The Beginning: Luke vs. Mark Part 1

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In the Gospel according to Luke we find so much more details in reference to Jesus’ childhood. The timeline and the initiation of the story is set on the beginning of Jesus. When Mary is told that she would carry in her wound a “holy” and spiritual child. Elizabeth came forward to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of the Lord. Mary then goes to Nazareth where she gives birth to the saving baby Jesus.

As soon as Jesus was born the parents held him and said:
“For mine eyes have seen thy salvation” (2:31)

Even though the axiom is not crucial at the exact moment it is being said, I find it ironic that Jesus resuscitates from the dead, and this is being said at his birth. It is like the father, for an instance could see the future of his child and know that he would die and then live again. A small psychic moment.

What strikes me as odd is the amount of details used in this few chapters in comparison to Mark’s Gospel.  During Mark’s Gospel the beginning is nearly the half of this gospel. Almost as if Luke could see more, or was more involved in Jesus’ life. Perhaps Mark was not invited to the actual birth. 

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He's Riding Solo

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As the teaching and expansion continues, we can see the change in the direction of the teachings. Instead of heavily imposing miracles and curing everyone, the information is directed towards preaching. The main preaching is directed toward the relationship one must have with his wife and her husband. The commitment one owes the individual, and the law of community itself.

The following axiom really shows the belief in God’s superiority and perfection. How God is grand and men are nothing in comparison to its magnitude. And then Jesus said:
“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:26).

What I can understand from the axiom is that men are flawed, imperfect. Therefore it makes some aspects or things in life impossible. Nevertheless, God in his almighty perfection is flawless and no matter what, everything is reachable for him. There is nothing impossible.

As Jesus continues to preach he reaches the state where he mentioned that one should love your neighbor as much as yourself. Such commandment is set as the highest in the Gospel and the one that is said the firmest.

Soon Jesus foresees that one of his disciples will betray him. Therefore at dinner he makes a symbolic “action”, in which he asks everyone to drink whine and eat as symbolism of his blood and his flesh. He then goes to pray and ask mercy upon his death, and make him avoid suffering.  Then his foreshadow becomes true and he is arrested and taken in front of the king who agrees to crucify him.

Jesus then revives next to Virgin Mary. The End

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Jesus Jesus Jesus

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The story of Jesus reaches the King of Galilee. Jesus breaks up his apostles for them to spread the teachings of the Gospel. When they reunite they bring more news about people thrilled to find more and commit to Jesus’ teachings. Miracles and strange occurrences keep happening which leave the disciples astonished. When a loaf of bread is divided to feed a vast amount of people, or even when he walks in water.   

Jesus is again questioned and segregated by some for defying the traditional Jewish laws. Nevertheless he says that the men’s intention rather than the action define and measure their righteousness.

More and more goodness unravels upon Jesus’ path. Nevertheless, the disciples can’t quite understand the purpose of their saviors’ teachings. 

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Jesus The Fisherman

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Basically the story begins, not at the beginning precisely but rather towards the middle of Jesus. Jesus is baptized and sent in some sort of a quest. Satan tests him for forty days, he passes the test. John, who baptized Jesus, makes the guess that someone more powerful than him will emerge (predicament followed by Jesus’ appearance).

Jesus, then travels to a city to the north of Israel and gathers two disciples. Simon and Andrew, two brothers who are fishermen are “hired” as disciples. Soon they are sent in a task to follow Jesus, who promised them that he will show them how to fish for people rather than for fish. Gathering each time more disciples due to the heroic and miracle works of the savior.

Haters who don’t agree with the uprising power of Jesus start plotting to murder him. Nevertheless, his ministry starts to attract followers who believe in him as a superior being. Even though many keep adding up to his believes and ministry many also start to fight due to the misunderstanding of his disciples. 

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Beautiful Lies

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In the final set of segments of this book of knowledge and repetition we can sum it all up to what the complete book is about. The search for the state of perfection and peace is the basic idea of the complete ranting of the book. What did result surprising is the input on government that was given by the Tao teachings. Not only the idea of self “finding”, but also the guidelines to rule the perfect universe according to the Tao.

Basically what it said is that a government that is involved (action) must not be over the people (inaction). If they are over the citizens they give them the space and the purpose to rebel, make them poor, and make the idea of a peaceful living a fantasy.  The wise leader and citizen must reach the Primal Union, which consists of being sage and full of knowledge but to mask your brightness.

Quotations like these show the demand of uninvolved governments,
“When the country is ruled with a light hand
The people are simple.” (Passage 58)

Personally I don’t understand the idea of hiding good. If you are a role model, you must not brag but you must be exposed to set an example. An individual with all the right qualities must be shown, not by their own hand but by the idea and admiral of others.

As for the fact that one must give up to the “greater good” might be a good idea but what if the greater good goes against what you think, as is not good to you at all. Yes it is good sometimes to give into something but not if you are completely against what is being done. Submitting to something you are against without a fight is being plainly weak.

Finally the point of knowledge and ignorance is retaken/reintroduced.
“Knowing ignorance is strength.
Ignoring knowledge is sickness.” (Passage 71)

One must identify ignorance and be aware of knowledge, then it is plainly twisted the idea that one must live not knowing. Ignorance could be good sometimes but it is not actually ignorance if you know what you are doing. Denying a truth can be considered ignorance, but if you know, and you are submitting to the grater good of not pointing it out. It is not.  

The last segment shows truth and can be considered a conclusion:
“Truthful words are not beautiful.
Beautiful words are not truthful.” (Passage 81)

After all truth is ugly and lies are beautiful, most of the time. Truth is the reality you are blinding yourself to and the sound of lies makes it fit the way you want to. After all truth is the complete opposite, truth is knowing what you don’t want to know. Drowning yourself with those beautiful lies. 

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In A Perfect World

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Trip Away (:
Now that we are near the end of the Tao teachings we can see in greater depth the incredible connection to the Bhagavad Gita in which you are acting by performing no action. And no action could be greater than action itself.  Not only the connection is evident and repetitive but there is a mention to change in the world.

Basically what is being stated is that by trying to change the world you will destroy it. It is the perfect imbalance and negative to positive ratio that makes it perfect. Perfection due to contrast, the Ying and the Yang. Not only does it refer to the change in the world but it sets the ideal panorama to the life that we should all live. In Earth one must learn to loose, because by loosing one wins. You can’t have one without the other, and precisely that is what the Tao wants the reader to understand.

Salvation and the state of complete peace are only reached by understanding the main and core principles of the Tao teachings.

Wisdom and the value and quality of knowing are mentioned:
“Knowing when to stop averts trouble.” (Passage 32)

Continuing with the idea that one must stand where you are meant to be, it is a mix of all the teachings. Be comfortable with what you have and don’t seek for more. Appreciate what you have but don’t love it, for then loss is greater. Stand firm to where you belong, you have a role and a duty to your space and it is expected for you to fill. 

A passage I found personally appealing is the following,
“Without going outside, you may know the whole world….
The farther you go the less you know.” (Passage 47)

What is interpreted of this set of verses is that you can know the world from where you stand, there is no need to traveling far. The more you travel the more is left to discover, never fulfilling the “goal” of knowing the world. Stay where you are and it will come. Inaction makes action. 

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Think Simple. Be Simple

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Now that we are “deep” into the book of Tao Te Ching, we find that it is not as similar as the other biblical and moral texts we have been reading.  Basically what the text says is that by not doing you will be rewarded. The lack of action (as referred to in Bhagavad Gita) can lead to the reward. Basically by avoiding to do something, you receive a benefit. The idea of shining among a society is thrown into the text. And as stated before, by not displaying yourself you will receive bigger shine.

In the series of “chapters”, or poems we had assigned, there were several current dilemmas discussed. The common QUESTion was referred to as well. Why do good people suffer? Or why is life unjust?

The Tao Te Ching deals with this dilemma,
 “Accept misfortune as a human condition.” (THREE)

Basically what the quotation is referring to is that we all have bodies, and as result of this gift we must have consequences. It is not a random act. It is a natural experience that everyone and everything with a body must undergo. Misfortune happens to everybody, and the timing might not be perfect. As bodies, a misfortune is like happiness, a mandatory stage in life.

Simplicity and the importance of it is referred as well. One must embrace simplicity and stop searching for things that with patience will come. One will reach Self with patience, and be virtuous with Virtue as well. It is curious how we see that Self is capitalized. As we have seen in all texts, when a word like this is capitalized it means that it refers to something of importance.

Shifting topics, the Tao is referred to as eternal. Probably suggesting the existence of an after life. It says that when the body dies, the Tao remains. As if the body was a disposable stage and that the state of Tao would mean the point where you actually start living. The discussion of an after life has been in debate for a long time, not only from behalf of the different churches but as well from the scientific part of society. The heated debate only leaves room for personal faith and beliefs. After all there is no proof that proves the existence of an after life, but the again there is no proof that it doesn’t exist. 

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Jane Doe, I Don't Think I Know You

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Now we embark in a brand new journey. Woo! The Tao Te Ching. The idea of a new different theory of believes and teachings do sound a bit scary but after being introduced it isn’t so bad. Its short, its simple and is not SOO repetitive. Therefore I am happy. In the beginning I did feel like I was stuck in Harry Potter. He who can’t be named, oh scary. Nevertheless I disagree with the idea of not being able to name such who has done greatness and perfect, makes no sense at all. I would like to honor you and praise you for all that you have done with my life, but I can’t say your name. Then how am I supposed to thank you. Everything and everyone has a name, give me yours.  It is really not a big deal. Gosh. For now I shall call it/him John Doe.

As I red on, I found several passages that described the Primal Virtue, so early into the book we are introduced to the Heavenly destination one must arrive. It is more of a state that would make you unique and worthy upon John Doe. Such virtue describes the point where you are sinless, as if you where just born and you had not done anything wrong. The way I see it, it can be considered a state of peace, not only with yourself but with everyone around you.

I did find an intriguing axiom form the reading,
 “No fight: No blame.” (Chapter 8)

What I could understand from this short axiom is that if you don’t fight, if you are a peace you will not have anyone, anything to blame. And there will be type of need to blame other for anything. If there is not a fight, then you should not be blamed, nor blame someone else for something that “doesn’t happen”. It tells us not to fight, for as no one will remain with the guilt.

To conclude, I am happy with my reading, and very tired of homework. Goodnight and farewell.


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An Uncomplicated Confusion

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In this segment of Confucius I finally understand the entrance of a character I didn’t understand before. Zulu, being one of Confucius disciples is introduced as such in a conversation with a “stranger”. Not only do we find out who Zulu is but we see that Confucius is also known as Confucius of Lu. The appearance of Zulu makes me wonder if the book is like the Bhagavad Gita which is based in the teaching through a long conversation. Perhaps the writing form is not the same at all but the idea is surely similar. Confucius passing his essentials through his worthy disciple in order for him to excel and tell the world sounds very similar to Bhagavad Gita.
As expected, the book of Confucius deals with one of the most important dilemmas in moral history. Who to judge?:
“When the multitude hates a person you must examine them and judge for yourself. The same holds true for someone whom the multitude love.” (Confucius Essentials. 15.28)
Basically what the citation states is that one must not go with what the multitude believes. You must judge a person by yourself, and not judge what the multitude thinks of that person. You must pick by yourself if you hate or love, don’t follow the crowd. As well one must not judge only those who are hated, one must also carefully examine those who as loved. Measure the value of their hearts and what makes them fall unto that stereotype.

Up to now what surprises me the most about the book is the form it is written in. The teachings are not very analytical and the author does not go into depth of what is being said. The depth and importance is left up to us. Just like the bible, thanks to it one is welcome to interpretation. But the broadness is so big that differences and conflicts tend to emerge. The space for interpretation makes the book long.

Books like these are made to read, ponder, and in this case write about it.
Sounds like a tacky love song. 

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find Out What It Means To Me

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Reading the teachings in the book of Confucius we learn that there is an overall appreciation and admiration towards the elders and overall the older people. That not only must such be respected but they should be handled in a specific manner stated by the Master himself. I do disagree with the idea that you must respect ALL elders. I believe in the idea of mutual respect, and the idea of not being a complete hypocrite. If an elder treats you with respect and does not mock your innocence then he deserves to be treated correctly.

The book of Confucius states that by being nice and having a proper way of talking, one is not good. You earn the Goodness. Respect is the same, it must be earned.  If you just give it away there is no point trying.

Continuing along with the Master’s teachings I found a citation of great value:
“Do not be concerned that no one has heard of you, but rather strive to become a person worthy of being known.”(Confucius. 4.14)

My understanding of this cite is that you must not strive for the fame. But you must reach Goodness to a point where your memory is admired and remembered. Basically that ones memory and admiration must not be target but rather a price by not aiming for it.

Become that who is remembered but do not try to be a famous individual.

As for admiration and respect, I do think that one must treat all people nicely but I don’t thing that automatically earns your respect. Shouldn’t you do Good and expect nothing in return. Elders expect Respect and admiration. This makes no sense at all.

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Blah Blah Blah

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The Psalms. There is really not much to say about them. It is basically a summary of what has been taught in the past month of so of reading. Lay beside The Lord, for as he will grant you safety and strength to face the fear of evils. Don’t be afraid for as he is the eternal salvation of us all. Yeah, Yeah. Right now I am tired of the repetition of this idea. Seriously, can I be any more fed up?

Not the idea of the religion itself but the ranting of absolutely everything that is being said. Spice it up. Throw some nice characters and vivid description. Make me enjoy it. Yet again we see the doubt in God.
And the enemy spoke,
 “Where is thy God?” (Psalm 42. 42:10).

A question people have asked themselves for centauries. Where is my God, when I need him? Where is this heeling power and absolute divinity when my life is falling apart? This tactic could even be used to create confusion among an enemy. Where is HE when you are about to die? Personally I think it is an effective technique to make someone dispose of everything that was taught to him.
 
Once we ere and admit the sins to the All Mighty we pray to be cleaned. In a way, we search for a now soul. This one is through, give me a new one. Take for instance Psalm 51 where the individual asks over and over to be clean and pure again. Isn’t that what all people want, a fresh start?

I know I want one, free me from this replay before I go absolutely insane. 

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A Fall Into Evil

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David who used to be so graceful and honest now results to be malicious and somewhat negative toward the general story and the idea of the gratefulness of men. Make reference to the previous blog entry in which we talked about how men ere, and previous errors lead to other circumstances.  After seeing how an innocent man is slaughtered, David probably realized that giving in to “bad” is much easier than living by goodness.

Falling into luxury he has sex with a married woman, who he leaves pregnant. Then again, wronging instead of following the correct path given by the Lord. Once he wronged, he then again sinned. Sending his mistress’ husband off to battle to die. Nevertheless his acts are not unpunished. The Lord, sends disgrace upon him. Making David loose his child with his lover.

After a few years Amnom rapes his half sister and David remains quiet. He is mad, but does not scorn this act upon his oldest child. Going back to Bhagavad Gita we can see the lack of action being a sin. Maybe he did not get involved, but by having inaction he chose to “act” in the wrong way. Sinning once more.

Basically we can see the drastic change in ideals in this particular individual. He went from being an admired individual to a hated and despised one. The holy David is now an example for a man who went wrong and doubted the Lord. Simply, gave up. 

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Yet Another Lesson

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The idea how jealousy and goodness can be triggers to pursuits and murder attempts is very disturbing. The idea that Saul’s jealousy leads to his own death is a bit like the idea of Karma. “What goes around, comes around”, apparently all the evil that was desired for David, ended up attacking the source itself. The death of his child, and then his own death. Nice way to teach a lesson.

David o the other hand has a sense of morality superior to Saul. When given the chance to kill and bring misery upon that who wished pain for him, he refused. When given the chance to be as bad and evil as Saul, he refused. Not necessarily does the word “morals” have to be engraved in the story. It is rather implicit within the text, and all humans can see the difference among both.

If we go back to Adam and Eve, when they eat from the forbidden tree of knowledge we can see that such illegal act could turn out to be for the best.  I wonder what would have happened to the story of Saul and David if Adam and Eve wouldn’t disobey?

My guess is that it wouldn’t even exist. Nevertheless if it wasn’t Adam and Eve, it would be someone else. Human curiosity is somewhat natural, and it might not be a sin. But it does lead to sin or to great success, and without it the idea of excelling or failing wouldn’t be present.  After all, any other biblical character would disobey to see what it is like, leading to stories like Saul and David.

Maybe not the best excuse for disobeying the Lord but it is the “initiation” for a series of defiance after defiance. The story of Saul and David is just another justification for a rather large theory. They all leave a question, maybe the stories even try to answer it. When does harm become a sin? And is harm ever right?

Think about this. I am hoping for answers soon. 

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The End, Another Fairy Tale Ending

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Basically the Book of Job ends as expected. Job, fulfils his task, he does not betray God, and in return greatness and reward come to him. THE END
Mi last comment is that finally we find a covenant where both sides can be proven worthy and grand. Both justified their actions in the way they responded to the other’s actions. For example, Job stayed true to his belief in God, and God repaid all the torture with great blessing and honor.
And the narrator ends the story like this, “So Job died, being old and full of days” ( The Book of Job 42:17) 

Let your life be full of days as well. Auf Wiedersehen*
*Goodbye in German

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Love Hurts

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We left off where Job curses the day of his birth, saying that he was born in dark rather tan light. And the relatively long discussion with his friends about the issue of his unfair punishments. So far, Job has not fallen for Satan’s bet and has not cursed the all mighty God. Even worse than he already is his friends turn hypocritical and start saying that he deserves these punishments. That God does no punish innocent individuals, and he had all of this coming, some even say that he deserves worse punishment.

Hypocrisy is one of the recurrent themes in these set of chapters. Not only from behalf of his friends but as well for behalf of God (in the initial bet). Friends are supposed to be supportive and Job’s friends where the contrary. Telling your friend he deserves suffering? Really? If you ask me, those are some lousy friends.
Nevertheless, not all are bad weeds. There is this particular friend, Elihu, who does give a kind approach to the situation. He says that God’s torture is a way of showing his appreciation, and making sure of this “unbreakable” vow man has made to him.
And Elihu said:
”How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands”( The Book Of Job 34:19)
In this text citation, you can see how Elihu states that God does not have any preference for rich, poor, princesses or slaves. That they should all be judged the same, they are equal, and all must be tested the same way. He was spared, and he was even lucky to be chosen by God for this test. He must thank he was chosen, and as I suspect that he passed.

It is strange how Job can be thankful for suffering. It means someone has been paying attention. 




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The DONTS

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My assignment was to write a reflective blog entry but actually there is only one specific thing on my mind right now. The 10 commandments, those 10 phrases that could define a religion, a life style, maybe even justify an uncalled for action. In my complete lack of imagination I offer to you my opinion of some of the 10 commandments.

Ladies and gentlemen, the 10 commandments:

ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' Ok this one I can stand, but isn't tolerance and acceptance of differences an important part of life. The idea after the creation of the world, make it all together as one. With guidelines and prohibitions as inflexible and strict at these the riots due to difference could increase, and probably have.

TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'


THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.' This one is completely logical. But going back to the stupid belief of writing God as G-d, it refers to different times, and to me it is more of a blasphemy to write it with the line as to write it normal. It is a proper name, an important proper name and to write it wrong would be a complete insult. If I am aggravated by the misspelling of my simple name, God is to be spelled correctly at all times. Don't get God pissed.

FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' Keep the Sabbath, I can live with this one. I actually keep it most Fridays. Obviously I don't exaggerate the idea of going to the synagogue at all times, and not touching any electricity nor money, or staying at my house completely bored. It is nice to keep traditions.

FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.' It is already a moral code to treat everyone nicely. We all love our parents.

SIX: 'You shall not murder.' One word: Duh. I have always wondered, is suicide murder?

SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.' Ew.

EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.' We all steal at one point of our lives, even though it is not right we all do it. It is a fault/mistake for some of us. For others it is a sport, a way of life. Anyways it is always wrong.

NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.' To want something is bad in some religions, to desire and feel greed and envy is seen as a sin as bad as murder. The less you desire, the happier you are. But my way of seeing it is that without any desire of some sort, and that envy we feel, most of all wouldn't go for something we think we want. Holding back takes nothing, but it is the malicious and "illegal" side of a desire that gives you the push to go for it. That selfish desire to have it for yourself, "you deserve this".Finito (:

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Test

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Test after test we have all seen the story of the Bible transform more into some sort of an obstacle race for humans. We can say it started out relatively easy, just a simple prohibition (Do not eat for the tree), then came the complex ideas as to manage an arch and collect millions of animals to mate. Maybe one can recall when a task of freeing the Jewish community was set. Chapter after chapter, story after story we see how each time God shows more of distrust or maybe even more trust to humans. Give them what they can bare, or maybe show them how powerful He can strike. Sometimes one might even believe he gives them trust. In this particular story we encounter Job, a common man that does nothing but worship God with all his strength.

One day God meets up with Satan, the unholy spirit of the universe, living Hell. It starts with a heavy dare, but OH, He cant deny a good dare from his "enemy". Satan challenges God to prove to him that Job is an authentic believer. That he loves God unconditionally and nothing can ever change that. God agrees. Satan says that this is so because Job is so used to being blessed that by not knowing disgrace, he will continue believing in God.

 This being so God challenges Job, he kills his 10 children, his cattle and some of his most precious "objects" and Job still believes. Then again Satan challenges God to keep bringing misfortune upon Job. Once again God accepts and challenges Job, nevertheless Job still believes. He and his wife discuss the idea of cursing God, getting the suffering and pain over with. She said dying is greater than living in such misery.

To such idea Job answers:
"Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." (The book of Job 2:10)

Job did not listen to his wife, he met up with his friends and then cursed the day he was born. He spoke out his fears and all he had held back, he wish he was born in the light side of life and not in the dark and cold side of sorrow.

We can say we all have a breaking point, or maybe that God loves to play games with all us. But as this teaching suggests if we have faith, the reward of getting through could be the greatest one could have.

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Free Me From The Replay

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In this reading of Exodus, the story of Pesaj is being narrated. I, being an unorthodox Jew, celebrate this suffering every year, and nevertheless I am not in much agreement with the celebration itself. The way I see it, we are celebrating the getaway from the malicious Pharaoh, and almost everyone I hear says, “oh we suffered through the days of drought, we where brought misfortune.” According to this reading almost all, if not all of the punishments and “gruelling tortures” that the Jewish community had to overcome was because they brought it on themselves. They did not listen after Moses freed them, after he proved to all, even the disbelieving Pharaoh that there was a God. Makes me wonder, if He did such thing as to free you from the devil claws of slavery times then why would they dare defy his commands?

The punishments and attacks that God places upon the Egyptians made it clear to them that there was a power that would defend the Jewish community. That they were going to be rescued. But isn’t this what we see in most places today. Miserable pay and almost no benefits in demand for excellence in work. Aren’t these unjustified actions that create the backbone to everything we have today?

The answer is yes. Workers, nurses, drivers, cleaners, you name it. How would we live if it weren’t to those we slap with unjustified actions with daily? If you take away the magical aspect and almost fantasy qualities of the story on might say that it is an accurate description of today.

Take this passage, the narrator does identify the pain and suffering of the people: “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7)

I thereby wonder where is this voice of hope that reassures the happiness and fulfilment of some of those who do deserve it. God, if he perhaps can hear us, He has done his part and showed us that there must be a helping hand. The laws he has given are for us to obey and not replay that story.

Unfortunately we are constantly playing the part of fools, over, and over again.

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Stuck In A Cliché

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Abraham and Sarah’s life spam are coming to an end. Abraham is given a faraway land to burry his Sarah, her grave is now some sort of a “revisited” space through the following chapters in the Book of Genesis. The range passed through a lovers pick up in a well, how Isaac inherits all of what once belonged to his father, the death of Abraham, the deceit of Isaac, among others.

Nevertheless the particular story that caught my interest is the one where the servant picks up Rebekah and she being her kind and gracious self, offers food and stay for the tired servant. Then after her humble hospitality she is taken away by the servant to meet Isaac to whom she is to spend the rest of her life with. The story is itself a bit of a cliché, someone just knows this person is right for you is a recurrent idea in almost all love movies. Just leave aside some of the drama and you have yourself a biblical text.

The idea that the cliché of love at first sight can be ridiculed to the idea that holy Abraham and other important main characters can have millions of concubines and “casual sex” for child making is funny. And even though it might not be as obvious the idea of hiding your lover as your sister to protect her, could be categorized under a cliché as well. But maybe if you think about it, the idea that this text was a relatively old text in comparison to today’s stories does not make it a cliché at all.

Basically what one could say is that since it could be the origin to some of the several clichés that would appear later on, it is not a cliché, but the founder of such.

Again when you see the impostor of a brother setting in as the other to get the father’s blessing. The idea of pretending to be someone else is a theme of duel and confrontation today and in most popular movies, books, or character stories this duality is found.

Take for instance the following moment:
“And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him” (27:41)

This leaves an open question, is the bible a source for today’s clichés? 

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Covenants

Posted by Mina Drezner on 7:42 PM comments (0)


And the narrator says:
“And to all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger were to be circumcised with him.” Genesis 17, passage 27.
Then again this is an example of another covenant among God and his so called disciple, Abraham. Covenants are somehow more recurrent now after the throwing out of Eve and Adam. My guess is probably because after the deception of these individuals a set promise must be made, assuring that neither God nor the other part of the covenant break the deal. Making it stable and “easier” to carry through.
If you refer to the initial citation you can see an example of the covenant among Abraham and God making a sacrifice of skin to keep the covenant alive and running.

Continuing to the following chapters in Genesis, one sees how God carry’s through with the covenant, again when he makes promise of delivering a son to Sarah, he carries through despite her old age. He makes Abraham live through the obstacle of the “stealing” king.
Lot fulfilling his duty to the city, is reluctant to go :
“And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken”. Genesis -Chapter 19. 21.
In this passage we also see the will power and loyalty to a belief from a rather interesting individual. What surprises me is that the devotion, for once, is not towards God but towards a holy place for Lot. He does not leave the city to save himself as other did but he stays because he promised loyalty to it, and he shall die with it if necessary.

This surprises me because he had the correct principles to match with God in a way, but he gently let him down. Lot thought for himself and that is highly appreciated.





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Can I Buy Your Love?

Posted by Mina Drezner on 5:00 PM comments (0)

Why not talk about love in this passage? Maybe even cheap bribe?  I, being a secular Jew was struck by the idea that LORD promised material reward in return for complete and absolute devotion to him. Make him altars, worship him for in return getting land and wealth.

According to the online dictionary, such acts meet the definition of bribe:

1. Something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person's views or conduct.

Who would have ever considered the possibility of the absolute creator bribing people? Shame on you for this unholy conduct! Bribing Abram for him to make him an altar, pray for him and follow his orders in return for land and cattle. Then bribing the servant to go to Abram and make him a child in return to “spread her seed” and some wealth. Lame.

And as for love. I consider the idea of your husband mating with another woman to have kids relatively weird. Look at today’s people it is an option for insemination, an alternative for those who aren’t “blessed with fertility”.  That could be love from behalf of the one willing to watch her/his mate do such acts, but isn’t it hypocritical for the corresponding side to carry through.

For me, some textual ideas don’t make any kind of sense, what happened to values, the ability to think for yourself, freedom of worship, of choice? Yes, these are other times. 

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A Poem Not Funny At All

Posted by Mina Drezner on 5:57 PM comments (0)

Naked he gave me his hand
Sistene Chapel
My space of freedom, my own land
With a homosexual grasp a void he left unfilled
A promise he ought to someday fulfill

My cold naked body seeks warmth
Shivers, as if shot by a dart
Give me strength to bare misfortune
But let us look forward to seek fortune

I know that the poem is not funny 
But neither is the picture nor some moments in life, honey
Maybe this poem doesn't even rhyme
But as a wise man said, there is rain before shine. 

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Perfect Imperfection

Posted by Mina Drezner on 6:55 PM comments (0)

The story of the beginning of the universe. People used to live for a really long time and where punished for violence. If the flood punishment was applied to us, we would have drowned about 20 times by now.

The idea that Adam and Eve where expelled form Eden basically gave start to all of the following punishments through the next chapters. When Adam and Eve disobey the direct orders from God they prove they are flawed, they are evil and curious. Beside the obvious dilemma of the “stealing of the fruit” other characteristics that prove to be negative are projected in a less open way. For example when Adam is not willing to take the blame for Eve, and makes her guilty of stealing the fruit alone.  

Then again when they start breeding, the “divine creation” creates all the evil and violence. It comes from the breeds themselves. Even though the chain is long they are still connected. And the flawed humans must once again prove worthy of God’s aid. This happens when they reach to Noah, the chosen one to make the world survive. Sacrifice to start over and reach a long sought perfection.

Noah is tested to see if he deserved to have his life, if he was worthy of saving the world. The collection of the paired animals and the survival of the long and tiring hours without land, simply floating around. God lost all confidence in his creation, he needed to assure that he was not going to be betrayed once more.

The story itself is full of shifts once more. Again the name of God, Lord and Lord God shifts so much that is seems as if they where separate characters, different. They even shift in the same chapter and appear to have different functions within the performed actions. To me it is confusing and barely understandable.  Besides this confusing fact the contradiction of time and story merge is again present. The story does not change significantly but the order does.

Noah dies at the end. Nearly perfect, but perfectly mortal. 

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One Beginning Two Approaches

Posted by Mina Drezner on 4:02 PM comments (0)

The first introduction to Genesis is very confusing and contradictory, in a way that what is being said in a first part is completely twisted in the next one. Nevertheless one supposes that the chapters are not necessarily in chronological order but are more in a dispersed way. For example the idea of this organization is very possible if the events are separated from their story and merged into the other one.  Or maybe the creation of this miracle garden is separate, made uniquely to show its importance. 
The beginning of men and women, it is definitely a point one should try to have stand out.

Even thought the organization is quite confusing the title for God swifts in a strange manner. I believe that this shift represents in someway the difference of the events’ circumstances. Maybe in the second part the Lord could show that now he has created a definite species that owe him worship. For as they are alive because of him. In the initial part, the beginning of men and women is broad, there are no names for such, and they aren’t really “alive” yet.

 Once the name for Adam is given and he is gifted everything around him, the circumstance is somewhat real. It become the story of how men and women where created. The gift of the Garden of Eden makes Adam repay God’s gift. He is his master, his lord. 

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The Soul of Psyche

Posted by Mina Drezner on 6:52 PM comments (0)

It is curious to see how you can transform something so traditional and long into something concise and modern. The flexibility of literature does not stop surprising me. Take the story of Apollo’s son who attempts to drive his father chariot or car and ends up crashing it against the world.

Driving technique. Fail.

Even though his father warned him oh so many times to take the middle way and not let go, he still did it.

Ability to follow instructions. Fail.

The tediously long story was summarized and updated in Metamorphosis. There was a car, a therapist, and a school beating. For an “ancient” text I say it is a hell of an update. Nevertheless this text wasn’t the one which surprised me the most.

The juicy simplicity of the story of Psyche gave me some sort of peace. Besides the actual fact that what is says is surprisingly true, the way that the questions and answers where so direct left me astounded. Again, love appears in the story, but so does curiosity. Some say curiosity is good and healthy but in this case it punished the naïve Psyche.

Poor she, who ignored that all the jealous gossip, was as fake as those who spoke it. The ones who deserved the punishment for committing a capital sin, where the ones who forced the innocent, in love, Psyche to receive such disgrace. Even though the text is direct and very simple it touches the most complex themes in Metamorphosis. It deals with jealousy and how it takes down the ones who don’t deserve it. Gossip to make others fall into disgrace they don’t deserve and make others feel some sort of stupid superiority.

In this case the negative effects on Psyche did not take the best of her. She overcame all of the obstacles that other made her overcome, and still she left with the biggest prize. The eternal love of whom she loved.

“It’s just inevitable. The soul wonders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes we find our soul.” Pg.76

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A Story In 4 Lines

Posted by Mina Drezner on 5:19 PM comments (0)

And with pure ignorance the reigns he let go
and with a crash he burned everything bellow
the earth because of him heavily weeps.
Because of that boy, who did as he pleased.

- Stephanie Botero and Mina Drezner

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L Is For The Way You Look At Me

Posted by Mina Drezner on 5:15 PM comments (0)

Again love appears differently and in some way grotesquely in this segment of the play. Pomona and Vertumnus find that you can disguise love but true love has no cover, it is almost naked. It comes down to the original skin. The disguised love among the plant lovers finally comes to light after a rather disturbing story.  
This image might represent the "forbidden" love
among the father and the daughter

Myrrha, showing herself to her father




















A story of how love to a relative is a girl’s only desire. Considering the time period one can find that normal but from a modern point of view it is odd. But isn’t all loving odd?  People fall in love under the most unusual circumstances, and who are we to judge how others fall in love? I don’t think you can choose who you fall in love with, or who you stop loving.

 Let’s face it, gay love happens and other unusual forms of love happen. Just because we aren’t used to them are they really wrong? If it is not with me I really don’t mind this strange relationship, I don’t agree with it but I have no right to stop it.

“You can shut yourself in a room, bolt the door
But love will still come through the window
Draw the curtains, lock the casement,
But love will seep through the walls
Never think, never think that you can be safe from love.” Pg. 53

Love happens, so does life.

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Greed Goes CooCoo

Posted by Mina Drezner on 4:01 AM comments (0)

Greed and neediness are very common, not only in today’s society but in parts all over the world. This desire for everything has existed for decades, some call it need, others call it what they deserve. For me it is just greed. Since Orpheus and Eurydice were discussed in class the focus of this “self argument” is with Erysichthon. The story of a man who thought only for himself and was punished to the eternal wanting of everything, that would eventually lead to self destruction. A man so evil that he sold whom had held him as a burden for years. Nevertheless, this story does seem familiar. Look at today.

See how men women, children and elder are greedy and malicious thinking only for themselves, taking away the peace of others. This eternal wanting is not a punishment, it is a reality. See how greed is one of the mayor scenes, greed to say you deserve to have everything. Yeah, you don’t.  I mean selling your own mother does seem a little bit extreme, it is more like wanting someone you can’t have, or not sharing which are awfully common. I am sometimes greedy, we all are. It is quite natural, extreme greed in the other hand is completely uncalled for.

The writing of this story was awfully entertaining, the ending, though bit malicious gave it the wowing effect that all stories want to accomplish. Look at the following:

 “Narrator: There can be only one end to such a man.
Narrator: He will destroy himself
Ceres: Bon appétit.” Pg.40

I just can’t get over that ending.
Another superficial idea I noticed was how it was written. More as a dialogue than as couplets, in comparison to the other texts. The writing of the segment does not have the same romantic language as the others.

 We can see how this story does not refer to love as a romance form but how it makes reference to the grotesque part of love. The love for oneself, the love for food and material things, and the lack of love for whom he is supposed to love. Isn’t it awkward how something so beautiful and of such “magnitude” things can be converted into scrap.

Why do we even have greed? Eats the world out of me. 

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Baby Just Say Yes

Posted by Mina Drezner on 3:58 AM comments (0)

Love stories. I hate them. I don’t even know why they bother on creating such stupid scenes that still suck and that anyways everyone sees. Even me. Why do we see love stories? Because they create a vague image of a distant idea we all want to have as a fact in our lives. This love story even though is very surrealistic, it is true. Endings are not always happy, and it is good to have this alternative point of view, for the sake of everyone who isn’t living in a fantasy. Love stories are the reason people break up.

 “Oh, Dear why cant you be like that vampire and sweep me off my feet”.
For starters he is human, and he is real. A nice comment reduced to stupidity. I am not being negative, I do believe that every relationship has its fairytale moments, but they are not actually a fairytale, or at least don’t end up like one.

This story can resemble the reality of people who where living in early war periods. Men went for war, promising they would come back. Some where lucky enough to keep that promise, the others were waiting to be called in as K.O. Maybe even in Greece when men went on conquering battles and left woman alone, anxious for their return. That for many would never happen.

I will take this story as a goodbye letter of those that could not get back to you. After all I do believe in fairytales.

Goodbye, my vampire will come and sweep me of my feet soon. 

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