Write Now: Why do bad things happen?

I believe very strongly that everything happens for a reason, I also believe in a certain thing called Karma, karma states that everything that happens to you, happens to ou because of something you did in the past that would make you deserve it. I think evil exists to balance good, because nothing can be perfect, I believe, not even god. So in the end whos to blame? YOU are to blame, everything you do good or bad comes back to you, so in conclusion most everthing you do happens for a reason.

The Second Book of Samuel Chapters 2-18... Too much power to control?

My title may seem a bit harsh to you, but I find it to be truer and truer as I live on. David was a really nice guy, devoted to god, very faithful, and most of all, very brave. David soon after defeating Goliath became the king of Philistine, being the great king he decided to conquer Israel. He soon won the respect of the Israelites. So, I believe I've made my point: Power can damage you, even if you are a great person.

The nice guy we saw in David was being ruined when he sacked the house of one of his wife's husbands. When David is expanding and becoming more powerful, he says something that we never would've expected from him: "the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul," (Samuel II 5:8). He is saying that he does not have mercy on the less fortunate and he is being very selfish in a way.

Regardless of David's harsh actions and words, we can't just speak ill of him, David is still a very good guy. We can see that he still has faith in god and unlike many of us that believe in him, but don't actually see him present in our lives, he knows god is with him and praises him repeatedly. We can see this clearly here: “LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer… he is my shield, the horn of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my savior.” (2 Samuel 22: 1-6). See? not such a bad guy after all, but although he said this, I think that actions speak louder than words, and his actions scram into my ear and made it bleed...

I might owe "the king" an apology because I realized he really was a good man, a man with feelings, and a man with a lot of love in his heart, clearly demonstrated here: "And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!(2Sam.18)" poor king.


overall I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one, but I guess you cant always get what you want! too bad, huh?

Samuel... Fights over here, Fights over there

Now, I'm sure you've had some laughs with this picture. I'm also sure you know what it represents, just in case, it represents David and Goliath (David being the little kid, and Goliath being the big sumo wrestler). Now that we've established that, lets get back to the story

Samuel has been, by far, my favorite book in the bible. Simply because it is very easy to understand and second of all, I read the story of David and Goliath, and as you may have wondered...I've heard it before(If you haven't heard this story, follow this link:David and Goliath).

The story of David and Goliath starts when a giant called Goliath, comes to the city where David lived, and says in a strong voice: “Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.” (1 Samuel 17:8-9). I know it may seem very cocky of Goliath to say this, and it was. But when you're that big, that strong, that powerful, it's hard to be modest (I know from experience!!! jajaja). Nevertheless I think it was very brave of Goliath to make such an entrance, maybe he wasn't the only giant in the city and he could've found an equal match, so on that part I award Goliath 1 point.

David, another brave youngster, was just a small boy with a big heart (how many times have you herd that?). I say he was brave and had a big heart because regardless of his size, and of Goliath size, he was the only one to stand up to him. It wasn't pure courage which enabled David to fight and defeat Goliath, it was Faith. Faith is capitalized not only because it is the first word of a sentence, I capitalized it because Faith is not a thing, it is a feeling, a feeling which enables you to do extraordinary things, a feeling that takes fear away, and makes you reach for the stars. So my friends, that is why Faith is capitalized, moving on.

"So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.17:50" And after performing this heroic task, Saul a man who used to be a dear friend of his, betrays him and suddenly wants to kill him! Again I must say: The bible is unfair. Why would someone who defended his country be killed? Those are the things I don't understand in the bible. I guess Saul was jealous and didn't want David to be famous, I guess Saul would've preferred to be remembered instead of David, nevertheless, you don't do that to a friend.

I think it sucks that stupid Saul makes David do things that he knows are impossible, even if David gets trough them with god's help. I think that Saul is mean and I can't believe a good person like David would be friends with him.

After Saul dies (In a weird way) I was extremely happy, but what amazed me the most was that David cried for him. I'm sorry I'm not very sentimental and all, but I find that very stupid. I would be happy that he was dead and no longer prosecuting me. But I guess I just don't understand bible stories.

That was the end of the first book of Samuel.

For the second book of Samuel until chapter 2, all I heard was: Fight, Fight, Fight, hence, my title.

These Books of Samuel are extremely fun to read and interesting, I really hope more of these come along!

Finally I can put a happy face at the end of my post.

Job 38-End... Boredom and Confusion

First of all, I would like to say that I thought that the book of Job was unnecessarily long. It was way too much unnecessary dialog, and all to transmit one message: That Job was being punished by god because he wasn't faithful. I know it's the bible and it needs to be complicated and stuff, but would it kill the author to cut down on the meaningless stuff?

At the end we can see the Job doesn't betray god and therefore we can see a covenant between the both of them, were Job pays his respects, and God returns him all that he had taken from him at first. "[12] So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
[13] He had also seven sons and three daughters."

So, good Job god! (hahaha get it?) you finally redemed yourself, I actually think you are a much nicer guy now! In a way I'm kind of confused with the ending, but I gotta say that I really enjoyed reading this book and I guess I look forward to more! But still, CONFUSING...



When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.” Stacy Charter

Job 11-37...Make love not war!

Now I feel the need to explain my title. Yes, I know it's very hippie and stuff, but believe me, it does have a strong meaning behind it. I chose "make love not war" because I think that Job's friends are very judgmental of him and really don't support him a lot, and all they do is criticize him. So there you have it "make love not war."

All these chapters deal with a topic we have seen before, Job being good or evil. Job's friend are unbelievably judgmental and critical to him. Job think he should keep working and being an honest man while earning money, but his "friends" say that he is a bad friend just because he has a lot of riches and does really have a strong faith in god, and even doubts him most of the time.

I wonder how many times I'm going to have to say this (maybe I should just write it on my desktop and just copy and paste it every time I need it) the bible is UNFAIR. I've said it so many times, and I will be saying it many more times. How is it possible that a man such a Job, a upright man, one that god loved, one that was faithful and served god. He who continued to have faith in god even after he deprived him of all his riches and even his seven son's, and after all that what does god do? He hands him over to Satan. What a nice guy (sarcasm)!

unfair or what? Job did nothing but adore and worship god, and god destroyed his house and gave him boils, he wouldn't although his wife advised him to, curse god. And what good came from that? Nothing, is the answer, instead he just sat there in pain, scratching his boils. Dude seriously, WTF?



This shows us how much Job was committed to God, even though God was a big old jerk: "Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired."

As I read these chapters, I started having my doubts towards God. How could such a merciful and loving person (remember I'm catholic) be such a jerk? I love god, and I will never stop believing in him, but how can someone who sacrificed his own son for us, be so mean to us? It just took me a little by surprise what god did, but nevertheless I believe he has effective methods, and I am no one to judge.

This blog entry might have seemed a bit too short considering the amount of pages we had to read, but what makes the chapters so long re the constant dialogues between characters who dwell on the same topic over, and over. So, in a sense everything there was to say... Was said.

Job 1-10... OHHH what a great man!

In the first chapter, first sentence, we run into a very interesting idea. Which introduces us to the amazing man that God sees in Job, this is how he's introduced: "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil". I think that God leaves us with a really good impression of who Job is, I think I like this guy!

Now basically what we can foresee by reading this sentence is that job is a really nice and upright guy who eschews evil. You might not now what eschews means (neither did I), so just click on the word and it will take you to a definition. Read the definition and get back to me... Don't worry, I'll wait.

Are you done yet? nooo?? OK, I guess I can wait five more minutes, but hurry up.

Done? Fabulous, lets move on.

Job was a wealthy man and thus, he was a happy man: " His substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east". As you might have noticed he led a great life, but something was bound to go wrong, we all knew it. God starts to speak to Satan (bad guy) and lets himself be convinced by him, he allows Satan to destroy Jobs life, and God even does some harm to Job as well. God and Satan harm is so big that Job receives the bad news almost instantly:

[14] And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
[15] And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
[16] While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
[17] While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
[18] While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
[19] And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

The misery is such that Job throws himself on the ground miserably and prayed to God, and blessed his name, but never, and this is important to point out, charged God foolishly. I also find this to be very unfair because as God describes Job, he is a very good man that didn't really deserve what he got... Was it fair?

As I've explained previously Job had been tortured and harmed a lot, but what I really admire is that Job managed to keep his cool the whole time and never spoke ill of or cursed God, that is, until his friends arrived and convinced him of the contrary. I thought it was unfair (as I always do in the bible) that Job suffered, and worked hard to keep his cool and that suddenly his "friends" show up and "sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great".

I feel that it is necessary for me to say that I really admire Job when he says: "[2] Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
[3] For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up". OHHH what a great man!

Exodus 3-20... Starring Moses, ur favorite hollywood star!

We are now introduced to Moses... "And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush was not consumed."

Moses was chosen by God to go free the children of Israel that were found as slaves in Egypt. God chose Moses is a way that was similar than when he chose Noah. The way these both characters were chosen are similar because, when God is choosing Moses, Moses says: " Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" and God to that replies, "Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain." This is the same thing God said to Noah when he was choosing him. " And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." And also we can notice that Moses saving the children that were being held captive in Egypt is very important to God, since God keeps calling them "The children of Israel".

When you read a bible you would think that it is right and that everything they do is correct and just, but they mention slavery and servitude way too often for my taste. We have been taught that slavery is wrong and that everyone deserves a reward for their work, so I am just plain and simple confused!

Again I am confused, why does God send out these stupid plagues, if god is so powerful and knows everything why does he have to do these stupid tests and set curses on people, why can't he just control people and not make people suffer? I think what god is doing is trying to show off, because I think that such a smart man and a man that is so powerful should take this matter seriously and just tell the pharaoh to knock it off. I also think it's stupid that everyone keep on trusting the pharaoh after he has proved that he is a liar and a selfish man that doesn't keep promises.

Although I really liked these few chapters I found that as in many chapters, not everyone gets credit for their actions. For example Moses gets all of the credit for all of the miracles God enabled him to do, and what credit did Aaron get? Poor Aaron, he stood by Moses all the time and he is barely mentioned or accredited, at least not in the way they did with Moses.

comparison of Noah's children

Ham is the most caring of all of Noah's children, he wonders alot about his fathers work and repeatedly offers him help. Ham was obedient but didn't follow all of his dad's rules such as "no painting, ham" say's noah. Shem lazy, not as caring as Ham, didn't really believe in his father's work, thought he was crazy and constantly mocked him.

Genesis 15-25... 10 chapters of B.S

Now, chill out readers! I know the title is very harsh, but its supposed to be like that! I knew every single thing in the chapter was coming, I must have some kind of sixth sense. I foresaw everything. Now that Mr. Tangen, deserves a 4.

First of all, Abraham's death, that was obvious. The guy dies at 136 years of age and honestly,(and I don't mean to be rude) I'm glad (good job on not being rude). I am very glad because I will probably never have to hear his name again. Personally he was really annoying because his name sprung up in every sentence, but still it is kind of sad. Before he dies he marries Sarah, a good wife, who gives him what he wants: "And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah".(Gen.25 2) He had a six more sons, until he finally died at 137 years old.

Now it gets good. A little sibling rivalry and jealousy is exactly what the story needed, Esau and Jacob hate their gust and from what I read from the book, hate each other. Isaac prefers Esau, and Rebekah prefers Jacob. As Esau was about to be blessed for hunting, Rebekah deceived them both and put Jacob in Esau's place. Of course, this generated a lot of anger on Esau's part as we can see here: "And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob".(Gen.28 41). A frightened Jacob had to leave the country in fear of his own life. A little sibling rivalry is o.k, but come on! Are you gonna kill your brother because your mom prefers him? Good luck those times are over, I would've been toast!

I am pretty much done with these chapters, the last thing I want to dwell with is this. An interesting part of these chapters was Jacob's "wrestling" with god. This was a conflict in Jacob's head where he was angry with god, but now we see the nicer side of god. Remember in the last couple of chapters? Where he was portrayed as kind of vengeful and mean? Now we can see that he forgives Jacob and that he never stops loving him although Jacob is angry at him. In a way I do believe that and I love god and his forgiveness. I really liked these couple of chapters, but as I said before, I SAW IT COMING!

Genesis 17-24... The important thing is to multiply

Another exciting chapter about god and beliefs, and...Circumcision?!

I think this was the easiest chapter to understand, and the idea it was trying to transmit was easy to grasp and understandable. I can start this topic by sharing what god said about circumcision, “it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you”. What I found very weird was that god obligated boys to be circumcised, I guess I never thought that belief applied to everyone, I thought it was much less common, and what surprised me was the very strict and not so noble anymore, god. Where everything he said was the law and it was either his way or the highway, I guess I didn't enjoy the characters much in this chapter. As I was reading the chapter in which Abram is introduced, I started to think about his name, I thought it was Abraham, but figured out it would explain itself as the story went on, and it did. When god says: "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee (Gen. 17)." Now it was all clear, I had always heard of Abraham but never Abram, I now realize it was the same guy. And in someway when god changes his name from Abram to Abraham, he is acknowledging more power unto Abraham, by saying that in someway the name Abraham shows more power than Abram... Weird, I know. Another thing I found interesting was that Abraham didn't want to have kids at age 90, when people in other bible stories have kids at age 400 or even more. Isn't that weird?

As I read these pages everything is just so new and so contradicting that my ideas get tangled up in knots, tightly wounded knots. God has always been introduced to us as a noble being, who only wants love and prosperity in our lives, and i'm not saying hes not, I just think that if god wanted to test Abraham's braveness and emotions, he could've found a less savage way other than killing his grandson. The god I know and believe in would not do such a thing, he would make him take a long journey in which he proves himself, but a life taken away to prove a point? Is that fair? And plus, if god knows everything and is so wise, why doesn't he know that Abraham is brave and has emotions? As I said... Very contradicting.

In this chapter we can see a very special bond between Abraham and god, I think Abraham is to god what Muhammad was to Islam. Abraham is god's messenger, or shepherd if you will, and that is why god gives Abraham such amazing gifts. He gives him everything he desires, kingdoms, children and many others, must be cool to have god by your side.

A thing about this chapter which I can't really explain well is the incest, the daughters sleeping with his old father, I can't even explain it: “do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”

Genesis 10-16, oh boy! Re-birth after the flood?

After the flood had ended it was up to Noah and his sons: Shem, Japeth, and Ham (weird name), to restore humanity and start again from scratch. Fortunately all of Noah's sons were accompanied by their wives, which would enable them to reproduce and restore humanity as we know it, a very hard task for six people.

After years of reproducing finally comes Abram, a very noble, and religious human being. This caused God to notice him and communicate with him. The Lord presented Abram with a very difficult task, he said: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed"(Gen 12). Do you think Abram felt a little pressured?

Abram is a lucky man, as you may have noticed he has a smoking hot wife!



But, for some reason God does not want anyone to know this so makes Abram disguise Sarai by telling everyone she's his sister. Since everyone think they're just brother and sister, they start hitting on Sarai and they would end up cursed and had to pay Abram with cattle amongst other things. She was so beautiful that even princes saw her and invited her to their palace, and because of that: "The LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife".( Gen. 12: 17). I really don't think its fair with all the guys that tried to hit on Sarai because they really don't have a clue that Sarai was already married and therefore I believe it was unfair that they were punished, while they had no bad intentions.

Sarai loved Abram very much and would give him virtually everything he wanted. Abram wanted a child and Sarai wasn't able to conceive. Sarai was so disappointed with herself that she told the maid to have Abram's child. Which she has. Sarai for some reason (don't ask me why)is mad because the child Abram had was not from her, but from her maid. I can understand why Sarai would be mad at this, but it is very foolish of her to be mad after saying: "The LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai".(Gen.16 2). I mean, women are so foolish they even contradict THEMSELVES!! Poor men, will we ever understand?

Sistine Chapel poem!

"I'm more superior than you", a humble God said,
"I know that" said Adam while nodding his head.

Adam longed for God's touch, he couldn't wait longer,
but as God was reaching out, they started to ponder.

What would come of this connection? Equality maybe?
"I don't know" said Adam, I'm as smart as a baby!

And god knew this, therefore couldn't touch him.
Adam's brain was as useless as his limb.

Genesis 1-2- the beginning!

This is the beginning of genesis where we deal with creation, we talk about how god created everything and how he said: "let there be light and there was light"(gen, pg.1). It says that everything was chaos and dark before god went there and named land and the seas and everything else, it reminds me of metamorphoses where everything before creation was chaos, and I think that both texts were written under the same idea.

Although I am a catholic and share most beliefs catholics have, I don't agree with all the ideas or facts if you will, about creation. I believe when he states names for light (day) and for darkness (night), he can't take credit for these names because humans worked for many years and had to start up from scratch to adapt names and to get accustomed to these.

I hope that this doesn't make me a bad catholic but I myself believe in evolution as a more reliable fact than god saying "let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters" I think that everything started from scratch and evolved there on.

I believe in my faith and love being a catholic, but some things are contradictory...sorry mom!

Noah's ark-Adam and Eve

These famous bible stories have been translated in many languages and have had many adaptations for children, adults, teen and a varied audience.

Both of these stories relate to modern society's ideals and beliefs, one story deals with the creation of man and where the whole human species started, where Adam and Eve had children, and their children had children, and so on they multiplied.

The other story also relates to modern society because god speaks to Moses and warns him of the flood that is coming, he tells him he must build an ark with two of every animal (male and female) in order to reproduce.

The basic message of these stories isn't too hard to grasp, in Adam and Eve the message is: Everything has consequences, and Obey and do what your told. we can sense that Adam and Eve realize what they have done when Lord God calls out to Adam: "Where art thou?", Adam comes out from his hiding place and responds "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." That is when god realizes and starts to blame Adam, where he blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent. We can see the very common "blame-game" which is used by many children now a days, Adam and Eve both used these to be guilt-free.

Noah's ark seem very irrational to me, that god such a powerful and wise being has to erase the mankind to start all over again. I think that such a powerful being, someone we look up to should have had an alternative to fix or change mankind, if you will. I think this translation was much more complicated than the kids version, although the classical version is much more wordy, it's a much better version. as god said: "come thou and thy house into the ark."