Common Day Slavery

The Slave was/is a great simple read. I think I read it in three sittings and enjoyed it thoroughly. As I reflect after reading it about a month ago? I am still in awe of how Singer makes Jacob committed to God to the nth degree. Even after his family is taken from him and he is sold into slavery Jacob tests his knowledge of the Bible by writing as many commandments as he can remember. In the first five minutes he writes down more than I could write down in five years but I don't know if this is because I am a bad person (religiously). I feel Jacob is on a whole other level, he is like the present day (whenever the story took place) of Mother Theresa. No matter what happens to him he will make it through because of his outlook.

This outlook is a special thing, especially when dealing with tragedy. With a positive outlook a person is able to overcome anything, as a person who just learned of a family "tragedy" I wish I was able to have this outlook because I have become enclosed on thoughts of the past instead of looking forward to what moments I may have in the future with this person while I will have plenty of time to look to the past when this person has passed on. It is stories like The Slave and authors like Singer who give people hope. It is no wonder certain people make it to a "celebrity" status because of their power of to heal. In a Dexter episode I saw recently Dexter talks of a co-worker who was saved from his personal problems because of an episode of Oprah, Dexter continues to say how he wishes his life was simple enough to be solved by something like a television show. As I thought/think about this statement, I believe any problem can be saved by something simple. Yet, this simple action to save a person must have a significant meaning and it is solved like David Blaine's tricks. For me, it was going into the mountains and taking time to connect with my feelings and find a peace of mind where I can accept what is happening to my family member and move on to enjoy the rest of their life...together.

My term paper...

For my term paper I have thought for a while and haven't really been able to think of something. I decided to go for a pop culture topic and look into songs influenced by the Bible in our current society. We have classics like, "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash, to whole albums by U2 (whom I well not go into because I would probably be in an insane asylum after listening to a whole album by them), and singers like Jessica Simpson who come from a strict Baptist family (her father was a minister). After researching a few singers I will look into whether a religious background helped them become a Christian pop star or what as well as looking into how Bible verses can be used to get powerful/beefy points across.

Playing God

Nina Simone's, 'Sinnerman' has been used in numerous essays and movies because as Dr. Sexson said it is one of the most beautiful songs which incorporates the scriptures. As I looked at the lyrics it reminds me of Paradise Lost and how Adam and Eve do not move on in the world until they have repented for the sins which have caused humanity to fall. Simone's song is broken into two halves. The first in which the narrator is begging God for mercy but is told to, "go to the devil, all along dem day." Basically to learn from what sins he has committed and then he will be let back into the light. God is never that simple though and soon he asks, "Child, where are you? When you should be prayin'." Why must God be so confusing? Why can't he just make up his mind and tell us what he wants. The narrator admits he can not live without God and he needs God by his side to live an acceptable life in the end.

The instant I heard "Sinnerman" it made me think of Gigi Ruff's part in Futureproof a film by Absinthe Films. The way they use this song makes me think. A, it was just because it truly is a great song with a simple beat to make an edit to or B, it is showing us how we are always living in God's paradise. It is what we personally believe paradise is and it will appear. I personally find the ocean and mountains to be the closest places on earth to paradise. It is in these places I am able to lose my thoughts in the water molecules, schlip slopping on top of my surf board, and I don't even notice the wave which is about to pummel me into the sand or hiking in the back country and suddenly realizing I am 100 feet past the shoot I intended to drop into. These are also the times I am closest to God, as we converse about what I should be doing differently in my life, and it is these times which I plead for God to help me through whatever troubles I may be combatting at that certain moment in my life.

As I finished a book today for one of my history classes the writer spoke of pilots (during WWII in Korea) who dropped bombs on the cities and the children would run into the fields of rice to hide since the bombs were never dropped on crops. This reminded me of an essay I read during high-school where a pilot pretends to be God and drops a few bombs in the fields to show what he could HAVE done if he had wanted to. The pilot soon learns he killed every child who lived in the village and the peasants cry out to their Lord, why have you done this to the future? or something along those lines...this reminds me of how we must accept what happens in our lives because everything is meant for a reason. We should never try to play God because nothing good can come of it except our punishment which we teach us...not to play God.

Re:Birth

"And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.'"

As I read this all I could remember was the discussion we had in class this past week. Rio remembering he got dunked under a river and others who were pleasantly dumped into an actual dunking booth (I wonder if there is a difference from the ones a clown gets dunked in at the fair and the ones which are religiously based). Back to my point though, this is exactly how a baptism should be. One of the most beautiful moments of our life as the heavens are opened to our previously blind eyes almost as if we were a puppy in its first days of life. As the heavens open so does our life to a religious following. As the light converges on Jesus the voice bellows, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." I wish I could remember my baptism or anything from my young childhood for that fact which brings me to the question, why aren't Christians baptized at a later time in life? This way we could actually remember the significance of this important event. As Reborn Christians experience this magical moment they could also hear God say to them, "I am proud of you for what you have done." I feel these critical moments in Jesus life are what directly influenced him to living a life of such prominence among such a rebellious age. It is this sort of thing which people today need to believe in a God which continues to be shunned away by science. The personal connections can help a person see beyond the physical and into the mystical.

Questioning

How dare I question God? After I have not had my 10 sons killed by a stray gust of wind knocking down the house or 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels which were smited by God's wrath (Plotz's point about the numerical pattern is amusing). Job is a man who takes his punishment but is not able to truly accept what has happened to him. This is all because of his innocence and his belief innocent people do not get in trouble. There are so many current stories which prove him wrong, whether it is Rubbin "Hurricane" Carter who was accused of committing three murders or Jews who were killed in the Holocaust.

I then read a post by Jamie who posted a poem which she conveniently summarized so we would not have to read it. In the poem Hop feels he would be able to accept his punishment if he knew it was sent from a higher form. I would personally have a problem with this especially if I was in Job's shoes. This is because it would mean the higher form enjoys seeing us suffer (maybe he does since he makes Israelites do/eat things until they won't enjoy them anymore) and if that were the case how can he stand to watch someone suffer for no reason? What if God had not had another bi-polar moment going from angry, look at what I have done over thousands of years to the nice, oh Job here have double the amount of camels and sheep. Job would have died even though he lived a good life where he did nothing wrong (proven when his three friends shut up after his final argument). I suppose we must just take what because whether there is someone above the clouds pouting as Job does for over half the book devoted to him will not help cure your disease/problems/whatever your ailment may be.

Such is life...

As I attempt to catch up on the Bible and other readings in this class it becomes even harder to blog for a person like myself who struggles to blog biweekly. I just finished the Book of Joshua though and was astonished how violent the Bible continues to be. In the conquering of Jericho Joshua has absolutely no heart. The soldiers decide to allow the children and women to live (even some of the worlds worst criminals don't touch women and children) but Joshua is furious and demands the soldiers kill them.

Plotz brings up a great point in his chapter on Deuteronomy; he ponders how the Israelites don't believe in Yahweh when he has proven himself time and time again. After all these miracles how could one not believe in the great man above? But it also made me wonder what happened to him, have we as humans become so disgraceful we don't deserve miracles anymore? I mean I know we f_ck up a lot these days and just about everyone commits horrible, unmentionable sins. Especially our presidents dropping bombs all over the world as if it was a good thing to have a bomb dropped on ones house. All we have seen in the past few years is Mary's face on a grilled cheese (http://www.searchenginejournal.com/virgin-mary-grilled-cheese-miracle-blesses-ebay/1071/) or in South Park they mock the bleeding Virgin Mary in horrible manner although it is witty. I also wonder why we call anyone who claims to have spoken to God other than Priests crazy. When so many people used to connect with God every few years and bring his "chosen" people to a new land or to punish them and sentence them to 40 years in the desert. He chose people who stuttered and had killed brothers or sentenced them to exile, but today no one speaks with the Lord. I don't think anyone has for the past few centuries at least. As Plotz says though, “You didn’t actually witness the events that you are supposed to have witnessed” (p.76). Then why do we continue to believe in them? Especially when people who claim to have connected to God today get shunned away and either called a liar, kook, or just put into the dark and are totally rejected.

It is through this I believe the Bible to be a list of rules (as we see in Numbers) which we as humans should abide by to live a good life. It is not to be taken literally and worship but to allow us to confide in someone whom we can talk to when no one is around and not be called crazy or to sell a grilled cheese for some quick cash (I don't understand how a person who believes in God could SELL a grilled cheese representing the Virgin Mary. It seems unethical to begin with but doesn't our Lord and Savior warn us against false gods)? I suppose a grilled cheese couldn't be a god so scratch that thought. As we are able to see though a person cannot truly live his life by the Bible or he would tend to get in a bit of trouble.

This is sort of a side thought but also goes with my questioning humanity in todays world. As well as I think he had a horrible day so I will write about it until one happens to me. Which I don't know if it will because as many of my classmates have reiterated there is no such thing as a bad day because you learn something from any event which makes it good. Although this is absolutely horrible and made me question humanity. I talked to one of my good friends I went to high-school with who goes to UNH (University of New Hampshire). On his drunken journey home on Halloween three kids jumped him leaving him knocked out and he had a his jaw wired shut along with other injuries. All this was able to happen as people walked by while he was on the ground with three punks kicking the $h!t out of him. He didn't have a chance to defend himself and the people who could have defended him just walked away as if the four were having a friendly conversation. I cannot believe humanity is going down the hole so fast we are able to stand by and watch this. I feel we need a sign from the ole' man above we are not in as much trouble as we think or something along those lines. Oh well the world will improve someday.

On a more positive not, I leave you with this, http://www.blogotheque.net/Delta-Spirit,4810 as we read in Wallace's poem music is a great way to express love and yourself. Delta Spirit shows us a way in which they express themselves. Doing it on a trolly, in a restaurant, and in a park.