Albert Einstein

"A human being is part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness." This reading was pretty cool. I especially like this quote. It's sort of crazy to think that our lives, everything in our lives, how ever big it may feel, is really just a small tiny portion of this universe. everything we see everyday, the people we meet, the things we do, is just a small portion of what else is out there in this world. sometimes its hard to realize this, but i think it's really good to. we need to realize that we're not the center of the universe. growing up i remember i used to think that everyone around me was a robot, and that everything is just planned out and fake and i'm the only real human being on the earth. kind of like that move with jim carey, except the people around him were not robots. it's pretty silly. but i think traveling has really opened my eyes to see that there's an entire world out there, besides my little world here in california. whenever i'm in a bad mood, having a bad day, i try to think of others out there in this world really truly suffering, as i'm sitting there with this bad attitude in my head because of a bad grade i got or something. This reading goes on saying that this sort of thought is a prison to us. that we need to go out embrace every living thing and nature.

Simone Weil

One thing that really stood out to me in this reading was probably the very first part where it says "every time we say "thy will be done," we should have in mind all possible misfortunes and all possible blessings.." I've said "thy will be done" many times growing up in my religious home & school, but never really thought too much into what i was really saying. I mean i knew what i was saying, but i never really thought about how it could be either a blessing or a misfortune. we don't often think that when we pray to God, that he would put misfortune in our lives (even though you're told as a child that God causes earthquakes cause you were a bad girl..). I guess its just interesting to think about because God can cause terrible things to happen in our lives, but I just don't know if He really would do that. This blog is starting to remind me of the presentation we had the other day on the book called "When bad things happen to good people." once i graduated high school i started to realize how brainwashed i had been my entire life at that christian school. and then some of the most life changing events in my life occurred. up until that point i never lost any family members or any friends. then my grandpa passed away and i had a friend commit suicide, and a friend who died in a crash. i guess it was easier to understand my g-pa's death because he was old, but my friends? they were so young. why would God let anything like that happen to me, to my friend's families and other friends, or to them. I don't think their loved ones deserved it, and maybe they all learned "valuable" lessons from these incidents or whatever, but just thinking about the pain that their parents will feel every day for the rest of their lives because of loosing their child, it just seems so completely unfair to me. This is something i still don't understand to this day. and it is something that has completely made me re-think my faith.

The Hermetic Writings

The part i liked most in this reading was the last paragraph. It says "Wanting to know God is the road that leads to God, and it is an easy road to travel." It goes on saying that God will meet you anywhere because he exist everywhere. Growing up in a Christian school and family, i always considered myself a Christian. I did the whole church, youth group thing and lived that Christian life. But once i got out of the christian school, i realized i only believed that becuase i was taught to believe it. Its all i had known all my life. It wasn't truly my decision, but a decision that was made for me. I never had the choice to go to a public school. So everyday from the 3rd grade to senior year in high school, i had christianity shoved down my throat. everyone at my school was the same. we all believed the same things, said the same things, even dressed the same. I dont know, but now i look back and feel like it was completely brainwashing. so i stepped away from the church. I still believe in God but i don't know exactly what kind of belief i have. Its hard to explain, but i guess i'm more spritual now? but i feel like people should not be forced to believe in anything. i don't want to be a christian because i've been told my entire life that i have to be, because it's the way or whatever. i want to be a christian because i believe and agree with the religion. that is why the first sentance really stuck out to me. like i said, i still believe in God and that he created everything. But i see God a little different than how i was taught to see him. But i believe that He is everywhere. and that proof that he exists is everywhere. thats why i really enjoyed where it says "who is more evident than God? that is why he made all things, so that through all things you can see him." i got the chance to go to costa rica this summer for a month through a study abroad program. during the week i lived in the city and had school, but on the weekends the program would take us on trip to the rain forest and the coast. Ive never seen anything so beautiful. there were so many times, where we would be ontop of a hill, or zip lining through the rainforest, or on the beach watching monkeys, and thinking "How can anyone not believe that there is a God out there? how can anyone believe that this was just a big accident?" so much beauty could not come from just science. it's proof.

Philo

I truly enjoyed what this reading said about God. I love the part that says "He alone rejoices, he alone feels delight, he alone is happy, he alone enjoys absolute peace; he has no grief or fear, free of any evil or pain, and lives in eternal bliss." This gives a new insight to God for many people. I feel like many religions have completely twisted and manipulated the image that their followers have on God. I don't think anyone should fear God. I guess just know what he's worthy of. This reminds me of when i was little, I lived in LA during the 90's and experienced some pretty crazy earthquakes in the middle of the night. I remember as a child being completely terrified waking up in the middle of the night to my entire house shaking, my brother's yelling for my parents, and just trying to figure out what was going on. I clearly remember one night when we were sitting in the living room after an earthquake, just listening to the radio and asking my aunt and mom why earthquakes happen. they responded by saying God was mad cause so many kids were being bad, that he decided to shake the earth. As a child hearing this was the most horrifying thing ever! God, the one who had control of everything, the one who made us this earth, the one who we're supposed to give thanks to and worship, was causing all this because kids were bad?? Now of course i know better, but i don't understand why religion would want people to fear God. I feel like this earth, and everything on it was a gift from God. Everyone in our lives, good or bad, is a gift from God. We learn from everything around us, especiallythe bad, making us wiser human beings. This reading is probably one of my favorites so far this semester.

Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali

I love the first part of this reading. I love what it says about beauty and the perception of it. There are many different perceptions of beauty and mine may be different from yours. but i love the idea of loving something the way it is and it's beauty, not because of how we benefit from it. the example they used was "green plants and running water are loved for themselves, not for the sake of drinking the water or eating the plants." it's an amazing way to look at everything around us. as i sit here and write about this, i just think about outside my house, all the trees that surround it and the plants and flowers and animals living there. especially during the fall season, its just beautiful. to think about a tree, how unique it is. it's a whole different living form. it's so intricate and unique. how it feeds and how it grows and how the leaves fall and grow back and how it serves as a home for other animals. it's so complex yet so simple and so beautiful at the same time. i feel like its just proof that there is a higher being out there. There is a God. i refuse to believe that such a beautiful thing was caused by accident or a big bang.

Abu Sa'Id Lbn Abi'l-Khayr

my favorite part of this reading was the last passage. especially when it says "..like the sun, they must show the same face to all." i think this passage really stood out to me because of something i'm currently struggling with. i don't really understand why it is so hard for people to be real with everyone. so many times i see friends acting one way around a certain crowd, then another way around a different crowd. it's kind of weird to me, and also sometimes frustrating. i'm sure we've all done it somehow, but i don't know. it just seems a lot harder to me to try and pretend to be something i'm not. i don't think this passage was speaking about this exactly, but its just really stood out to me and i really liked that sentance a lot.
anyways the first part of that passage talks about speaking well about all men even if they're there or not. and how bringing joy to a single person is better than building a lot of shrines for worship and how enslaving a soul with kindness is better than setting a thousand slaves free. i felt really enlightened by this passage. it made me think about how powerful a kind person can be. they says nice guys finish last, but i think they accomplish so much more important things than the bad guys. every now and then you meet one of those people who are just so kind and warm hearted and it really makes me think. how are they so kind to people? people are messed up! this world is messed up! yet they're so sweet and loving to people they hardly even know. meeting people like that gives me hope for man kind. and it really just makes me happy to know that there's still people out there that care.

Jesus of Nazareth

I loved all the passages in this reading. This is what Jesus was about. Love. Compassion. Happiness.
The first passage talks about loving your enemies and do good to them. The way I see it, if you have the love of God in you, you will show it to everyone, even your enemies. Jesus did not hate anyone. I CAN NOT stand seeing these "Christians" out protesting at gay rallies with signs saying "God Hates Fags". What a terrible TERRIBLE way to spread God's love. These people are the worst example of it!! We were all made equally. He loves us all. Even our greatest enemies. That's what true God love is really about. Showing love and compassion to the unloving. I think I wrote about this in a previous blog, but I went to a Christian school from the 3rd grade till I graduated high school. Everyone around me was a Christian. My teachers, my peers, the staff, everyone. But I saw some of the most terrible things there coming from these people. Like i said, God is love. Jesus is love. Christianity is about showing God's love because you have found it, right? Isn't it about spreading the word about what Jesus did for us, because he loved us? I saw so much hate at that school, especially through the church. They looked down on others for not living up to "God's standard", but when behind closed doors, these people were just as bad! They would only befriend other Christians. They would ignore and treat the non-Christians terribly. that's the worst way to share God's love. why share it with people who already have it and know it? When someone would make a mistake, every single person would look down on you and talk so much about you, yes even the teachers. It was terrible. And I know I can't judge the religion because of bad experiences I had at that school, but because of what i saw there, at other churches, through other christian's around the world, it made me realize I want nothing to do with the religion Christianity. I'm a believer of God and Jesus and I love them, but i feel like as long as I'm good to others, good to this earth, good to myself, then I'm doing exactly what God wanted me to do on this earth.