren’t we a polytheistic religion? Also, during the forth century the church divided into two and now the population is growing rapidly, and one God won’t be enough for a large percentage. Would having two Gods be a space for the church to open again? I believe that the Bible is a book that will no longer support additions, but what the Bible explains to us are no longer explanations we need, because we have younger obstacles. Will dividing the church once again between the believers of Jehovah and the believers of Jaweh, will help update the religion? With this will the number of believers increase?

Is It A Bingo?

Genesis 10-16

Noah and Abram, they are two regular men that are chosen for the most glorious assignments. But why are they the chosen ones?

In the Genesis we can see many generations that derive from Adam and Eve, but none have received more importance than Noah and Abram. Throughout Genesis 6:9it is written, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was just a man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God”, but what specific details or characteristics does Noah have? If we don’t take the Bible literally, will Noah and Abram just be symbols to state that any man can do a very big difference? Nevertheless, during the time period that the Bible was finished until today, why hasn’t there been any man that reached the status of these two characters, out of the billion souls that have lived in the world? What is the real identity of Noah and Abram? What did they do to astonish God? Did God just choose them randomly?

Genesis 15

Drawing The Gates Of Heaven

With the sight of your sky
The angels are recalled
And the faith is watered
And bloomed.

The details embody the text
That had its hands over power,
Giving a reason
Not to treason.

Remembering the suffering
Explains the sweat
Of the eternal war
For peace.

Each paint brush,
Is a batch of holly hair of an angel
That tries to paint us
The glory of the gates of heaven.

Meter the Poem

Numbering The Calendar

GENESIS 4-9

I have always wondered were our calendar comes from. I know that Jews believe in another calendar, and so does other cultures and religions. However, I never understood who had the idea of categorizing 7 days in a week. But, in the Genesis I have been familiar to many numbers, such as “forty days and forty nights” or “seven days”. Also, I noticed the importance that is given to the pairs.

One of the first details I noticed while reading the family tree, where the pairs. For example, Adam and Eve, had three children, but only two were alive at the same time. Also, when they talked about the children the people had, they didn’t mention the wife, except in the case of Lamech and his two wifes, and his two children per woman. In addition, “There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female” (Genesis 7.9).

As well, there are others number that I believe have helped formed our modern-day time units. “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights” (Genesis 7.4), said God to Noah. Here we can see that seven days is used, and now we still use seven days as a week, and our work and break time periods rotate around it. Also, God talked about forty days and forty nights, which I assume that has slowly turned into 30 days and nights, that means a month.

Now I understand were do many of our important numbers come from, and how they have might have changed accordingly to further knowledge, and different cultures.

Genesis 1-2-3

Spelling Exercise

Spelling #1

In dealing with students on the high-school level - that is, the second, third, and forth year of high school - we must bear in mind that to some degree they are at a difficult psychological stage, generally called adolescence. Students at this level are likely to be confused mentally, to be subject to involuntary distractions and romantic dreaminess. They are basically timid or self-conscious, they lack frankness and are usually very sensitive but hate to admit it. They are motivated either by great ambition, probably out of all proportion to their capabilities, or by extreme laziness caused by the fear of not succeeding or attaining their objectives. Fundamentally they want to be kept busy but they refuse to admit it. They are frequently the victims of earlier poor training, and this makes every effort doubly hard. They are usually willing to work, but they hate to work without obtaining the results they think they should obtain. Their critical faculties are beginning to develop and they are critical of their instructors and of the materials they are given to learn. They are beginning to feel the pressure of time; and although they seldom say so, they really want to be consulted and given an opportunity to direct their own affairs, but they need considerable guidance. (From A Language Teacher's Guide by E. A. M�ras)

Spelling #2

They seldom admit that they need this guidance and they frequently rebel against it, but if it is intelligently offered they accept it with enthusiasm. If they are healthy they are capable of long periods of concentration and an extraordinary amount of work. They are trying, most of them, to form political ideas and they have a tendency to be either extremely idealistic (which is usually another term for radical) or conservative, blindly accepting what their fathers and grandfathers believed in. It is in this period that students can be most easily and permanently influenced. It is the period in which they form strong attachments for their teachers. Their outlook on life is usually extremely exaggerated. They are either far too modest and retiring, or extravagantly boastful. They are much more susceptible to the influence of a strong personality than to that of a great intelligence. Of all periods of life, this is what may best be called the 'plastic age'. (From A Language Teacher's Guide by E. A. Mares) .