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| Wednesday, April 28, 2004 |
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It is said that Thomas Jefferson would tear out pages in the Bible that he did not agree with. I wonder why. I am sure that personality plays into this but I tend to be apathetic when I read something that I do not agree with. I shrug it off as something I am not going to worry about. I am confident in my salvation and I know that I am going to Heaven. God knows that I will not be able to get everything right and will continue to sin throughout my life on earth. I suppose I choose some of what I will get wrong. Of course, I could just go look for another interpretation. I have heard, "It is my impression that this passage is saying..." too many times (I have used it myself). It seems as if there is at least two interpretations for nearly every passage. I can just find one that does not make me feel uncomfortable or challenged. This reminds me of my Revelation class...
I have been in this class for a semester, nearly everything I have learned can be summed up in two sentences: Jesus is coming. Be ready. I have learned a ton of interesting facts about the first century and the early Christians, but not a whole lot that would apply to my life today. There are four main views for interpreting Revelation with a lot of smaller branches under that. The prof continues to say, I am not in any one group - do not put me in a box. I can totally understand that. I do not want to be put in a box. I am tired of people who are in one of the boxes getting mad at people in another box. How can they truly look at the others and say, "You are wrong. I have figured it out." I understand human pride but I would hope that common sense would come in there somewhere. But I am also frustrated with those of us who straddle all the boxes picking out bits and pieces that we want from each, knowing that we will only know the whole answer later. Why can there not be just straight forward answers?
I almost admire Jefferson for his ability to be decisive to actually know which parts of the Bible he disagreed with adamantly enough to actually tear them out. |
posted by Unknown @ 10:24 AM   |
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| Thursday, April 15, 2004 |
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"LeTourneau?" The voice was quiet, confident, and somewhat raspy.
"Wh-? Oh. Yes."
"Senior?"
"Yes."
"Engineer?"
"Nope."
"Business?"
"Nope."
"?" The old cowboy standing beside my table looked his question.
"Actually, my degree is Biblical Studies."
He nodded his approval while looking over the books scattered in front of me.
"I am a priest - of sorts."
"Oh? What sort?"
"Episcopalian. What church are you connected with?"
"Basically non-denominational."
"That's Episcopalian."
I just smiled. I was still not sure what to make of this man. He had a gentle smile.
"My name is Papa. Yours?" He stuck out his hand to shake mine.
"Lauren."
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Lauren."
He turned and walked back to his table. His cowboy boots making a thumping sound while his long grey trench coat and well-worn cowboy hat brought up images of western saloons with gunslingers and their woman of choice for the evening. A sheriff walking down the street, eyes squinting against the sun but not missing the smallest detail. I could imagine dust from the trail on his faded jeans and boots. While he had been talking to me, I kept glancing at his hip expecting to see a six-shooter. I followed him with my eyes wondering who he was and where he was from. He was old - but had a vitality about him that belied the wrinkles and hearing aid.
I noticed him looking my way a couple times but turned my attention back to my homework. A short time later a napkin was dropped on my table, I looked up as Papa walked off.
"If your cell ok
free - *69 & call
me 903 *** ****
I wish to ask you a ? about 5th book of Old Testament."
Papa
I had no intention of giving my cell number to a man I had met at 2am at the Waffle Shoppe. I decided that since he was sitting across the restaurant from me, he could just walk over if he really wanted me to answer a question. He did.
"What are we allowed to eat according to the 5th book of the OT?"
"Well, God told the Jews not to eat anything that was considered unclean." (Good B.S. answer...)
"Do you eat beef?"
"Definitely."
"I don't. I only eat fish, chicken, fruits, vegetables. Beef is bad for you."
"Smoking bad for you too." I gestured to the cigarette he was holding.
"tobacco is a part of my religion." He gave a quirky smile, "I'm Indian." (I wish I could remember which kind.) Then he got serious.
"It is good you study. We need people to learn. Hear that? (Ironically, he was referring to a group of AO guys that were sitting near me and talking loudly.) It is just noise. Listen, only noise. We must tolerate them or teach them. I cannot teach everyone. I am getting old. See this hearing aid? I do not hear as well as I used to. I fired too many guns without protection. Now I use protection. I fight defense, not offense. Always defense. I fight crime, fight drugs, fight terrorism. You do not have runny eyes, you are steady, that is good. It has been a pleasure to meet you, Lauren. Continue to study."
With those last words of wisdom, he turned and walked out. The last of the old west, fading into legend.
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| posted by Unknown @ 12:12 PM |
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| Thursday, April 01, 2004 |
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| How can the world go from being such a fun and exciting place, full of opportunities and life to so not that? I had the best time in Turkey (in case you did not figure that out from the last blog) and now I having the worst week possible. I guess to experience and appreciate times of true fun and love and happiness, we need the pits of despair and intense frustration for comparison. It is the pendulum swing that Dr. Woodring is always talking about. You see it all the way through history. Something happens to an extreme in one direction so the other extreme happens to balance it. Eventually it reaches neutrality again. Have you tried living life in a neutral position? I have not found it to be possible. The gentle swings - good days then not so good days - are easy to handle and normal. When the pendulum starts swinging harder though, it's so insane trying to get it back under control. So, that's my week ... please tell me yours sucks too then we can gripe together. |
| posted by Unknown @ 3:58 AM |
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