Eve

Eve and lion

So I'm reading this interpretation of the Creation story.  It's a take on what happened, according to Eve.  In one part, Eve describes just after she and Adam confessed to eating the fruit from the Tree of Life, and God announced He would turn them out of the Garden of Eden.  In this scene God calls over a lion and, with tears in His eyes, gives it a meaningful look.  The lion seems to understand and doesn't flinch when God kills him for his pelt.  God then takes the pelt and fashions clothes for Adam and Eve because, they don't know it, but it's snowing beyond the boundary of the garden.

do you think lions remember that fateful day, and that's why animals don't like humans?

Why does God allow

Why does God allow...?

It's an interesting argument that atheists and agnostics have:  Why does God allow evil to exist?

The fallacy of this question is that we as humans assume that being good and making choices that don't harm others is "the norm", while evil "what bad people do".  Not exactly the case.

Every single instance of our lives involves choice.  Whether we choose to do good or choose to do bad is something that happens on every instance of the scale.  There are small good choices, like getting up, going to work, not running over pedestrians, etc.  There are small bad choices, like smoking.  And then there are really big good choices, like giving all our money to charity.  Likewise, there are really bad choices, like starting or continuing wars.

But God tells us in Matthew 5

43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborh and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you: Love your enemiesi and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It's not up to us to decide who is right and who is wrong.  It is up to us to decide for ourselves if WE are going to do either right or wrong.  Even from the very beginning Adam and Eve had the choice.  They chose to do wrong.  It doesn't matter that "they didn't know the consequences".  God asked them to choose Him, and to believe in Him.  After all, he created this beautiful garden for them.  They would be safe and fed and have tons of entertainment and things to do if they could just follow one simple rule.  However, God would have been unfair if he had not given them the choice to choose to continue to do right or to do wrong.  Even though He created us and provides for us, He is not going to make us choose Him.

This same idea applies today.  God does not make us choose "right" or "leave us to choose wrong".  Every person has the choice to make for themselves.  There are some cases where people might not know what's right - thinking of those kids who are recruited into guerrilla armies in the jungles of Africa, for instance - but someone decided that those kids needed to be recruited, instead of being the one to stand up and try to steer those kids in the right direction.  And, at some point, those kids grew old enough to know "ok, people don't like when I point a gun and shoot at them, so maybe there is another way."

I'm not saying that because I don't believe those kids need help, because I do.  But, the fact of the matter is, common sense tells you that if you can't do it in public, or if it hurts someone, then maybe you shouldn't do it and somewhere, your conscience should kick in.

In short, evil exists because man allows it to continue.  We choose not to do right, and yet God continues to stand by waiting for us to choose Him.  Sure, he has the power to eradicate evil, but if even one of us continues to decide to choose it, then He is not going to stop us until He is ready.

My Way of Thinking

As a kid, my favorite songs were "Jesus Loves Me" and "We've Come this Far by Faith" (as though I'd come a long way at 5)

In my teens, I loved the song "Speak to My Heart".  I really wanted to be a type of spiritual leader when I was younger and I felt closest to God during this time.

When I hit my 20s, I fell in love with the line from a song in the Broadway play Les Miserables:  "To love another person is to see the face of God".  I was quite the hippie in my 20s.

Now that I'm 31, I'm a bit more cynical.  I'm trying to find my way back to God.  I try to read the Bible, volunteer, and hold fairly decent conversations, but I'm not quite on board with the whole church thing as of yet.  I feel the tug, but not to any particular venue.  Just gotta keep praying, I suppose.  At any rate, this past year has been an eye opener for me, so the best line I can think to describe it is this:

"I asked the Lord to protect me from my enemies and I started losing friends."

Monks

Monks:


We always dismiss monks because they don't talk.  Sometimes, though, they have a lot to share:

http://www.theawl.com/2012/06/how-silence-works-trappist-monks

Poverty 2013

Poverty
"The face of poverty for the nation has changed from being white to being black and Latino," she tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "That's made a difference, too, because when people thought of poverty as being white and elderly there was more general sympathy in the country and more commitment to do something about it."

And you thought racism was dead...

 http://www.npr.org/2012/08/04/158141728/how-americas-losing-the-war-on-poverty?utm_source=NPR&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20120804

Justin the math comic

I know this story has been around the internet for several years

Women are evil:

Justin:  Have I ever shared with you the proof that women are evil?

Becca:  I think long ago.  but share it again

I need to keep that one handy

	Can we agree, as a start, that women are the product of time and money?

hm

that's an interesting concept.  I'll allow.

	So, mathematically, can we say that:

	Women = Time * Money?

ok

	We know that:

	Time = Money

	so, using the substitute property, we can say

	Women = Money * Money

yep...

	Money = √Evil

	Therefore

	Money * Money = Evil

	Again using the substitutive property, we can mathematically say

	Women = Evil

lol such a math student

Marriage

Marriage:

Two of the 3 women who raised me were married to their husbands for over 25 years each.  Sure, they had ups and downs and effed up situations but they must've done some things right "to keep their men".  Most women in my family, my church, and whom I have encountered in early life were married, and married some years.  The women who chose not to marry and the ones who haven't married yet tend not to bash men nor act over privileged as they know and are strong enough to acknowledge their own strengths as well as their weaknesses and why a man either has not or will not be making space in their lives.

I myself have been married since 2005.  My very degree has its roots in the study of marriage, relationships, and the history and development of such an institution and observance.

So yeah, I am pretty confident to say I might just have a grasp on the subject and what it takes to make a marriage work.