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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Philosophy/Religion/Spirituality
- Published: 02/28/2013
Biblical Stories
Born 1934, F, from Cape Town, South AfricaBIBLICAL STORY.
This script is for Christians who do not go to church very often, and when they do attend out of duty, their hearts are not in the service. While the Minister is trying to instill and preach goodness to them, they lapse into a coma and think of other things, like the Sunday roast cooking away in the oven. They generally think the Old Testament Stories very boring. No disrespect meant. I loved reading about the people of those times. The way they conducted their lives is appealing and earthy in ancient times.
Sometimes I feel the need to go back to the roots of the Old Testament which is, understandable readable, very plain and well documented stories.
I am not an expert, or even a Biblical scholar, but I think Exodus and the stranger than fiction happenings of Moses are exciting. I have also added a few other things that have seriously interested me. This article is therefore a light hearted but also my interpretation of stories.
I imagined Moses as a person, who must have lived to a ripe old age, and worked tirelessly for his people. He was one of the most outstanding men ever written about. He never made profit or took wealth from them, like politicians here, corruption being top of the list, of how to make a quick buck.
My first history lesson was when I was 8 yrs old. My teacher was called Sister Mary Faith. I was a pupil of the Dominican Convent High School for girls from 6 years to 18 years of age, and then considered old enough to leave school. By that time I was steeped in Catholicism and Anglican religious teachings. My parents were Anglicans, but only attended church occasionally, like Christmas and other popular religious events. They sent us to Sunday school as children, and dutifully saw that we attended church services regularly during the holidays. For their trouble, my parents had a drawer full of gifts, such as Holy Cards, Cross and Chains and Rosaries from the tuck shop.
Quite unexpectedly in class one day, Sister held up a book and said to us “Children, this is the Holy Bible and I am going to teach you about God, your creator, and of the world we live in and the Heavens above where God resides.” Looking back, I realize what a clever way to give the children a lesson combining history and religious teachings, and if you think about it, the two mingle together happily, and this is really what the Bible is all about.
Sister explained to us that to find out the facts of history is like being a detective, who works diligently to solve crimes. Start at the beginning and sift through all the information at hand, then ask questions. Gather all the evidence together and make sure you have the correct site where the events took place.
Genesis in the Old Testament is an extra ordinary document of knowledge to which we can open the door to access a vast library of recorded ancient history. Admittedly not in the detail we expect today, but the letters and accounts are very credible to read and learn from, going back some 800 hundred years or more BC. The scripts are composed of sacred writings of ancient Hebrew origin, confirming the very foundation of Israel’s right to possession of the Holy Land. The Old Testament is divinely inspired, and in keeping with religious principles. Legendary and mythological stories also play a big part in biblical events.
From chapter one, verse one, was the beginning, and after the big bang, it took a couple of million years later for life and creation to begin in earnest, as the earth had to first settle itself before the evolutionary progress of the world could start or take place. Development began as nature intended, with dust. elements, mineral, wind, weather, water, plant and vegetation, animal and last of all man. Slowly from the sea a kind of life slowly started to evolve. The strangest prehistoric creatures and dinosaurs were next. It took another 60 million years or so to settle, and lastly man slowly started to emerge and make their presence felt.
If one looks at the time factor, the process of evolution on earth was nothing short of a miracle, when you see the human accomplishments. There is no comparison to the longevity of the universe. We have very little Knowledge of the origin, which is still a mystery so we cannot assume its history of how, when and where including the time it took.
A good story to start with is the Garden of Eden, that we can understand quite easily as its more in our concept and image of life, carried on to modern times. The Old Testament is full of information of life about the people of that era. The most famous and notorious of all time, Adam and Eve because they committed a crime and ate of the forbidden fruit. (I can only think of Bonnie and Clyde from the movies)
When the snake enticed Adam and Eve to partake of the red juicy apple held out to them, from the Tree of Knowledge, in other words “Brain,” and ate, poor Eve being women had to get the blame for caving in to the wiles of the snake. One day God came a calling, an unexpected visit to see how Adam and Eve were faring, and found them hiding behind a tree absolutely stark naked. It did not take much detective work to realize that the loss of their furry coat was due to eating of the forbidden fruit “Brain”. When man started to take the first steps to cannibalism it quickened their evolutionary progress, that definitely enabled them to go it alone, and take their first steps to freedom from God, who gave way and let them choose their own path of ambition and thereby growth. Because they had disobeyed God they were duly punished. Through this punishment, mind developed and advanced further, activating a harder and stronger mental ability to survive, which naturally led to intellectualism. Was this what happened in the Garden? For God to be so angry, and forevermore forbade that the truth be told. If this is so, the story was hidden in a cover up, so emotionally skillful and just as good as any sophisticated Governments could come up with. We know that the purest of fruit, is the apple, Innocent and healthy and lovely to eat. A cover up that has never really been disputed.
I cannot understand why God gave man freedom of choice! Such a momentous and responsible task hopefully with the intention to steer man to progress a good and Godly way. Our human traits were surely starting to show even then, which should have made anyone never mind God wary, pause and take a second look! Maybe someone got the wrong end of the stick and miss quoted the conversation in passing.
The traits of human emotions such as love, hate, `violence, jealousy, murder, wars, marriages, unfaithful husbands and wives are still part of our every day lives.
There were many exciting stories of love and torrid sexual affairs abounding with unfaithfulness, and constant news passed on by their daily telegraph i.e. word to mouth, to also make life full of glamour keeping gossip on going, which is nothing new, {as newspapers and magazines are especially catered and setup to print all the dirt, earning huge amounts of profit and popularity from the general public.} We are quite accustomed to all the same things in our life, from their times. We take for granted all the racy news as just one of those things, which we casually shrug off, until it happens to one of us. We would find our daily lives boring without the gossip columns, to keep us agog.
My imagination runs around in leaps and frolics around the story of the fallen angels. I am utterly fascinated at a most unusual turn of events that reads like a Barbara Cartland novel, famous for her great romantic stories. The theme is about the fallen angels that came down to earth and once here absolutely fell in love with the earthlings, as they saw that the women were very pretty. A group of handsome suitors seeking love on earth and not amongst the stars. It sounds suspiciously like space men, intent on courting the young girls, taking absolutely no notice, or much heed at God’s anger. Unbelievable as it is written, this story has the makings to be on top of the best seller list.
I have to mention other rules set down are the dietary laws on health. This is very good advice that applies even into modern times to seriously follow, as it will keep one trim and slim and fit. It is a very popular subject on TV who runs competitions with groups of overweight people; the biggest loser is one such program with prizes to be won at the end. We even have Dr.Oz on TV to dish out advice on what is good for us, and what not to touch. Why not just look up the Biblical laws. It is all there for anyone to follow and what is more there is no profit involved either to just study those chapters.
Above all is man’s hunt for God. There is throughout the Bible a code of decency, moralistic and ethical behavior which lectures and urges us to follow, but man is willful and disobeys laws, and tends to go his own path if not kept in check. We live in a parallel world of good\evil. So finely balanced, we need religion to keep a check and especially now, that drugs are so rife and can be bought anywhere turning young lives inside out. This is not an age thing, it goes on as well into older groups. In every aspect of life, we are ruled by brands, which advertise and encourage a pill for every occasion to feel good.
Brain feeds our Mind which exists because of matter i.e. nature. Mind works in many different facets: for example, brilliance, mediocre, saintly and martyrdom, envy, greed, light, dark thoughts, multiple disorder personality syndromes, hate violence and love, plus many thousands of emotional upheavals crowding our brains to work overtime especially when fed by drugs.
Hopefully there will always be a good side, and it is very probable that there will be the new kind of supermen in the future to carry out order. Just an after thought, the classical Composers will continue into the new world.
Genesis has been under discussion for decades. New Theories and scientific findings are put to the test at a terrific pace, a race against time for knowledge of proof to satisfy ourselves. Available are the different opinions and writings that we can learn from, and that provides excellent information. Genesis transcends any other written literature or documents. Modern science respects the first story of the creation, “in the beginning,” as the foundation of truth and so science had a kick start.
The amazing thing is that Man has never given up in his efforts to search for God. Just think about those early humans walking the earth in small vulnerable groups. The climb to evolution was hard and demanding. They were miserable and open to disasters, raw climatic and harsh weather conditions and the very hardships of nature to cope with.
The restless groups segregated always searching for an environment suited to their needs. Maybe there were amongst these weary travelers, humans who could assume leadership with one or two in the group who was perhaps a wise and clever man, with healing abilities, someone they could turn to for comfort. Gathered around a fire, early man must have always looked upward to the stars, trying some how to link themselves, feeling a connection to up there, which they could not understand but the emotional longings were there intense and real.
I have seen the beauty of the stars at night when we were on fishing trips in the African bush, gathered around our usual fire. Relaxed and comfortable the aromatic smell of the stew wafting over to us, bubbling in the pots with a drink in our hands, we would look up in wonder at a beautiful picture presented to us of an awesome sight, and wished we could be up there sailing amongst the stars. We really felt that somehow we did belong up there. My husband was a bit of an amateur star gazer, so he and the children would have long discussions on astrology, the Milky Way and Planets. A home learning process making lessons fun. I would feel like sailing in a dream boat among the stars, my hand trailing languidly in an imaginary sea.
Dust to dust, the saying is so true, as the dust that filters down to earth from space and the stars are a living part of us.
The word star enters into every part of our daily lives. For instant, stardom, stargazer, stardust, for lovers there are stars in your eyes, starlight, twinkle twinkle little star, a star on top of the Christmas tree, the fairy queen has a magic star, the morning star biblical. The list is endless, lucky star, used quite often for various popular brands.
We thus gave birth to astronomy and mathematics all that time ago in antiquity. In the future man will traverse the universe, as the new kind of space travelers and the new colonist’s adventurers searching for new worlds to settle
The theory of Quantum Physics and Religion fit into the very advanced scientific findings of thought. ‘Power collaborates with energy and thought and nature, (was always, is always and will always be.)
Energy=Nature\creator\God? Three in one? = Nature, energy, thought a combination of a forceful power?
We cannot see nature, but we see and are aware of what nature creates and builds, and destroys when it deems necessary, and what do we do in the midst of all the havoc surrounding us, we pray and ask God why we are being punished; what have we done wrong! Nature does not work or operate haphazardly; it has a purpose and a solid foundation of rules and laws within its own capacity.
Thought is our most powerful weapon. Thinking, exercises our brain to develop and we use it in anyway we so choose. Thought enables our mind to work in different facets.
Because we desired God to have a form, we made God in our image, thus cleverly turning it around for the masses to understand that we are born in his image, making God like one of us. I was told we are born in his spiritual image. This does not make any sense to me, when we have so much violence and punishment in us. We must ask ourselves if this is how we view God, Reward and punishment, which is exactly what we humans are most capable of doing. God was then personalized and became head of the household.
In all of these endless opinions, findings, questions, and religious writings, where exactly is God? One thing is certain we all want a piece of God and man jealously guards what we think of is our rights to possession as the only way.
God’s gift was to provide earth with a pantry to feed and help us to grow to where we are today. Somehow, I do not think we truly appreciate what we have. We are always fighting and causing wars and weapons to destroy each other or rule and dominate rather cruelly or to simply take by force. The different peoples of the world have never been satisfied with God being shared and only want their god worshiped amongst their own racial groups, to claim God for themselves, to suit their environment, so there has never really been peace among religions.
Humans have always been obsessed with recording their own lives, firstly from word to mouth, and then on through the generations as we evolved to the present recordings certifying our birth and death. The Bible and other religions were once in the forefront of readable news. Raw paintings on rocks, in caves and carvings tell us many stories. Even Hollywood got on the bandwagon and I shall always remember Gregory Pecks’ dark good looks as King David.
When I eventually realized Jesus was born in Palestine and could have easily been a PLO and looked like Arafat, I was stunned at the news. In my innocence I had always imagined him to look exactly like the statues and pictures painted with a light tan, piercing blue eyes and long blonde hair. My cousin was most insulted when on a religious tour of Israel, the tour guides spoke Hebrew with a little mix of English. My cousin was under the impression that English was the language of Biblical times and she informed the bemused guide that he had no right to speak Hebrew. Luckily he never understood a word she was saying.
MOSES.
Exodus stories intrigue me. Moses termed as the greatest leader, law-giver and founder of Israel’s religious and national life. He had more effect in promoting God than anyone ever has.
Religious scholars are of the opinion that Moses was not the sole author of Exodus. There were several after his time. A long process was undertaken periodically to rewrite and modernize very carefully accurate revisions before the form we now know and read.
Moses never told lies or made empty promises. His teachings sank so deep, that when Christianity turned against the Jewish people and hounded them with terrible acts of cruelty for nearly 2000 thousand years, and banished them from their land, the Jews hung on to the word, and never lost their faith and belief. I have a great deal of reverence and respect for the teachings of the Torah. Their whole faith is God based.
Moses worked tirelessly for his people all his life. He built and constructed a nation, and gave them the rule of law, codes and Torah to practice and live by.
His love for God comes through very clearly in everything he did. He had the most incredible human conversations and encounters and lasting friendship with God.
We all know the story of Moses who as a baby was found floating in the reeds and rescued, from a watery grave and appropriately named Moses. He was taken to the Palace. A wet nurse (maybe his mother) was produced almost too promptly, and by a strange coincidence she just happened to be on hand. Moses lived a very privileged life in the palace. Plans must have already been underfoot before his birth to make him God’s ambassador on earth.
When God did appear at the appropriate time, to an adult Moses with instructions to free his people from slavery and take them out of Egypt, Moses did not seem to happy to leave behind a life of luxury and comfort. He portrayed a great deal of reluctance to even get involved in the exodus and make a start. God had to nag him and show many powerful magical tricks and miracles of breath taking impossible feats which through sheer hard work had to be produced for Moses to eventually agree on.
And so the miraculous story of the deliverance of God’s people began. The journey of the escape reads like science fiction. A pillar of cloud leading the way with intelligent instructions points to a reconnaissance force at work. It almost reminds me of the stories my husband told me. During the war he was in the South African Air Force and then seconded to the South African Defense Force operating in the desert with the tank reconnaissance units which were then sent to Italy. I never heard of a story quite like a cloud leading the way. Other incidents and human reconnaissance spotting enemy lines, contacts made by battery run specialist radio operators, and disguised spying hidden in a variety of covers and look out points Underwater divers, subs, drop out points by parachutes floating down silently, behind the scenes landings at night but always a person involved in these operations.
When the Egyptians realized what had happened they immediately gave chase with their top notch army of soldiers, chariots, and commanders to capture the really ragtag Israelites, who could hear the Egyptians closing in.
The panic amongst the Israelites must have been felt, egging each line to go faster. Maybe it went something like this! “Hurry up the leaders in the front line; we can hear the enemy not too far behind. Aaron get moving and for goodness sake Josh, you are lagging. You have put on to much weight and you are slowing us down, and holding up the rows, please get your feet moving faster.”The call was sent out for the young athletes to carry the babies, and small children piggyback. The strapping weight lifters were given the old people and infirm to carry. “Leaders up front, quicken your pace” the reply must have come back something like this “shove it mate, we are tired and hungry and doing our best.” “That is not good enough, take it one step further. Sorry to nag but we are so close to the crossing, do not lose heart.” Once over and safe, the Israelites must have stood on the bank and watched in awe as the sea closed in on the enemy. Sighs of relief could be heard all round. So began the long sojourn of their stay in the desert and what happened during those times until they reached the Promised Land.
My version plays a big part on my imagination which goes to work on some very eerily odd occurrences.
I found it strangely compelling reading about what happened on the mountain. Before the first meeting could be arranged, Moses was given two instructions, “Come at dusk and not earlier. Cover your face with a veil, because my appearance in a light so bright will blind you.” The Ten Commandants were given to Moses in a series of these strange circumstances. When Moses came down from the meetings, his people did not give him a joyous welcome, but instead shrank back in fear at the sight of the bright shinning light on his face confronting them.
The building of the Tabernacle of Worship was given with such precise and exact measurements are bewildering in the context of a building with quantity surveying quality. Pity our slap dash cutting corners building contractors could take an example from this chapter.
The Day of Atonement. A lecture given to Aaron via his brother Moses via God is even more astonishing. Aaron was only allowed to go to the tent at the appointed time to the most holy place, by special permission from God. Before he could go behind the curtain, he had to bath and wear protective clothing. Once all these instructions had been understood, God appeared to him in a cloud above the Covenant Box. If Aaron disobeyed any one of the rules or made a mistake, he would most certainly die.
Poor old Moses found that his people were an unruly bunch to deal with and control, and did not come up to standard as a strong leader. He was severely punished by his beloved God and not allowed to take his people into the Promised Land. I wonder how Moses felt when he stood from a far distance and only glimpse the land. Quite a cruel act of justice meted out to an old man.
I love the story of the golden calf which is nothing new or even surprising as we still worship gold, wealth, greed, and a variety of other human failings such as pop stars, sport stars, idols, Hollywood. We tend to treat these gifted entertainers as Gods and do not mind handing out large sums of money which is on our long lists of one of our failings. I once heard that Michael Jackson was considered the modern Jesus.
Moses did not have to go into caves to communicate with God, or disappear for months even years into the wilderness. He had God practically at his side all the time. Who did Moses talk to?
Religions are a most powerful force in the world that people will follow, as it gives them a sense of assurance of something good to live accordingly by love and care. But it also can produce fanaticism and violence. People unfortunately misread the Bible and use it to suit themselves.
Once at a Bible study group, we were asked to describe God. I drew a blank and answered as best as I was capable of, “It is a feeling deep within oneself. No bright lights or voices speaking to me and no advice telling me what to do. Just a silence and peace.”
Sister Mary Faith told us in one of her many lessons that God gave us a soul when we were born and when we passed on our soul left our body. A soul has to be without blemish or stained by human weakness that does not have to pass on the consequences or the wrong senses. Our soul is therefore pure and has to be separate from our mind which could try to corrupt our soul.. I put my hand up, and with a resigned look she asked “Laura, now what is it that you have not understood, and please do not waste my time with inane questions!” I asked sister “Why were we given a soul, and then have it taken away when we died, and for what purpose in the first place did we get one and in which part of our body did the soul live?”When I got through all the queries, sister said to me “Laura you have to take everything in complete faith, as the Bible is truth.” I am still at a loss as there are so many opinions and articles in Google, written about soul.
A LAMENT TO OUR FALLEN HERO.
Man, Oh man, what have you done, you let yourself live in a place so dark and silent, lying hidden in a corner of your mind growing in deadly earnest by the years, to one day take a gun and pull the trigger of no return, and vent your anger at the golden girl you choose to share and fill your needs.
She could not help or sense the inner anguish which even the world and adoring fans did not want to see as the task was impossible to fix the empty void that should have been your legs. It was much better to turn the other way and celebrate your fame instead. The dark took over and swallowed the fragile light. The once good deeds that made you famous will slowly fade away to pity. The pain and sorrow will always be with you. Oh man where will you find love and trust again.
Biblical Stories(Laura Weber)
BIBLICAL STORY.
This script is for Christians who do not go to church very often, and when they do attend out of duty, their hearts are not in the service. While the Minister is trying to instill and preach goodness to them, they lapse into a coma and think of other things, like the Sunday roast cooking away in the oven. They generally think the Old Testament Stories very boring. No disrespect meant. I loved reading about the people of those times. The way they conducted their lives is appealing and earthy in ancient times.
Sometimes I feel the need to go back to the roots of the Old Testament which is, understandable readable, very plain and well documented stories.
I am not an expert, or even a Biblical scholar, but I think Exodus and the stranger than fiction happenings of Moses are exciting. I have also added a few other things that have seriously interested me. This article is therefore a light hearted but also my interpretation of stories.
I imagined Moses as a person, who must have lived to a ripe old age, and worked tirelessly for his people. He was one of the most outstanding men ever written about. He never made profit or took wealth from them, like politicians here, corruption being top of the list, of how to make a quick buck.
My first history lesson was when I was 8 yrs old. My teacher was called Sister Mary Faith. I was a pupil of the Dominican Convent High School for girls from 6 years to 18 years of age, and then considered old enough to leave school. By that time I was steeped in Catholicism and Anglican religious teachings. My parents were Anglicans, but only attended church occasionally, like Christmas and other popular religious events. They sent us to Sunday school as children, and dutifully saw that we attended church services regularly during the holidays. For their trouble, my parents had a drawer full of gifts, such as Holy Cards, Cross and Chains and Rosaries from the tuck shop.
Quite unexpectedly in class one day, Sister held up a book and said to us “Children, this is the Holy Bible and I am going to teach you about God, your creator, and of the world we live in and the Heavens above where God resides.” Looking back, I realize what a clever way to give the children a lesson combining history and religious teachings, and if you think about it, the two mingle together happily, and this is really what the Bible is all about.
Sister explained to us that to find out the facts of history is like being a detective, who works diligently to solve crimes. Start at the beginning and sift through all the information at hand, then ask questions. Gather all the evidence together and make sure you have the correct site where the events took place.
Genesis in the Old Testament is an extra ordinary document of knowledge to which we can open the door to access a vast library of recorded ancient history. Admittedly not in the detail we expect today, but the letters and accounts are very credible to read and learn from, going back some 800 hundred years or more BC. The scripts are composed of sacred writings of ancient Hebrew origin, confirming the very foundation of Israel’s right to possession of the Holy Land. The Old Testament is divinely inspired, and in keeping with religious principles. Legendary and mythological stories also play a big part in biblical events.
From chapter one, verse one, was the beginning, and after the big bang, it took a couple of million years later for life and creation to begin in earnest, as the earth had to first settle itself before the evolutionary progress of the world could start or take place. Development began as nature intended, with dust. elements, mineral, wind, weather, water, plant and vegetation, animal and last of all man. Slowly from the sea a kind of life slowly started to evolve. The strangest prehistoric creatures and dinosaurs were next. It took another 60 million years or so to settle, and lastly man slowly started to emerge and make their presence felt.
If one looks at the time factor, the process of evolution on earth was nothing short of a miracle, when you see the human accomplishments. There is no comparison to the longevity of the universe. We have very little Knowledge of the origin, which is still a mystery so we cannot assume its history of how, when and where including the time it took.
A good story to start with is the Garden of Eden, that we can understand quite easily as its more in our concept and image of life, carried on to modern times. The Old Testament is full of information of life about the people of that era. The most famous and notorious of all time, Adam and Eve because they committed a crime and ate of the forbidden fruit. (I can only think of Bonnie and Clyde from the movies)
When the snake enticed Adam and Eve to partake of the red juicy apple held out to them, from the Tree of Knowledge, in other words “Brain,” and ate, poor Eve being women had to get the blame for caving in to the wiles of the snake. One day God came a calling, an unexpected visit to see how Adam and Eve were faring, and found them hiding behind a tree absolutely stark naked. It did not take much detective work to realize that the loss of their furry coat was due to eating of the forbidden fruit “Brain”. When man started to take the first steps to cannibalism it quickened their evolutionary progress, that definitely enabled them to go it alone, and take their first steps to freedom from God, who gave way and let them choose their own path of ambition and thereby growth. Because they had disobeyed God they were duly punished. Through this punishment, mind developed and advanced further, activating a harder and stronger mental ability to survive, which naturally led to intellectualism. Was this what happened in the Garden? For God to be so angry, and forevermore forbade that the truth be told. If this is so, the story was hidden in a cover up, so emotionally skillful and just as good as any sophisticated Governments could come up with. We know that the purest of fruit, is the apple, Innocent and healthy and lovely to eat. A cover up that has never really been disputed.
I cannot understand why God gave man freedom of choice! Such a momentous and responsible task hopefully with the intention to steer man to progress a good and Godly way. Our human traits were surely starting to show even then, which should have made anyone never mind God wary, pause and take a second look! Maybe someone got the wrong end of the stick and miss quoted the conversation in passing.
The traits of human emotions such as love, hate, `violence, jealousy, murder, wars, marriages, unfaithful husbands and wives are still part of our every day lives.
There were many exciting stories of love and torrid sexual affairs abounding with unfaithfulness, and constant news passed on by their daily telegraph i.e. word to mouth, to also make life full of glamour keeping gossip on going, which is nothing new, {as newspapers and magazines are especially catered and setup to print all the dirt, earning huge amounts of profit and popularity from the general public.} We are quite accustomed to all the same things in our life, from their times. We take for granted all the racy news as just one of those things, which we casually shrug off, until it happens to one of us. We would find our daily lives boring without the gossip columns, to keep us agog.
My imagination runs around in leaps and frolics around the story of the fallen angels. I am utterly fascinated at a most unusual turn of events that reads like a Barbara Cartland novel, famous for her great romantic stories. The theme is about the fallen angels that came down to earth and once here absolutely fell in love with the earthlings, as they saw that the women were very pretty. A group of handsome suitors seeking love on earth and not amongst the stars. It sounds suspiciously like space men, intent on courting the young girls, taking absolutely no notice, or much heed at God’s anger. Unbelievable as it is written, this story has the makings to be on top of the best seller list.
I have to mention other rules set down are the dietary laws on health. This is very good advice that applies even into modern times to seriously follow, as it will keep one trim and slim and fit. It is a very popular subject on TV who runs competitions with groups of overweight people; the biggest loser is one such program with prizes to be won at the end. We even have Dr.Oz on TV to dish out advice on what is good for us, and what not to touch. Why not just look up the Biblical laws. It is all there for anyone to follow and what is more there is no profit involved either to just study those chapters.
Above all is man’s hunt for God. There is throughout the Bible a code of decency, moralistic and ethical behavior which lectures and urges us to follow, but man is willful and disobeys laws, and tends to go his own path if not kept in check. We live in a parallel world of good\evil. So finely balanced, we need religion to keep a check and especially now, that drugs are so rife and can be bought anywhere turning young lives inside out. This is not an age thing, it goes on as well into older groups. In every aspect of life, we are ruled by brands, which advertise and encourage a pill for every occasion to feel good.
Brain feeds our Mind which exists because of matter i.e. nature. Mind works in many different facets: for example, brilliance, mediocre, saintly and martyrdom, envy, greed, light, dark thoughts, multiple disorder personality syndromes, hate violence and love, plus many thousands of emotional upheavals crowding our brains to work overtime especially when fed by drugs.
Hopefully there will always be a good side, and it is very probable that there will be the new kind of supermen in the future to carry out order. Just an after thought, the classical Composers will continue into the new world.
Genesis has been under discussion for decades. New Theories and scientific findings are put to the test at a terrific pace, a race against time for knowledge of proof to satisfy ourselves. Available are the different opinions and writings that we can learn from, and that provides excellent information. Genesis transcends any other written literature or documents. Modern science respects the first story of the creation, “in the beginning,” as the foundation of truth and so science had a kick start.
The amazing thing is that Man has never given up in his efforts to search for God. Just think about those early humans walking the earth in small vulnerable groups. The climb to evolution was hard and demanding. They were miserable and open to disasters, raw climatic and harsh weather conditions and the very hardships of nature to cope with.
The restless groups segregated always searching for an environment suited to their needs. Maybe there were amongst these weary travelers, humans who could assume leadership with one or two in the group who was perhaps a wise and clever man, with healing abilities, someone they could turn to for comfort. Gathered around a fire, early man must have always looked upward to the stars, trying some how to link themselves, feeling a connection to up there, which they could not understand but the emotional longings were there intense and real.
I have seen the beauty of the stars at night when we were on fishing trips in the African bush, gathered around our usual fire. Relaxed and comfortable the aromatic smell of the stew wafting over to us, bubbling in the pots with a drink in our hands, we would look up in wonder at a beautiful picture presented to us of an awesome sight, and wished we could be up there sailing amongst the stars. We really felt that somehow we did belong up there. My husband was a bit of an amateur star gazer, so he and the children would have long discussions on astrology, the Milky Way and Planets. A home learning process making lessons fun. I would feel like sailing in a dream boat among the stars, my hand trailing languidly in an imaginary sea.
Dust to dust, the saying is so true, as the dust that filters down to earth from space and the stars are a living part of us.
The word star enters into every part of our daily lives. For instant, stardom, stargazer, stardust, for lovers there are stars in your eyes, starlight, twinkle twinkle little star, a star on top of the Christmas tree, the fairy queen has a magic star, the morning star biblical. The list is endless, lucky star, used quite often for various popular brands.
We thus gave birth to astronomy and mathematics all that time ago in antiquity. In the future man will traverse the universe, as the new kind of space travelers and the new colonist’s adventurers searching for new worlds to settle
The theory of Quantum Physics and Religion fit into the very advanced scientific findings of thought. ‘Power collaborates with energy and thought and nature, (was always, is always and will always be.)
Energy=Nature\creator\God? Three in one? = Nature, energy, thought a combination of a forceful power?
We cannot see nature, but we see and are aware of what nature creates and builds, and destroys when it deems necessary, and what do we do in the midst of all the havoc surrounding us, we pray and ask God why we are being punished; what have we done wrong! Nature does not work or operate haphazardly; it has a purpose and a solid foundation of rules and laws within its own capacity.
Thought is our most powerful weapon. Thinking, exercises our brain to develop and we use it in anyway we so choose. Thought enables our mind to work in different facets.
Because we desired God to have a form, we made God in our image, thus cleverly turning it around for the masses to understand that we are born in his image, making God like one of us. I was told we are born in his spiritual image. This does not make any sense to me, when we have so much violence and punishment in us. We must ask ourselves if this is how we view God, Reward and punishment, which is exactly what we humans are most capable of doing. God was then personalized and became head of the household.
In all of these endless opinions, findings, questions, and religious writings, where exactly is God? One thing is certain we all want a piece of God and man jealously guards what we think of is our rights to possession as the only way.
God’s gift was to provide earth with a pantry to feed and help us to grow to where we are today. Somehow, I do not think we truly appreciate what we have. We are always fighting and causing wars and weapons to destroy each other or rule and dominate rather cruelly or to simply take by force. The different peoples of the world have never been satisfied with God being shared and only want their god worshiped amongst their own racial groups, to claim God for themselves, to suit their environment, so there has never really been peace among religions.
Humans have always been obsessed with recording their own lives, firstly from word to mouth, and then on through the generations as we evolved to the present recordings certifying our birth and death. The Bible and other religions were once in the forefront of readable news. Raw paintings on rocks, in caves and carvings tell us many stories. Even Hollywood got on the bandwagon and I shall always remember Gregory Pecks’ dark good looks as King David.
When I eventually realized Jesus was born in Palestine and could have easily been a PLO and looked like Arafat, I was stunned at the news. In my innocence I had always imagined him to look exactly like the statues and pictures painted with a light tan, piercing blue eyes and long blonde hair. My cousin was most insulted when on a religious tour of Israel, the tour guides spoke Hebrew with a little mix of English. My cousin was under the impression that English was the language of Biblical times and she informed the bemused guide that he had no right to speak Hebrew. Luckily he never understood a word she was saying.
MOSES.
Exodus stories intrigue me. Moses termed as the greatest leader, law-giver and founder of Israel’s religious and national life. He had more effect in promoting God than anyone ever has.
Religious scholars are of the opinion that Moses was not the sole author of Exodus. There were several after his time. A long process was undertaken periodically to rewrite and modernize very carefully accurate revisions before the form we now know and read.
Moses never told lies or made empty promises. His teachings sank so deep, that when Christianity turned against the Jewish people and hounded them with terrible acts of cruelty for nearly 2000 thousand years, and banished them from their land, the Jews hung on to the word, and never lost their faith and belief. I have a great deal of reverence and respect for the teachings of the Torah. Their whole faith is God based.
Moses worked tirelessly for his people all his life. He built and constructed a nation, and gave them the rule of law, codes and Torah to practice and live by.
His love for God comes through very clearly in everything he did. He had the most incredible human conversations and encounters and lasting friendship with God.
We all know the story of Moses who as a baby was found floating in the reeds and rescued, from a watery grave and appropriately named Moses. He was taken to the Palace. A wet nurse (maybe his mother) was produced almost too promptly, and by a strange coincidence she just happened to be on hand. Moses lived a very privileged life in the palace. Plans must have already been underfoot before his birth to make him God’s ambassador on earth.
When God did appear at the appropriate time, to an adult Moses with instructions to free his people from slavery and take them out of Egypt, Moses did not seem to happy to leave behind a life of luxury and comfort. He portrayed a great deal of reluctance to even get involved in the exodus and make a start. God had to nag him and show many powerful magical tricks and miracles of breath taking impossible feats which through sheer hard work had to be produced for Moses to eventually agree on.
And so the miraculous story of the deliverance of God’s people began. The journey of the escape reads like science fiction. A pillar of cloud leading the way with intelligent instructions points to a reconnaissance force at work. It almost reminds me of the stories my husband told me. During the war he was in the South African Air Force and then seconded to the South African Defense Force operating in the desert with the tank reconnaissance units which were then sent to Italy. I never heard of a story quite like a cloud leading the way. Other incidents and human reconnaissance spotting enemy lines, contacts made by battery run specialist radio operators, and disguised spying hidden in a variety of covers and look out points Underwater divers, subs, drop out points by parachutes floating down silently, behind the scenes landings at night but always a person involved in these operations.
When the Egyptians realized what had happened they immediately gave chase with their top notch army of soldiers, chariots, and commanders to capture the really ragtag Israelites, who could hear the Egyptians closing in.
The panic amongst the Israelites must have been felt, egging each line to go faster. Maybe it went something like this! “Hurry up the leaders in the front line; we can hear the enemy not too far behind. Aaron get moving and for goodness sake Josh, you are lagging. You have put on to much weight and you are slowing us down, and holding up the rows, please get your feet moving faster.”The call was sent out for the young athletes to carry the babies, and small children piggyback. The strapping weight lifters were given the old people and infirm to carry. “Leaders up front, quicken your pace” the reply must have come back something like this “shove it mate, we are tired and hungry and doing our best.” “That is not good enough, take it one step further. Sorry to nag but we are so close to the crossing, do not lose heart.” Once over and safe, the Israelites must have stood on the bank and watched in awe as the sea closed in on the enemy. Sighs of relief could be heard all round. So began the long sojourn of their stay in the desert and what happened during those times until they reached the Promised Land.
My version plays a big part on my imagination which goes to work on some very eerily odd occurrences.
I found it strangely compelling reading about what happened on the mountain. Before the first meeting could be arranged, Moses was given two instructions, “Come at dusk and not earlier. Cover your face with a veil, because my appearance in a light so bright will blind you.” The Ten Commandants were given to Moses in a series of these strange circumstances. When Moses came down from the meetings, his people did not give him a joyous welcome, but instead shrank back in fear at the sight of the bright shinning light on his face confronting them.
The building of the Tabernacle of Worship was given with such precise and exact measurements are bewildering in the context of a building with quantity surveying quality. Pity our slap dash cutting corners building contractors could take an example from this chapter.
The Day of Atonement. A lecture given to Aaron via his brother Moses via God is even more astonishing. Aaron was only allowed to go to the tent at the appointed time to the most holy place, by special permission from God. Before he could go behind the curtain, he had to bath and wear protective clothing. Once all these instructions had been understood, God appeared to him in a cloud above the Covenant Box. If Aaron disobeyed any one of the rules or made a mistake, he would most certainly die.
Poor old Moses found that his people were an unruly bunch to deal with and control, and did not come up to standard as a strong leader. He was severely punished by his beloved God and not allowed to take his people into the Promised Land. I wonder how Moses felt when he stood from a far distance and only glimpse the land. Quite a cruel act of justice meted out to an old man.
I love the story of the golden calf which is nothing new or even surprising as we still worship gold, wealth, greed, and a variety of other human failings such as pop stars, sport stars, idols, Hollywood. We tend to treat these gifted entertainers as Gods and do not mind handing out large sums of money which is on our long lists of one of our failings. I once heard that Michael Jackson was considered the modern Jesus.
Moses did not have to go into caves to communicate with God, or disappear for months even years into the wilderness. He had God practically at his side all the time. Who did Moses talk to?
Religions are a most powerful force in the world that people will follow, as it gives them a sense of assurance of something good to live accordingly by love and care. But it also can produce fanaticism and violence. People unfortunately misread the Bible and use it to suit themselves.
Once at a Bible study group, we were asked to describe God. I drew a blank and answered as best as I was capable of, “It is a feeling deep within oneself. No bright lights or voices speaking to me and no advice telling me what to do. Just a silence and peace.”
Sister Mary Faith told us in one of her many lessons that God gave us a soul when we were born and when we passed on our soul left our body. A soul has to be without blemish or stained by human weakness that does not have to pass on the consequences or the wrong senses. Our soul is therefore pure and has to be separate from our mind which could try to corrupt our soul.. I put my hand up, and with a resigned look she asked “Laura, now what is it that you have not understood, and please do not waste my time with inane questions!” I asked sister “Why were we given a soul, and then have it taken away when we died, and for what purpose in the first place did we get one and in which part of our body did the soul live?”When I got through all the queries, sister said to me “Laura you have to take everything in complete faith, as the Bible is truth.” I am still at a loss as there are so many opinions and articles in Google, written about soul.
A LAMENT TO OUR FALLEN HERO.
Man, Oh man, what have you done, you let yourself live in a place so dark and silent, lying hidden in a corner of your mind growing in deadly earnest by the years, to one day take a gun and pull the trigger of no return, and vent your anger at the golden girl you choose to share and fill your needs.
She could not help or sense the inner anguish which even the world and adoring fans did not want to see as the task was impossible to fix the empty void that should have been your legs. It was much better to turn the other way and celebrate your fame instead. The dark took over and swallowed the fragile light. The once good deeds that made you famous will slowly fade away to pity. The pain and sorrow will always be with you. Oh man where will you find love and trust again.
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