Plugged into Peace

I am (or used to be) someone who had to have the radio on while driving. Lately I've been trying to change that. [Note: if this post sounds fragmented and unorganized it is due to my little brother yelling into a microphone and my parents arguing loudly in the next room]. The past week instead of reaching for the radio dial to fill the silence, I have instead resisted that urge and forced myself to tune my thoughts into God. Instead of letting useless radio dribble occupy my mind, I talk to God. It is hard at first. My mind does not want to stay still. I can hardly focus on one thing. My fingers itch to jab the radio buttons and restlessly change through stations until I find a good song. An adequate song? A decent song? Often, I find nothing, and that is when I turn off the radio. That is when I notice the quietness that fills the car and realize that this is an awesome time to talk to God.

The first time I did this, I was on my way to school. It takes only about fifteen minutes to get there, but the whole way I talked to God, thanking him and giving him certain concerns I had at the moment. When I reached school I felt peaceful, and the whole rest of the day I had a spirit of happiness, which is something that I struggle with.

I did the same thing this morning. I had trouble getting my mind into prayer mode, but once I did I didn't want to stop. I prayed for peace for there were things in my mind that I could not settle. This verse came to me of Jesus saying: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27

Gut Instinct

I need to start trusting my instincts. I'm always hesitant, and too often I second guess myself. Here is an example from yesterday.

In my Western Civilization class, our teacher gave us a pop quiz. One of the questions was: "What were the Jews called when they were in exile?" At first I didn't know what to put, so I thought about it for a moment. Then the first thing that came to my head was "Hebrews." But no, I thought. That seemed too simple. So I wrote down "Israelites" instead.

The last question he asked was a bonus question. "How old am I?" The first thing that came into my mind was: 38. But no, I thought. He has a little bit of gray in his hair, so I thought that perhaps he was older. I wrote down 45.
Well guess what. The Jews in exile were called Hebrews! And my teacher is 38!

Gah! Yeah I was a little bit mad at myself. So here is my goal or resolution or whatever you want to call it. I am now going to start listening to my instincts. I am going to stop second guessing myself, and I will observe what happens when I do those two things. It's an experiment of sorts. I can't wait to see how it goes.

The BIG Question

What should I write today?

That, for me, is the ultimate question. Well, for right now that is. Sometimes subjects to write about come easily. Other times, all that comes to my head seems mundane and boring. But, I have to master this blogging thing. I've tried before, but it quickly tapered off into no postdom. Meaning, I don't post anything for months and months...and months. Pretty much what happened here is that I got bored with this blog and completely forgot about it. Then half a year later or so I come up with a new name and a new approach...and a new resolution. It's my New Year's Resolution coming twenty days late! My goal is to keep this blog regularly updated...and to occasionally post something interesting. My goal originally was to post everyday, but seeing how I already botched that... Well, I'm still gonna try! Which may result in the production of pointless posts such as this one.

On Sunday, I received the worst case of food poisoning ever. It may have been worse than that of May 31, 2006. I remember that date because I broke up with my boyfriend on that day. Later I went with my family to the Country Buffet, and I am convinced that the spicy orange chicken is what made me violently sick. I will never eat there again.

This time something I ate at the gas station is what made me terribly ill. Even after I threw up all the contents of my stomach, I still felt horrible. I couldn't even hold down water.

I will never eat food from a gas station ever again.

I started feeling better later last night when I drank two cups of chamomile tea. I read that the tea is good for stopping nausea and vomiting. Well, it worked because a little bit later I was able to eat an apple and then an orange. Praise God! He is good.

You may know this already, but I sure didn't until just recently

So. I was reading a historical novel that takes place sometime in first century A.D. when I stumbled across a hypocrite. Now, this is the second time I have read this book so I don't know why I never gave much thought to it until now. The character in this book was, by title, a hypocrite. When I read that I thought, What? He thinks he is better than everyone? He doesn't practice what he preaches?

But it turns out that in the so called Bible days, in Rome and other surrounding areas, hypocrites were actors. You know, people who go around acting, entertaining people. Wow. I never knew that. I feel so much more enlightened right now. Really.

So being that I am taking two history classes at this moment, I try to look at things in context. Which is pretty fun. For instance, while reading the Bible this morning, I unintentionally came across this verse: "Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men." Then again: "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites (i.e. pretenders)."

So, it seems that in Jesus' day, the word "hypocrite" had an entirely different meaning than what we apply to it today. Well maybe not entirely. But we do see it in a different context. Back then when Jesus said "hypocrite," the multitudes immediately conjured up an image of an actor, strutting his stuff, doing what actors do. They probably laughed. Ha! Hypocrites...He sure got that right. Well, you know, I'm just saying. They could have laughed. It's entirely possible.

I did a Google search on hypocrites hoping to find some history on the ancient actors. Not much luck. All that would come up was, What a bunch of hypocrites...Libts are such hypocrites!...hypocrites and haters... I typed in "hypocrites in Roman history," "hypocrites actors." Not much luck. I did get a theater company by the name of Hypocrites. And a movie called Hypocrites. Not what what I'm looking for people! Oh well.

The Nature of Jesus

This semester I am taking a course on the History of the Middle East. It is really interesting. It's not often that I will read an eighth edition concise history of anything, so the fact that I look forward to reading what lies between the pages of our required text goes to show that this subject is very interesting. At least to me.

Here is what I have learned. Right now the book is talking about Christianity in early 1st century A.D. Apparently there were many different sects of Christianity. Even then, so close after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, people could not get along. Certain sects accused others of heresy, and even went so far as persecuting others for believing differently.

So what exactly did these people believe differently about?

The nature of Jesus. Apparently this was a controversial issue back then. And here is the most likely reason that I find all of this interesting. 1) I am a Christian--in the most modernized sense of the word. And 2) I have been having this same controversy inside my own mind. So it seems here that I am not the only one who has occupied such thoughts. And it also seems here that if, say, I lived in 325 A.D. I would quite possibly be in very much danger of being persecuted (by other fellow Christians) for heresy. This is because in that time there was a Christian group called the Arians. They believed that, although Jesus was "divinely inspired and sired," he was still a man not equivalent to God.

And here is where I utter something that I most likely will not feel free to express anywhere else in this world. (Except to secret and unbeknownst to themselves Arianists who may still be around today.)

Drumroll please.

I have entertained these same thoughts! You know, about the nature of Jesus. Was he God Himself? Was he both perfectly divine, yet the perfect human at the same time? Or was he simply just a man? A human like the rest of us. A man--who possessed the very Spirit of God and was able to tap into the divine power of God. I do believe that Jesus was anointed. How could I not? Yes, he was the Messiah, the savior of the world. Yet he was human. The big question here--a question that people fought over and most likely died over-- is: Was Jesus solely human? Or solely divine? Or was he both--two natures, separate yet combined in the person of Jesus? The first and the last possibility were both beliefs that had been considered heresy at one point in time.

So, it seems kind of important that I know what I should believe on this. Can a person still be a follower of Jesus, yet have a different view on the nature of Jesus from the rest of the majority of Christians? I think that the answer is yes.

You know, when the Orthodox Church persecuted all those other Christians for not claiming that Jesus was completely, ultimately, and solely the God, they were not honoring Jesus. They were not in anyway reflecting the very essence of what Jesus represented. Love. God is love. Jesus is love. And you know what? The entirety of Jesus' message was this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus was the very embodiment of love. God is love. That is God's very nature. God was in Jesus, He was alive in Jesus. But He was no more alive in Jesus than He would like to be in us. Perhaps by holding Jesus up as God Himself, we are suggesting that it isn't possible to be like Jesus at all.

But hear this. Jesus said in John 14:12: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father."

Chameleons

Chameleons are cool. I've never thought about them much, but I like that word.

Chameleon. It sounds snazzy. So I did a search on them. To tell the truth, the lizards looked kinda creepy...but there was a band that looked interesting...



Anyways! Enjoy this picture.

And these interesting facts.

Did you know that...

Chameleon translated means "little Lion".

Chameleons are "ectotherms"-- there temperatures are controlled
from outside their bodies.

Chameleons react to heat and cold by changing color too.

Chameleons have ears, which are tiny holes located near their eyes.

Chameleons protect themselves by moving very slowing and swaying
back and forth as they walk to mimic a leaf blowing in the wind.

Many chameleons enjoy sleeping upside down or in a corner.

And that's all for today! If you are further interested, here is the site where I found these interesting chameleon facts.