Gospel of Mark (End) 12-16... Unfairly Arrested and Crucified only to Resurrect later

I am nearly done with my second Gospel and I have to say I am really glad. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading about Jesus and learning from his teachings from many perspective but, I am glad it's over because it was hard, long and in most parts boring. The Gospels really helped me understand more about religion's history but I wouldn't want to read them again (I have a feeling I'm going to).

I really love the way Jesus isolates religion and his teachings and doesn't mix them with other issues. When Caesar wanted to convict Jesus he sent out some Pharisees and Herodians to try to catch him in the act, but Jesus knew this and managed to defend himself by keeping the two matters separated from each other, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn't we?" But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied. Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him." I thought it was cool how Jesus already knew what they were trying to do and answered with another question only to leave them amazed at what he was saying. Sorry Caesar you can't condemn Jesus... Yet.

Then I was bewildered when a teacher of law asked Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" I naturally thought that Jesus wasn't going to give him an answer, but I was wrong. Jesus actually answered him, "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[g]There is no commandment greater than these." The reason I found this to be so funny was because I thought and I had been taught that all commandments were equally important and that none stood before another, but evidently I was wrong. I mean how can something about your neighbor be one of the most important teachings of Jesus? I find that a bit odd.

Another thing I found a bit offsetting was that after the man answered Jesus' reply, "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." Jesus said, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask questions. Why is that? Did I not understand what Jesus meant by saying that he was close to the kingdom of god? Why then were people so afraid to ask questions? If you have an answer, please comment on this post.

As my title might have suggested I think these few chapters were very unfair. First of all everyone is trying to condemn Jesus and they are accusing him of crimes he didn't even commit! That to me is an outrage, but what I found most interesting was that Jesus knows he is innocent and knows they are all lying, but doesn't say a thing. Maybe he wanted to be convicted and needed to sacrifice himself in order to save us. In that case, Thank you Jesus Christ Superstar!

I have to say that my favorite part of the Gospel was when I saw that he had resurrected. I was so happy. My favorite part was this one, "But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " I thought it was so cool that Jesus said that he would resuscitate and he did. What shocked me the most were Jesus' last words, ""Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." I think Jesus is right and although we don't always believe what he says or have doubts about his teachings that we must always have faith no matter how the situation looks.

Jesus Christ Superstar!

Gospel of Mark (Middle) 6-11... Jesus doesn't Cease to Amaze People

In chapter 6, Jesus starts to preach people about important matters of life and people were naturally amazed, "He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.
"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! 3Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

4Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6And he was amazed at their lack of faith." People were not only amazed, but they were also a bit confused. They did not know to trust Jesus and did not know where he got his powers, therefore did not trust him. I myself would fin it hard to trust someone who I know nothing about. I guess you just have to have faith as Jesus says.

We've all heard about the wonderful things Jesus does right?!? But walking on water seems very unlikely, even for Jesus, "He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 51Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." This has been by far the most amazing of Jesus's performances. I think this was a marking point for the Christian faith because it is when Jesus proves to everyone he is powerful and no one doubts him at this point, because after this all the sick come begging to him to heal them.

More and more healing...

You know how we had read that Jesus would occasionally feed 4 or 5 people? well we read now that he feeds 4 thousand, "During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."
4His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"

5"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked.
"Seven," they replied.

6He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. 7They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, 10he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha."

The people did not understand how he had done this so they asked, and Jesus said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." 13Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side." This shows that you don't always need tan explanation for everything just have faith and believe and the explanation will come. At least that's what Jesus says.

Jesus wants to stay incognito, "Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
28They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets."

29"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ.[b]"

30Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him."

If Jesus is already showing off with everyone and people are confused about who he really is, why wouldn't he just tell them? Why does he feel the need to keep it a secret? If god wants everyone to believe his faith he shouldn't be lying to everyone about who he is, but Jesus knows what he is doing and must have a reason.

The last thing I noticed about these few chapters was in the last chapter, chapter 11, where the authority of Jesus is put into question, "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?"
29Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30John's baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!"

31They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' 32But if we say, 'From men'...." (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

33So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

This is almost exactly what we saw in Luke, except Luke is a little different, "One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

I'm really enjoying both Gospels but I think since Mark is a bit more simple it is better, but it might be too simple for my taste. Blog you later!

Gospel of Mark (Beginning) 1-5... Jesus is Baptized

The Gospel of Mark begins when John baptizes Jesus. When Jesus comes out of the water he sees the gates of heaven open and hears a voice from heaven say, "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." By what is said by "the voice of heaven" we can infer that the person who said this was God. We can see that by getting baptized, Jesus has advanced and progressed and is now suitable to preach people and teach his wisdom.

The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel that I have liked the most, and also the one that has surprised me the most. We all know that Jesus heals people and is very powerful, but the things he does in Mark are just amazing. That this for example, "Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil[e] spirit cried out, "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!"
"Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek." Although this is very cool and amazes me, I can't help but feel a little bit suspicious. I mean Jesus has extraordinary powers and all, but I don't think it can be as simple as that to expel a demon from a body! If so, what are exorcisms for?

Jesus cures a man with leprosy. It might seem like a complex thing to do with an arduous process and numerous conditions, but not for our fictional Jesus, "A man with leprosy[f] came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured."

I'm sorry if i'm being too much of a critic or if I just don't understand, but The Gospel of Luke was much more realistic and might I add much more interesting. In Luke Jesus heals ten people with leprosy, but it wasn't as easy as in Mark, "Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a]met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed." As you can see Mark simplifies every one of Jesus's actions, where Luke tells the things the way they're intended to be, with a process and with a conclusion.

Jesus can hardly be mentioned without mentioning his apostles [disciples]. As you should know the apostles are very important for Jesus and they complement him in a very big way. In chapter 3 Jesus appoints his apostles and gives a short introduction of each, "These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him." There might be some important apostles that you might have noticed, the one that most stood up to me was... Judas the one who betrayed him. The author is foreshadowing and we can clearly see that Judas is the one who is going to betray Jesus.



While I was on chapter 3 I noticed something very interesting and moving that Jesus said. Something we might have heard many times, but it is comforting to see Jesus say it, "A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
33"Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.

34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

I think even Jesus was fooled at first because he thought it was his actual blood family but in reality all of us are family, all humanity is related so deal with it. Love everyone, love your family.

That's the end of the first 5 chapters, the beginning of Mark. Blog you later!

Gospel of Luke 17-24... How very Predictable

So, the Gospel of Luke is coming to an end and I am overjoyed. I'm not saying this was a bad text, or that it was boring. All I'm saying is that I really didn't enjoy this book as much as I have others. I might also want to add that it was very predictable and that I really didn't take many surprises. Except for a few quotes that I'll show later on.

As we begin to read we can see more teachings about Forgiveness and about Faith can overcome and are superior to anything else. I believe that the Gospels aren't only predictable but they're also very repetitive. As if we didn't get the point the first time we read it.

Jesus was extremely harsh as he is shown in this Gospel. This to me is an important fact since I even considered putting that as a title. Jesus being such a devoted and loving man who should set an example to all, shouldn't be saying things like this, “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty." What Jesus is saying here is basically, "Treat people like shit and you will earn a place in heaven." Is that right? Is that the example that Jesus Christ lord and savior should be giving us? Talk about being paradoxical.

"And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too." Here we see how important faith is to Jesus and how protected and important it is to have Faith. After all, It did give a blind beggar his sight back. What amazing things Faith can do for you.

As I had mentioned before I really liked how Jesus always knew the answer for everything and how he could back-talk anyone and win an argument. It is clearly shown here, "One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

So the authority of Jesus is Challenge and people doubt his wisdom and knowledge. And boy were they in for a surprise, God knew they knew nothing of what they were asking him and he immediately asked them a question that was impossible for them to answer considering the consequences that each answer would entail.

What a moment!

I'm reading normally skimming through chapters and suddenly we run into probably the most historically important moment of religion. The Last Supper. Isn't that cool? I only realized it was The Last Supper after reading it for about 2 minutes and I was astonished I hadn't realized it before, "He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” This is when I started realizing they were talking about The Last Supper. I thought that being such an important historical event that The Last Supper would have a big part in the the Gospel of Luke, but no... Only about three paragraphs.



The part everyone has been waiting for, The Crucifixion, The Death, The Burial, The Resurrection, and The Ascension. We've all heard of this moment before but, I'd never had goosebumps reading it, "Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Gives you goosebumps right? I think this is when we see the bright side of god. What an incredible man.

When we all thought it was the end but then, "The women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes." This is when we start suspecting the Resurrection. Jesus had Resurrected and, "Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God."

I am glad it ended up like I had hoped. Although I knew what was going to happen since it was so predictable, I really enjoyed the ending and hope we can thoroughly discuss this topic in class. Later bloggers.

Gospel of Luke 9-16... Disciplined Disciples

Jesus calls his twelve disciples and orders them to "tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick." They all naturally agreed, but before they went, Jesus said to them, "Take nothing for your journey,” he instructed them. “Don’t take a walking stick, a traveler’s bag, food, money, or even a change of clothes. Wherever you go, stay in the same house until you leave town. And if a town refuses to welcome you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate." This to me seemed very odd. First of all, Jesus is giving all of his disciples his powers which doesn't make him look very good anymore. Second of all, He tells them to go on their journey with inly the clothes on their back, nothing else. This seems very strange to me because if they are going on such a long journey they are going to need these things. "So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick."

We see that Jesus is starting to gain popularity and that even when he tries to slip away the people find him and follow, "But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him." When Jesus, his disciples, and his followers are on their journey they make a stop and order the locals to give them food. “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” This is when Jesus does something that is truly amazing and strange and the same time, "Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!" Now let me get this straight, If there were only five loaves of bread and two fish, How the heck did they eat all they wanted and have seven baskets of leftovers? I guess those are the kinds of things you just have to be amazed by although you don't understand.

The next interesting thing I saw was when there is a kid possessed by the devil and his desperate father asks Jesus for help, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. It throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It batters him and hardly ever leaves him alone. I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Then Jesus says something that seemed a bit mean, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.” He then casts the demon out of the body and returns the boy to his father, nice job Jesus but, watch the attitude.

Remember when I told you that Jesus told all his followers and disciples that in order to become his followers they must detach from their whole life? Well that to me seemed pretty mean but we can see a very impressive dialog between Jesus and a man:

"As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”

The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![l] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”

62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

See what I meant when I said it was mean? Well I guess that's the cost of following Jesus.

In the next chapters Jesus said something really cool that I would like to share with you, "Whenever you enter someone’s home, first say, ‘May God’s peace be on this house.’ If those who live there are peaceful, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay." I thought this was very nice and very true, and something I should definitely have in mind when I'm visiting in someone's home because if they don't want it, according to Jesus, I'll get it. When Jesus says that those who work deserve their pay, I could not agree more with him. I believe that what you do, good or bad, comes back to you. Everything you get you deserve.

You know that most of the time I have been in agreement with Jesus, but this next thing he said seemed pretty exaggerated, " A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple." Isn't god all bout love and caring for others? Why then does he say that you must hate everyone including your family and yourself in order to be his disciple? I'm sorry Jesus but under those conditions I wouldn't even consider being your disciple.

The next and last thing I read which seemed interesting to me and probably my favorite in the Gospels was the following, "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” This in a way is true and in a way is false. It really depends what kind of person you are. If you are a multi-tasker and a multi-lover, or if you are a mono-lover. I myself would have to choose which to serve and under Jesus's hard conditions I would probably choose money.

Exercise on Conciseness

Although many people are not assasins or murder detectives, or even violent people, they still enjoy reading murder mysteries in order to escape the monotony of everday life, or even boredom.

To these people murder mystery is realistic fantasy because the character is believable as a person and solves mysteries by exercising logic and reasoning. These people must enjoy the human faculty of logic.

Murder mysteries can also be fantasies, where the reader plays a game in which they suspend human emotions. If the reader doesn't suspend these emotions he/she will never enjoy murder mysteries. The reader follows the goal of solving the mystery by logi and observation. Since it is a game of life and death it will hopefully help the reader eacape from actual life and death horrors.

Gospel of Luke 1-8... Jesus Christ

We are done with Tao Te Ching and have begun to read the Gospels. We were each assigned a different Gospel, which we will have to read and write about everyday. The cool thing about this assignment is that we can choose the number of pages we read and write about as long as we are done with it by the end of the weekend. I guess we're being tested on our responsibility. In class I was assigned the gospel of Luke along with three other classmates. I have decided I will read for 3 days and read 8 chapters per day (since there are 24 chapters). When I was told we were reading Gospels I really didn't know what it meant. If you are as ignorant as I am follow this link for a definition.Gospels.

As I begin to read the gospels I am introduced to two characters; Zacharias and Elisabeth. Elisabeth is not able to conceive a child and they are both "well stricken in years." Zacharias is praying to the lord when suddenly an angel called Gabriel appeared in front of Zacharias, "And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him." The angel then said " Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." This is a very interesting part of the story in my opinion because we are anticipated a big chunk of the story and we can see a big part of the story occur in only seconds.

Then we see another very important part, "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." WE see the birth of Jesus. Jesus the base of almost every religion in the world such an important character. What I found interesting here is that The Virgin Mary as her name states it, is a virgin. Now I'm no scientist but don't you have intercourse in order to conceive? This is one of the thing that I find a bit confusing about my faith but, who am I to question God? The Virgin Mary has conceived a son. I guess when you want something really bad you can get it.

Then we see a very nerve wrecking encounter between Jesus and the devil; I must say Jesus really knows how to defend himself. Check it out, "And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." Talk about powerful. I think this proves that god has an answer for everything and that everything will be alright if you have faith in God. Even against powerful evil like the devil.

I guess that if you want to be helped and protected by God you really have to be devoted, he clearly expresses hoe important devotion is, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." No wonder fathers and popes have to take life changing oaths like, abstinence and full devotion. I feel bad saying this but, although I love God and have faith in his word, I wouldn't give up my entire life just to follow his word. Much less take the oath of abstinence. Still it is good that you can be religious without having to take those oaths.

In chapter 4:40 we find a very interesting paragraph which may seem like a lot of nonsense but nevertheless an important paragraph. We find that Jesus can heal sick rivers by putting his hands in them and cleaning out all of the devils. WE can also see him start to gain popularity because when he arrives to the desert people cling on to him and don't want to let him go, but Jesus says, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent." And that is true people, you can't be selfish and you must let him go so he can spread his wisdom throughout the world.

I read and didn't find any more interesting or time-worthy quotes except for one. A woman is concerned and is asking for forgiveness of her sins and Christ says, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." I find a lot of power in this sentence, very simple yet so amazing. I guess it is true that if you hold on to faith all will be good. As my friends from Journey say, "Don't stop believin', hang on to that feeling." So long Bloggers, catch you on my next blog. Meanwhile check out the Journey song I posted below.

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Tao Te Ching 48- end... I'm so sad

That's right readers... I am sad. Although Tao was sometimes hard and frustrating (boring) to read I found it really comforting when I got home after a long day of hard work, it was a really big stress reliever plus, It taught me many valuable lessons that I know put into practice in my everyday life. Why Tao? Why did it have to end?

These chapters although really enjoyable didn't have many quotes I Liked. It only had about two or three, as opposed to other chapters which had from 15-25. In chapters 50-60 we read a lot about governing and ruling of countries. I would like to share a quote about ruling which I found to be extremely true, "When the country is ruled with a light hand, people are simple. When a country is ruled with severity, people are cunning." I think this is very true true because in the past (maybe not so much nowadays), people were greatly influenced by their leaders and acted upon their leaders actions. So, if a leader din't give a rat's ass and ruled with a light hand people would be simple and stupid but, if an empire or country is ruled by a good leader with a severe hand (take for example Julius Caesar), the country would be organized and it would prosper.

In such a great book you would expect a magnificent ending, one that would make you think about your sole existence for days, one that would make you dig deeper into yourself to find the true meaning of your existence. The Tao.. none of that. It just said something about work that I didn't really get, "The Tao of the sage is work without effort." I was really disappointed with this but it might have a deeper meaning than I can understand.

Our assignment for this blog entry was to compare our entry to a picture from N.A.S.A. So here is my picture:


I think the Tao is like th black hole in this picture because it can take your mind, suck it in, change it and spit it right out. In a way the Tao is a black hole of knowledge. You are always attracted to the ideas but be careful, you don't want to stay in there too long.

I can sincerely say that I took many valuable lessons from The Tao. I can also honestly say that The Tao is one of the most enjoyable book I've read. There are although, some times I really didn't like. For example, repetition. I believe the book said the same thing over and over. Things you saw and read about in the first chapter come up again in chapter 76 or something but, I have to give Lao some credit because thanks to that repetition I understood what he was trying to say much better. The other thing I really didn't like was how the book was so contradicting. It said one thing, and then it advised you against it, It said something was good and then told you to avoid it. I really enjoyed Tao Te Ching and hope we can stdy it again sometime, bye-bye bloggers

Tao Te Ching 29-47... A life-long subscription to the "LIFE" magazine

Interesting title huh?!? "A life-long subscription to the "LIFE" magazine." It gives you a lot to think about but, maybe you're stupid and you don't understand, allow me to clarify. I have previously said on my recent blog entries that I think The Tao is like a manual, a written game plan for life. I have always thought that the Tao is written so you will follow it step-by-step, just like a life-long subscription to a magazine in which your whole life is planned out, hence my title.

Lets begin talking about the Tao. These 18 chapters have really given me a lot to think about. There are so many teachings and so many quotes that are worthy of explanation we wouldn't have space to out them all in a same blog entry. One of my Favorite parts of these chapters (and maybe of the whole) is at the beginning where it says, "Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it? I do not believe it can be done, The universe is sacred, you cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it. If you try to hold it, you will lose it."(1:29) As much as I like this quote and find it very interesting, I don't actually agree with most of it. When the Tao says, "Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it? I do not believe it can be done." I think it is part true and part false. Maybe the universe is perfect and it would be wrong to try to change it but, I feel that the universe won't be here for us forever so we need to contribute to it and not just lay around thinking we have nothing to do. A part I pretty much agree with is this one, "The universe is sacred, you cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it. If you try to hold it, you will lose it." I believe that the universe is sacred and that changing it's natural balance could lead to gigantic catastrophes. I believe we have seen tis many times before, where something is perfectly fine and mankind comes in and ends it all. Take deforestation for example, plants, trees, and forests are perfect but, men still think it is better to come in and cut down all the trees to make a couple of beds and furniture. That would be changing the natural way of things and that is wrong, and in that part I do agree with the Tao.

I am not going to waste your precious time anymore but, allow me to analyze one more quote with you guys and I promise I'll go away. Yes?!? Thank you.

"He sees without looking; He works without doing" (5:47)
Interesting words, with a lot of power. Words that can be interpreted in so many different way it isn't even funny. Take a moment to think about your interpretation of these words which we will analyze in a second or two. Done? O.K. We have heard many times from our wise teachers that there is a there is a difference between seeing and looking, and that you can sometimes do one and not do the other. I believe that when you see something you are just barely taking notice it is there. On the other hand, when you look at something you are acknowledging it's existence and looking deeper into it by analyzing it and asking questions to yourself about it. The next part I don't really understand. Maybe what Lao is trying to tell us is that you can work on something but, you don't really do anything good or worthwhile, you just hit the nails with the hammer (metaphor) and don't get anything done. If you understand the second part of this quote please feel free to comment below and tell me about it. So long bloggers hope to see you soon!

Tao Te Ching 13-28...Too many quotes, not enough space

Before I start rambling on and on about Tao, I would like a chance to explain my title before hand (although I think it is self-explanatory). In the Tao you can find about ten interesting and note-worthy quotes. So, I will do my best in picking the best ones in order to explain them.

I would like to star with a quote that isn't really interesting but I think is really important to talk about. "Knowing the ancient beginning is the essence of Tao."(14:17) We can we really extract a lot from this quote. Most importantly we can sense that past and where things are from and how the were made are very important aspects of the Tao, and in some cases; the "essence." I personally think that when you want to know about something or someone you have to know about the past where they come from in order to find out where they are going. And in a sense that it was the Tao is saying.

As I've read the Tao I've always thought it was a very wise book and a book that encouraged and promoted learning. After I read the first sentence of chapter twenty I run into something a bit peculiar, "Give up learning, and put an end to your troubles"(20:1)What the hell are we supposed to think know? All our lives we've been taught that learning is good, that one makes progress with learning. I've always believed and supported most of the Tao's teachings, but this is bizarre and out of the question in my book. What this quote is suggesting is that learning and knowledge cause trouble and aren't beneficial to you, which I think is wrong. I believe learning is an important tool we should all learn to master. Sorry Tao, you suck.

I know Tao is from a completely different culture than mine, and I know it has many different Ideals as well, but I think our hemispheres also have a lot in common. Take this for example, "He who does not trust, will not be trusted"(23:19) I think we share a very common belief. We believe that someone who does not give something should not get something in return. We believe that everything you get you deserve, good or bad. And judging by what we've read the Tao shares this same belief.

Although I have found the Tao to be an amazing piece of literature and seriously consider making it my life agenda, I think it contradicts itself and can sometimes say stupid things.

I would like to end my blog by analyzing two more quotes I found in chapter 28, "Know the white, but keep the black"(28:7) and "Know honor, yet keep humility."(28:12) I think this relates to the yin-yang. It has to do with knowing your opposites and being aware of their effect on the normal balance. We have to keep a balance because as many people have told me before, "Everything in large quantities is bad."

The Tao 1-12... SuperTao

I say SuperTao simply because I think that this book has many wise teachings and I also love how easy it is to read and to write about. Don't be fooled by this lovely introduction, although it is very short and it's easy to read it can be hard to understand. The reason it can be hard to understand is because these simple innocent lines are so deep and behind each of them is so much that needs to be analyzed that you have to read them over and over in order to understand them. Take this little fella' for example:

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao."(1:1)

This one I had to analyze for a while since it was the first sentence and it introduced the whole Tao Te Ching. When I was done analyzing I concluded that it meant that the Tao that you hear or you tell the first time won't stay like that forever, meaning it will change. I guess the Tao would be like an oral narrative or like a legend which is told and told throughout centuries. The reason I think this is that when you tell a story orally and people keep retelling it things are modified and changed by the people who tell it, so it really never is the same and won't be eternal. Which is exactly what the sentence was referring to.

Honestly the depth of these sentences worry me. What if I don't understand something or don't analyze it correctly and get it wrong? This sucks I actually prefer longer, more simple texts.

In my opinion the Tao seems like a manual, something that tells you what to do and how to do it. It seems like a very good book with wise opinion and advice. I heard Heaven being mentioned a lot and I'm going to attempt to analyze a sentence were Heaven is mentioned, "Under Heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness."(2:1) This makes me look forward to Heaven much more than I did before. What I understand about this is that everything is so beautiful up there, that you can't even recognize beauty (ironic, huh?). The only reason the people on earth see beauty is because we have something to compare it to: Ugliness.

Yet another Heaven related sentence, "Heaven and earth last forever."(7:1) This specific sentence is way out of my league and is hard for me to interpret and analyze but, I think it's something about how good things last forever and how bad things although they seem powerful don't last very long. Although my interpretation of the book is lousy, I did notice something very particular in the sentence. Please notice how "Heaven" is capitalized and how "earth" isn't. An interesting observation don't you think? Would this mean that earth is not as important as Heaven? Well my friends, I'm done here. It's up to you to figure it out (comment below if you managed to figure it out).

The Analects 15, 17, and 18... Confucius (Lu) ends, Confucianism begins

I personally like this Confucian proverb because I think it is really funny and I like the wordplay used. I also chose this picture and my title because we are done with Confucius but Confucianism is introuduced after Confucius ends his teachings so it thought it would be appropriate. For Information on Confucianism click on the link, Confucianism

Lets start with Book 15: At the beginning of this book I found three very interesting sentences. The first one, "I have never been able to do something for a person who is not himself constantly asking, "What should I do? What Should I do?"(15:16) I found This interesting for two motives. First what I interpret is that you must help yourself if you want others to help you. Second I notice that Confucius isn't going to do the work for you, you must work in order to receive help.

The next sentence that came to my attention was this one, "Is there one word that can serve as a guide for one's entire life?"(15:24) I think it is self-explanatory and you really don't need to know what my interpretation is but, I would really like to know what you think about this question (please comment below).

The third sentence and probably my favorite was right next to the other two, it goes like this, "When the multitude hates a person you must examine them and judge for yourself, the same holds true for someone whom the multitude love."(15:28) I personally love this quote because it is the truest of all. Before you make judgement on a person you must first see what he/she is like and not let yourself be judged by other's perspective on that person. I actually think this presents a fallacy (appeal to popularity) where you follow the crowds or in this case, the multitude's thinking towards what they think is popular. This reminds me of Michael Jackson's commercial for Pepsi.

Pepsi commercial

Book 17: Interesting Book, I have to admit. We are introduced to a very wise but questionable quote, "Only the very wise and the very stupid do not change."(17.3) This is one of the few quotes which I don't agree with. I think that even before everyone was constantly changing people were learning new stuff therefore change was inevitable. I think it would be stupid to assume that somebody doesn't, because we all do even if we do not notice it. Although some people may discuss that situations change and people stay the same but, that's a load of crap.

We can see that the Master isn't such a serious guy and he really cares if you are comfortable and happy, "Would you feel more comfortable then eating your sweet rice and wearing your brocade gowns?" "I would." Is that nice or what?

Book 18: Not a very interesting book to say the least. We just see the same ol' dialog, really monotonous. I did however, find a very interesting quote, "To avoid public service is to be without a sense of what is right." Think about this you people who think about avoiding public service. I know it might be boring but, it is our duty to do so. And plus, you don't want to disobey Confucius. He'll get mad.

A sentence from the Tao

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." I think this line is true because when tha Tao is told to someone it maychange after someone tells it again, so If you tell the Tao in a certain way It doesn't mean that will be the "eternal" Tao, it can change as it is told. An example would be an oral narrative or like a legend which is told throughout time orally but not in writing so it changes throughout time because each time there are little moifications which end up changing the story.

Evolution... I WANT YOU to tell me what side your on! (Comment below)

I take the side of the teacher which introduces evolution to the children because he has many significant and convincing facts which corroborate his theory, therefore I think if I hadn't been taught about evolution I would be on the side of evolution. I also think that many people would rely on the government to tell them what to believe in. I think that if you doubt something or if you strongly believe in something, you shouldn't let go of that belief not even if the government wants to sue you, if you know it's the right thing, go with it and don't let anyone change your mind.

As you have seen I feel strongly about holding on to your beliefs so I would be on the side of evolution also because I think that scientifically proven data is much more valid than words written by God's and Jesus’ followers. You might have the best lawyer in the world, but you can't disprove scientific facts, even if society doesn't accept it.
The teacher certainly makes a compelling case which would lead me to believe in his evolution theory. I think that Genesis is a book that deals a lot with the creation of earth and human species.

I think that I could backup my thinking and my point of view by showing you this excerpt from Genesis: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth"(gen 1:26). I also think it is absurd that this would happen: " And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years" (gen 1:14) because how can man just say something and make it be true? Not even a catholic man like me can believe that, and not even from a perfect being, not even from god.
There’s one more thing that bugs me about the bible, it just makes everything look so simple, or it makes everything look so complicated. It’s really annoying. For example: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”(Gen 1:27) I think it’s impossible even for the most powerful creature on earth to do everything so simply. This is why I back up my man Charles Darwin when he says: “Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped, probably arboreal in its habits.”
Charles Darwin

I would also like to accompany this quote with yet another quote from this brilliant man: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Charles Darwin

The Analects 7, 8, and 11... Don't confuse me Confucius

First of all I would like to take a few seconds to laugh: HAHAHAHAHAHA. The moment is over. I don't really know if you have seen this video or even heard about Miss Panama's response, but I have to say that if there's a contest for the world's most stupid people, Miss Panama could easily take the title. Let me show you exactly what she said. Here it is (in Spanish, I will later translate it): "Buenas noches panama, Confucio fue uno de los que invento la confusion. Por eso se le ha de lo mas antiguo fue uno de los chinos-japoneses que fue lo de lo mas antiguo. gracias." Now in english: "Good night panama, Confucius was the one who invented confusion. That is why he is the oldest one of the Chinese-Japanese who was the oldest of. Thank you." Can you believe this? I will post a link so you can watch the video, but for now lets get to Confucius.

As I read the Analects I notice that Confucius is a bit full of himself. I don't understand why he has to be like that. I believe that if you are as wise and as great Confucius is, you should be humble even though it can be hard. I also notice that the Analects although the chapters might have some relationship, they are very different. Therefore, I will go through them one by one.

Chapter 7: I want to start talking about this chapter by introducing this sentence: "Set your heart upon the Way, rely upon Virtue, lean upon Goodness, and explore widely in your cultivation of the arts." (Book 7:6) I think this could actually answer all our doubts we had about Confucianism and about what Goodness really meant to Confucius. What I understand from this quote is that you must always be on the right path and not be tempted by evil, you must also be virtuous, and have knowledge as well as practice the arts.

Another thing that astonished me and made me think in chapter 7 was this: "Is Goodness really so far away? If I simply desire Goodness, I will find that it is already here." (Book 7:30) So now Goodness is redefined we are not told it is impossible to achieve anymore. We are given hope, which allows us to understand what goodness really is, it is not unreachable and therefore we should all seek it and look out for it constantly, because my friends Confucius has said it it is not impossible.

Chapter 8: key word in this chapter: ritual. This chapter talks a lot about ritual and I don't what ritual actually refers to in the Analects. In my knowledge a ritual is a "ceremonial act or a series of such acts." (courtesy of freedictionary.com) so I would guess that a ritual according to Confucius would be something sacred. He talks about ritual, "Being respectful without ritual will make you exasperating, being careful without ritual will make you timid, being courageous without ritual will make you unruly, and being upright without ritual will make you inflexible." (Book 8:2) I don't know if this changed your mind about what ritual means, but I hope it helps. What I basically took from this chapter was to control your actions and be aware of the consequences that follow.

Chapter 11: I didn't really take much from this chapter (plus, I'm really tired I've been on this post for over 3 hours) except for this quote: "Upon learning of something that needs to be done, should one immediately take care of it?" I always thought Confucius liked to act on things as quickly ass possible but I clearly was wrong. We can see A calmer simpler side of Confucius and of his ideas. "Everyone recognizes his son, whether he is talented or not." This I didn't personally think was very true, probably back then it was, but now it sure as hell isn't. Now a days you have to be the best in order to make your parents proud and sometimes love isn't enough. It's sad I know but it's the sad world we live in. There really is nothing we can do about it!




">miss panama

An

Revision: David and Goliath

I'm sure you've had some laughs with this picture. I'm also sure you know what it represents. Just in case you don't, 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 to the story.

Samuel has been by far my favorite book in the Bible. It is very easy to understand and I've heard it before.

The story of David and Goliath starts with a giant called Goliath. He comes to the city where David lives 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, strong, and powerful, it's hard to be modest (I know from experience! hahaha). 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, a brave youngster, was just a small boy with a big heart (how many times have you heard that?). I say he was brave and had a big heart because regardless of his size, and of Goliath's 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. It enables you to do extraordinary things, a feeling that takes fear away, and makes you reach for the stars.

"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) 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. 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 through 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 persecuting me. I guess I just don't understand Bible stories.

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

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

The Analects 4, 5, 6... Achieve "Goodness"

Achieve goodness, a complex idea for certain. What does it mean when you say "Achieve goodness?" That's exactly what we are trying to find out with the Analects, and with Confucius.

This book confuses me a little (as always) because it doesn't necessarily say what to do to achieve goodness, but it tells you: "To live in the neighborhood of the Good is fine. If one does not choose to dwell among those who are Good. how will one obtain wisdom?"(Book4 4.1) What I found weird about this was that it didn't tell you to be good or how to achieve goodness. It just tells you to be surrounded by good and you will be fine (remember, we don't even know what good actually means!). So, I can be Adolf Hitler and massacre and destroy the live of millions, but if I live in the same neighborhood as Mahatma Gandhi and I'll be fine? This makes no sense to me at all.

I believe that the whole purpose of the Analects is to discover what being "good" really is, to discover the meaning of the word "good" or "goodness". I think we must discover the meaning because our modern interpretation of being good nowadays might be much more different than it was before. Nowadays being good is doing your h.w, being respectful to parents, being nice to people. When before it could have meant being religious and following god's words step by step, and honoring your heritage, or something like that. So, as you see, very different meanings. Or maybe nowadays being good is having property or money: "Wealth and social eminence are things that all people desire, and yet they are acquired in the proper way I will not abide them. Poverty and disgrace are things that people hate, and yet unless they are avoided in the proper way I will not despise them." (Book4 4.5)

I think no one will ever understand and interpret Confucius correctly...I guess I'll just have to wait and finish reading the Analects, Good Bye!

Psalms 23, 42, 51, 137... Songs and Songs (And you thought artist made them up!)

Since there were 4 completely different chapters, I decided to break them up and introduce them to you one by one:

Psalms 23:

What I noticed in this chapter was that someone seemed to be devoting themselves to god by saying things like: "The LORD is my shepherd"(Psalms, 23:1) or "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."(Psalms, 23:1)

As I was reading this. I thought to myself that these words were words that would go into a punk song or something, words wit a lot of meaning and sentimental value; maybe an emo song.

Psalms 42:

In this particular chapter I could really relate with the message it was trying to get across, because as the character I wonder sometimes about God and if he is really present, this is seen clearly here: “Where is thy God? ... Why hast thou forgotten me.”(Psalms 42:3,9) And although you may wonder sometimes where God is, never doubt his presence; not even when you are passing through rough times and you may feel he is not there, because he is there and he knows what is best for you.

Psalms 51:

In this chapter we can see someone that is repenting, maybe from a bad devision that person took, maybe we are dealing with a sinner. We do in fact, see a lot of beggin and praying toward god: " Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." (Psalms 51:1)

Then we can see that the person offers different sacrifices in order to be forgiven; what do you think he did that he was so repented?, these are his offerings: Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. (Psalms 51:19)

Psalms 137:

we are introduced now to a magical place, a sacred place, a place which is: Babylon. we know it is important because they say: "How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?" (Psalms 137:4) Which means that the only place to sing the lords songs is in Babylon. This chapter reminded me of many things: First, it reminded me of the hanging gardens of Babylon.



The other thing it reminded me of was the song: By the rivers of Babylon. The reason I remembered this song was because of the first sentence in this chapter: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion." If you listen to the beginning of the song you will see that they are identical, to listen to it click on the link below.

Babylon