Jedi

 One of the fastest-growing religions in Britain over the last three years is the Jedi.    In the absence of a religion that the youth and young adults can identify with and feel includes them, they will reach out to anything that makes them feel close to any diety.   That is what is killing Christianity is we have not kept up on what will bring them back, instead of the fewer we have the more we alienate the very people we need to attract.  We do not need to sell out values, beliefs, or faith.  We need to find creative ways to make it relatable.

Educating the heart and mind

 A thought for you.  Thomas Aquinas theological writing is the foundational basis for many of the modern Christian religions worldwide.  Many of his statements in his writings are strongly influenced by the teachings and writings of Aristotle.   Now, I admit that mostly his influence by Aristotle came through other authors, but it is still clearly there.   During the Reformation, there was a strong pull to distance one's self from this influence of Aristotle, but in my humble opinion, this ultimately failed as we are back to those influences being present.

The thing is, the one lesson that Saint Aquinas knew and rephrased but stated is missing and is hard for mankind to embrace. 

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all"

Think about this.  We all in here have theology at some level of what and who we are.  We have all increased our own knowledge and we all enjoy learning.  But how many of us say we spend the same amount of time on embracing the meaning of educating our heart - learning to be good people, learning to embrace others and their ideas without judging them against our own ideas.   If you are like me and we are all truthful, not a lot of time is spent this way.  Just look at the last five years in this country and you can see the majority of us embrace anything other than Jesus's teaching of peace love and harmony (my shorthand version of his teachings).

Just something for you to muse on as you spend your day reading writing and interacting with the rest of humanity.    

Women in the Bible, March month of Women

 In March we are celebrating the month as the Nation month of Women.  This is a good time for us to also celebrate the women of the Bible and the lessons that we can and should learn from them.  Many important and critical parts of the birth of Christianity and our modern-day beliefs were impacted, critically at times, by the women in the story that the Bible tells us.

The Bible introduces us to many women. These were women of strength and women of weakness., The women that are included in the Bible are included so we can learn many valuable lessons from their lives.    Many of the women provide fine examples we can imitate, others, well they provide us good warnings.  This is not an all-inclusive list as there are others I am sure I missed.  These are however the most important ones from the Bible.

Let us look at the list, then touch on each one briefly individually.  I tried to include all I know of and found about them.  I kept them in alphabetical order and as brief as possible.

Abigail                  Found in 1 Samuel

Bethsheba          Found in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings

Deborah               Found in Judges

Delilah                  Found in Judges

Elizabeth              Found in Luke

Esther                   The Book of Esther tells her story.  Interesting fact, the Jewish, the Catholic and the Protestant Bibles all have different lengths to this Book of the Old Testament. 

Eve                         Found in Genesis, John and 1 Timothy

Hannah                Found in 1 Samuel

Jael                        Found in Judges

Jezebel                 Found in 1 Kings

Jochebed            Moses of Mother  Found in Exodus, Hebrews, and Numbers,

Leah                      Found in Genesis, and Ruth

Martha                 Found in Luke, and John

Mary (Mother of Jesus)   Found in Luke, and  Matthew

Mary (Sister of Martha and Lazarus)        Found in Luke and Matthew

Mary Magdalene             Found in Luke and John

Miriam                  Found in Exodus, Numbers, and Micah

Rachel                   Found in Genesis

Rahab                   Found in  Joshua, Hebrews, James, and Matthew

Rebekah              Found in Genesis

Ruth                      Found in her own Book of Ruth also found in Matthew

Sarah                     Found Genesis, Hebrews, and 1 Peter

Shulammite girl                 Found Song of Solomon

Wife of Lot          Found in Genesis and Luke

The following is my summary of the list above and the lessons I feel we can learn from these important women.   I am sure there are many other lessons we can learn that just what is listed.    Take the time to think about their impact and their importance. 

ABIGAIL:              What can we learn from her?   We know from our readings that she was wealthy and was considered beautiful.  We know she had a balanced view of herself.   We also know she was married to a harsh man named Nabal. Nabal had a run-in with not yet King David.   To keep peace and prevent her husband's death she was willing to apologize for something that waS NOT HER FAULT.  She handles a tense, and dangerous situation calmly and did so with tact, courage, and resourcefulness.   Humility, tact, calmness, and resourcefulness are the lessons here.

Bathsheba          Mother of Solomon.  A warning example of adultery that ended in a good result as we got King Solomon from this adulterous affair.  This is a case of a King selected by God not following God’s commands and the price we pay when we do not.  The first child from this affair died.  Once David was confronted and he admitted his sins and asked for God’s forgiveness Bethsheba was then blessed with the Son, Solomon.

Deborah:             The lessons from is self-sacrificing and courage.  She encouraged others to always do what is right in God’s eyes.   She was considered a prophetess by her people.  She is shown to have been used by God to settle problems among her people.  Some consider her the Mother of Israel.

Delilah:                 Our first woman that is a warning of those that would act against God.  She was the woman that fell in love with the Judge Sampson.  She chose to set aside her love for one of God’s money.  Her greed, deceit, disloyalty, and selfish ways would have brought down Israel except for God’s favor to Sampson.  The lesson learned from her is that we all need to check our temptation and find ways to overcome them are we will end up as she did.

Elizabeth              Mother of John the Baptist.  This is one of the barren women that God cured the barrenness and gave them a child so that child could be used for God’s need.   This is a lesson in the power of prayer and willingness to do God’s bidding.

Esther:                  This was a very brave courageous tactful, intelligent, and respectful woman.  The book of Esther tells us of her life story and how she stood up to a corrupt adviser to a King that she was queen also.  She put her own life on the line by violating the rule of the King to tell him of a plot to kill all Jews, her people, in the kingdom of her husband the King.   Her courage to sacrifice her own life to save all of those of her people is a lesson later taught and proven by Jesus when he gave himself for all our sins.

Eve:                       The first woman, the example of being good and being bad.  While some tend to blame her for corrupting Adam and for bringing the original sin on us, and that is true teaching in the Bible.  She also was good as she was created for man and given innocence.  She is what I was once told like a good person that became a bad example because of others.   She listened to the wrong counsel and dwelled in the wrong desires.  She acted against a clear command of God.  We learn from her coveting that which is not our is the wrong desire to harbor.

Hannah:               A prophet of Israel.  Wife of Elkanah, mother of Samuel.  We learn the lesson of humbling ourselves in the eyes of God in prayer.  We learn the importance of keeping promises to God that we make.   We learn that we can endure all the trials we face through prayer and faith in God.

Jael:                       This one always amuses me.  A woman who is in all intents and purpose is an assassin, is also revered for the only time she assassinated anyone, Sisera, Chief of the Canaanite army.  She was not an Israelite, but she took a stand for the God of the Israelites in her action.   Her action of courage and her initiative to take advantage of a situation teaches us to always be aware of ways that we can serve God. 

Jezebel:               We have another bad example or warning example of a woman that worked against God.   She was the wife of the Israelite King Ahab.  Yet she chose not to worship God, instead, she worshiped the Canaanite god Baal.  She resorted to lies, murder to satisfy her selfish whims.   She was morally corrupt, unscrupulous, shameless, and unrestrained in her actions.  As I was once told in seminary – she is just an all-around bad person.

Jochebed:       Mother of Moses, wife of Aaron.  We learn from her that if you surrender to the will of God, you will see he has a plan and you will be rewarded.  When she put Moses in the reed basket to save him, she was rewarded by God by becoming his wet nurse. This led us to have the first of Israel prophets and lawgivers.  Without her act of bravery and obedience, there would be no Ten Commandments.

Leah:                     She was the first wife of Jacob.  The story of Leah is the one story in the Bible that realistically portrays the failings of the tradition of polygamy.   She was only married by her husband to get her out of the way so he could marry Rachel.   We learn from her perseverance and rely on Pray and the power of God in our prayers.   We also learn that because of this story, God, in Matthew, notes that God's standard of marriage is one spouse and not multiple.

Martha:                She was the sister of Lazarus and Mary.  Martha was willing to accept counsel and was hard-working and hospitable.  What we can learn from her is the power of absolute belief in Jesus and his ability to bring her brother back from the dead.  She firmly believes in the promise of resurrection.  She openly spoke of her feeling and her faith.  This was a time when doing this was dangerous.

 

Mary                     Mother of Jesus:  Humility, acceptance, and deep faith in God’s will.   Those are what make up this woman.  She willingly accepted the gift of God to carry his son and accepted that tremendous responsibility.   She was very knowledgeable in scriptures at a time this was uncommon. 

Mary:                    Sister of Martha and Lazarus:  She had a close relationship with Jesus.  She chose to lesson to Jesus over her household chores.  She was noted in the Bible for extending exceptional hospitality to Jesus on his visits, to included expensive perfume oil.   We learn from her about cultivating a deep faith.  To put God ahead of daily tasks first.  By this I mean, take the time to do daily worship before you do anything else is the example we learn from her.  She humbly honored and worship Jesus, as we all should.

Mary Magdalene             A loyal disciple of Jesus.  She was one of several women that travel with Jesus and his disciple, the 12 disciples.  She was generous in using her own funds to help care for their needs.  She followed Jesus to the end including his execution. She was one of the first to see Jesus upon his resurrection.    We learn generosity and devotion from her.

Miriam:                The sister of Moses.  She is the first woman in the Bible to be called a prophetess.  She played an important role in the Mosaic story and was an important counsel to Moses. She was punished for her role in speaking critically of the actions God told Moses to do.   Later after she suffered for seven days and then healed she is mentioned by God in his divine-inspired writings as one that came before the Israelites to pave the way for them.

Rachel:                 Second wife of Jacob, and sister of Leah.  She provides us the lesson of never losing hope that God hears our prayers.  That if we ask God will help us endure.  She is the other half of the lesson of the strain and issue of polygamy. 

Rahab:                  She was the prostitute that help Josuha at the City of Jericho.  She begged the Israel Army to spare her and her family.  They agreed if she followed certain conditions.  She followed them and was spared.  She later married an Israelite and this led to her being an ancestor to King David and thus also Jesus.  This story shows God’s forgiveness and impartiality on his blessings.   He blessed her for her trust in him and those he sent, this was regardless of her background and the fact she was not an Israelite.

Rebekah:             Wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau.  Through her generosity to Abrahams's servant, she was selected by God’s prophet to marry his son Isaac.   I struggle with all the lessons that can be learned from her.  There are many.  The easiest way to put it is that she learned to follow God’s will and was revealed to her.  By doing this she was blessed as were her children.    We should do the same, follow the path and will of God when it is revealed to us.

Ruth:                     Another woman with her own book in the Bible.  Her story is one of loyalty and devotion.  Not only was she those things to her mother-in-law, but also her mother-in-law’s God.   Through her hard work, and devotion she earned a good name and caught the attention of Boaz.  She married him and this made her later be considered an ancestor to King David and Jesus.

Sarah:                   Abrahams's wife and Isaac’s mother.  We learn that we can always trust God to fulfill his promises.  She provides us an example of the importance of respecting one's marriage.  She stood by her husband and helped him follow God’s direction and thus help form a nation dedicated to God. 

Shulammitre Girl:             One of the principal Characters in the Psalm Song of Solomon.   She is known for remaining loyal to the shepherd boy she was in love with.   We learn to be humble, modest, loy, and morally chaste.  She maintained her loyalty even when King Solomon tried to win her away from the one she loves. 

Wife of Lot:         This is a simple easy lesson we learn from her.   We learn the dangers of loving material things to the point of disobeying God’s instructions.  She put her love of all the things she was losing ahead of a simple command to not look back.  How many times have we all know to move forward in our life we need not look back, but can not help ourselves. 

A funny to pass the time

So a Cop friend was telling me this story.  Then I saw a shortened version online.  It made me laugh.  

A cop was interviewing a burglary they had arrested after they had gotten a panicked call from the burglary asking for assistance and an ambulance.

Cop:  So how did you end up in this mess.

Burglary:  I was breaking into the house you rescued me at.  I jimmied open the back door, slowly made my way through the kitchen making sure to sit out everything I was going to load up as I left.  I headed into the room I guessed was the living room.  I was figuring computers, TV stuff like that.   As I got in the room I heard:  "I can see you and so can Jesus."  I froze in place.

Cop:  Okay, so someone was in the room.  Did you see them?

Burglary:  Just bear with me, I am getting to that.  After a couple of minutes, I moved again and I heard the same thing again/  "I can see you and so can Jesus" /  Okay now I was getting very worried, I was not seeing anyone or anything in the room.  It was really dark in there so even the shadows were not very easy to make out differences.   Now understand I am a damn good burglary.  I have been doing this for years and have never even got a snift from you guys.   So I start backing up towards the doorway I had come through and the wall.

Cop:  So you did not see anyone or could not make out anyone in the darkness, correct?

Burglary:  Correct

Cop:  Yet someone was talking to you.

Burglary:  Not just someone, I am sure at this point it is a lady.  The voice was soft, kinds of sensual, and very kind sounding.    I was almost feeling guilty that I might have to harm her to get away.

Cop:  So you are sure at this point in the crimes ...

Burglary:  Alleged crime as nothing happened.

Cop:  ... that there is a female in the room with you?  No other sounds or noises?

Burglary:  No just the voice and stillness.  Anyway,  as I back up, the voice came again, even softer almost a whisper.  I can see you and so can Jesus"   Now I am not a very religious person but I am beginning to get a little worried in the darkness.   I even found myself crossing myself and I ain't even catholic.   I start feeling for the wall for a light switch figuring I am already caught so I want to see who the person is telling me the same thing over and over.

Cop:  So let me make sure I got this right/  You made it a couple of steps into a blacked-out room you think is the living room.  You hear a female voice that keeps saying the same thing.  You back up looking for the wall and a light switch figuring you are found out anyway.   Did the female voice ever sound threatening or aggressive or always soft and sensual as you stated.

Burglary:  Nope always soft and sensual.   I did find the light switch, I flipped it on and was staring face to face with an all-white cockatoo.   His crown thing fully opened and on display.  It looked right at me and Said in the same voice "I can see you and so can Jesus"   As God is my witness right now I am telling you I was relieved and started laughing.  I started walking towards the bird.  You know those birds are worth 2 or 3 thousand bucks.   

Well, that's when it got ugly.  

Cop:  How so?

Burglary:  The frikkin bird goes help me Jesus and echo help me Jesus and echo.   That's when I heard noises I did not want to hear - claws on the wood floor.  I turned around to see the two Rotties you help get me saved from.   Apparently, the dog's names are Jesus and Echo and they had been laying silently in the corner of the room.   Worse yet the frikkin bird kept cheering them on "Cath the bad guy catch the bad guy.   Now here is what I do not get.  Soon as it started talking about getting me the voice changed and sounded like a bird should.  Not when it was saying I can see you so can Jesus.  That was so weird.  

Cop:  (Laughing according to himself)  So the bird was saying it all along.  We spoke with the owner and she was out for the night.  She confirmed that the dogs are trained as silent guard dogs.   The bird all she did was chuckled.  

Once you are healed enough to be released you will be charged with destruction of property for the damage to the door and lock and since nothing was taken it will most like be attempted petty burglary.  That will be up to the DA, but you might get lucky, who knows.  The embarrassment of this being shared and reshared and I am sure ending up on social media may be enough punishment.

There is a moral here if you read it a couple of times and it is bordering on a parable.    I hope you enjoyed it.  I wish I could give the names and location but until the Police department comes out about it or someone else releases that I won't. 

What's the goal here?

 This goal of forever and ever marriage has caused so much and many problems internal to religious organizations.   It seems to me this going back to cherry-picking the laws in the bible you want to follow and ignore the rest.   Do we follow and enforce the marriage mandate but ignore the stoning for planting dissimilar crops next to each other.  They are both in the Bible as Laws.  So do we liberally apply interpretation to the stoning but enforce the Marriage mandate. It strikes me that you must apply the same interpretation of all that is delineated in the Bible that same and not picked to interpret and apply to your life one way those things you like and understand while ignoring the rest.  

The first marriage I thought was forever, it lasted 18 months as I realized I did not love her but loved her money.  I left the marriage in guilt and shame.  My second marriage was forever and ever until I realized we had nothing other than I married her for her sex drive and her model looks.  Yep, I was gone after three years of horrible guilt and realized I was shallow as all could be.   

Then when I was not looking and not expecting it I did find the forever and ever love and partner.  After 35 years I am more in love with her than on the day we married.  It has not been easy and has taken work, but it has been worth every minute I get to spend with her.

So I think the goal is not strictly to stay with a person once married but to take the time to find the one you can stay with for life.   The goal then is the journey of faith to the life mate that will journey with you in faith.   Just an old guy's humble opinion.