Matthew

I was walking through a market street in Jerusalem and I met an old man who wanted to tell me a story. "Fourteen generations passed after Abraham's birth. And so Jacob fathered Joseph," began the old man. I sat down on the dusty and cracked street corner and listened to his story.” Joseph was a noble man. He married Mary, a virgin.
Before Mary and Joseph "came together" Mary saw the Holy Ghost and he told her that she would soon be pregnant with God's baby. A short time later Mary was with child. Joseph immediately got worried. But the Ghost of the Lord appeared before him. He told Joseph that Mary was carrying God's baby and that he was to name the baby Jesus. And so it was."

"In a land far from Bethlem a prophet prophesized that a virgin would give birth to a baby and his name shall be Emmanuel." He paused and looked deeply in my eyes. And he continued "Emmanuel means God with us. Anyway during the time that Jesus was born Herod was the king. After Jesus was born some wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem to inform the king, Herod that the King of The Jews had just been brought forth. Troubled by this news Herod sent these wise men to find this said "King of Jews" and bring him back. These men traveled for days and arrived to Bethlem and they saw Mary and Joseph with Jesus. They immediately began to worship Jesus. That night God came to them in a dream and warned them to not go back to Jerusalem because they would put young Jesus in danger. These men parted back to their home on another route in order to not pass through Herod's home."
"The night before the Holy Ghost appeared in Joseph's dream and waned him that Herod would try to find and kill Jesus and told him to flee in to Egypt. And that was exactly what Joseph did. He took his wife and his baby to Egypt. Herod killed all the children thought Judea and Jesus remained safe back in Egypt." He let out a small chuckle and looked down at his torn up shoes.
"Some years passed and Herod died and after his death the Holy Ghost appeared in Josephs dream and told them to go back. When they arrived they got scared that Archelaus did reign so they kept on going and arrived in Nazareth. "
" In those neck of the woods John the Baptist was baptizing people in the wilderness and freeing them from their sins. Jesus heard about this and went out to find this man and got baptized. Jesus was exempt from all his previous sins but was about to be tempted by the devil. Can you imagine being put to test by the devil himself? I sure wouldn't have been able to pass that test." Said the man in a sarcastic tone. "Well anyhow Jesus passed all of Satan’s tests and went on and began to preach the word of God. He began to become more powerful and famous. He healed the sick and went to the top of a mount and gave a long sermon on hoe hate should of been abolished. His sermon was so touching that when he came down from the mount, a huge crowd of people came around him and began to follow him. In that crowd a leper approached Jesus and with just one touch, Jesus cured him."
"Jesus’ fame grew more and more and he began to cure many, he even brought Jarius' daughter back from the dead. His miracles astonished many and he grew so popular that he decided to choose 12 men and make him his apostles to spread his preachings. These men would be the most loyal to him. Everything was going so well for Jesus but where there is good there always has to be something bad. A group of unfaithful quickly formed and called themselves Pharisees.”

I was so dumbfounded by this mans story that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. He suddenly stopped and began to cough. I took some water out of a small canteen I had and offered him some. He smiled and drank. “Even though Jesus had enemies. He kept teaching and as he traveled his crowd of admirers grew he began to teach with parables which were stories that he made up with a message to teach people a lesson.

Herod had put John the Baptist in jail and eventually beheaded him because his wife wanted John’s head for her birthday. So Jesus apostles heard of this and went to look for john’s body to burry it. So they did and went to tell Jesus about the tragic incident. Jesus went into the dessert alone and when his disciples heard of the happening they followed him. When Jesus saw the enormous crowd that followed he healed the sick among the crowd. When it got late his apostles told Jesus it would be a good idea to send the disciples to the near by cities to get food but Jesus said it was not necessary that he would feed them. He only had 5 loaves of bread and two fish. And all tighter there was 5000 disciplines but Jesus miraculously multiplied the loaves and the fish and fed all the people. His followers could not believe this but to top things off,” said the old man, “ he walked on water after that little meal.” He suddenly stopped and said, “ I’m sorry I am old and I get confused a lot, first he walked on water and then he fed the 4000 followers. He smiled embarrassed. But I quickly comforted him telling him that it was all right. And he began, “ After these miracles he moved on into another city, I cant recall it’s name, and he healed a lunatic. His fame kept on growing and he taught many how to forgive and how to love.

But not everyone was happy with Jesus. The rulers began to conspire against him and he fore saw his horrid future. That night he went into the garden and began to agonize, I remember so well who I heard I herd his cries.” He looked up at me as if he had known what I was about to ask. “ You knew Jesus?” I exclaimed he looked back at me and nodded. “My name is Matthew. Well let me finish this story.”

In the end Jesus was falsely accused and delivered to Pilate bound and ready to be crucified. He was nailed to a wooden cross that said, “This is Jesus, The King Of The Jews. Jesus then died and was buried but when Mary Magdalene went to look for him she saw that he was missing from his tomb. Jesus had come to find us and ask us to please spread his message all over the world.

John

Dear Tangen,

It's been a while since we last talked; I hope you're doing well. I
recall that last time we met you asked about Jesus. In this letter I
shall tell you about my experience.

Years before Jesus Christ was born, I professed God's message to the
Jews. After Jesus was born and already a full grown man, I had the
pleasure to meet him among many other people who followed his views
and beliefs. In a wedding in Cana where there was no wine Jesus asked
for six waterpots of stone and miraculously turned the water into
wine. When Jesus returned to Jerusalem he found merchants on the
temple and enraged about this, he kicked them out. He preached that it
was impossible for a man to enter the Kingdom of God without being
born again, and this rebirth he talked about, is the whole concept of
baptism, which he did in Judea to his disciples.

In a trip to Galilee, Jesus stopped in Samaria where, after revealing
himself as the savior of the world to a woman, his message became
widespread across the small city earning him the respect and adoration
of the population.

When he arrived to Galilee, a man whose son was terminally ill asked
him to cure the boy, which he did instantly. Later on, in Jerusalem,
he cured a man who had been crippled for a long time. But this
miracle, happened to occur on the Sabbath day, making it somehow
unlawful. It was for this reason that orthodox Jews started becoming
upset about Jesus and his miracles.

After this Jesus headed to the Sea of Galilee followed by a large
crowd. In front of them he turned five barley loaves and two fishes
into so many, he fed all of his followers, at the time, who were more
than five thousand. Later after that, his disciples witnessed him
amazingly walking on water.

During one of his teachings in the synagogue of Capernaum, Jesus
talked about how he was the Son of God and how he had descended from
heaven and many other extravagant ideas that scared away many of his
disciples. From this moment on, he had only twelve and supposedly knew
which one would betray him.

One day as Jesus pondered in the Mount of Olives, they brought him a
woman who had committed adultery. According the Jewish law, this woman
would have to be stoned to death. But Jesus forgave this woman,
claiming that no man was free from sin and it would be unfair to
condemn her without doing so with all the other sinners, perhaps also
including himself, for he was also a man.

During his journeys across the country he encountered many opponents
and enemies. Once in a synagogue after defying the religious views of
orthodox Jews they tried to stone him, but fortunately he got away
without a scratch.

After curing a man that had been blind from birth in a Sabbath day,
the Pharisees where very angry at Jesus and expressed their wish to
stone him to death for blasphemy. But once again he escaped. Even
though the Pharisees acknowledged and even accepted Jesus' miracles,
they feared that if they went public and left him alone, he would gain
more followers and disrupt the established social order. The
Pharisees decided to condemn Jesus to death, causing him to hide.

When he was in Jerusalem, Jesus heard a voice from the sky telling him
his time was about to come. So in his last supper he told his
disciples about his fate. Later he would be arrested by government
officials and crucified, where he died and resurrected after three
days. This way he proved to mankind that he was in fact God's son.

Tangen, my friend, this is his story. I hope to meet you again in the
near future.

My best regards,

John

Dear Mr. Tangen

So many things have happened since we last saw each other. I went to a beautiful city called Bethlem some years ago, and met a baby boy that had just been born, his name is Jesus. I think you know Mary, his mother. She tells that the angel Gabriel went to her in a dream and told her that she was going to give birth to the Son of God. His father is a nice man named Joseph. I am going to tell you their story.

On my trip, I also met another baby. His name is john. He was born in Nazareth. His mother's name is Elisabeth. She is the daughter of Aaron. Her husband's name is Zechariah and he is a priest. But that was a longtime ago and time has passed and these two boys have grown up.

John began to baptize people and wash away all their sins in the desert of Judea. He has become a man of god. But the evil king, Herod, who disagreed with baptism arrested John and put him in jail.

Jesus also became a man of god. He began to perform miracles, save lives, cure lepers, bring people from the dead and he even does exorcism. He also tamed a storm, and fed a crowd of 5,000 people with scarce food. People admired him and praised him because he claimed to be the Son of God. He began to have many followers and he called out twelve men who became his biggest admirers and followers. Jesus began to preach and his apostles followed him everywhere and preached his word among people. Most of the Jew's loved Jesus for he was there King. But a group of people thought he was a farce. They were called the Pharisees. They were completely against him but Jesus did not mind them. He kept on preaching and continued like always. But one day he was conversing with his apostles and he told them that he foresaw that he was going to die.

Worried that he will soon be killed he hurries back to Jerusalem. When he arrives he has trouble getting through the town because a crowd of disbelieves attacks him but he manages to get through them.

With the feeling that his end is near he warns his followers about the apocalyptic. He gathers all his apostles and has a special supper for them. He tells them that that would be there last supper together.

In the end Judas betrays Jesus and Jesus is arrested. He is crucified shortly after his arrest and he is nailed to a wooden cross and let there to die. Joseph being a very loving and loyal to his friend goes buries him and doesn’t leave him rotting on the cross. His good friend Mary Magdalene goes looking for him to his grave and finds that he is not there any longer. Jesus had resuscitated and went to tell his loyal apostles to spread his word and his teachings and to make the religion bigger and stronger.
This is a very important story and I think that one of Jesus biggest concerns was that some one might forget his story and I hope that never happens because I am a loyal disciple of his and I don’t want this story to be forgotten.

I hope to keep in touch with you my dear friend,
Luke

The Tao of The Bible

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” (Exodus20: 4)“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”  (Exodus20: 7)

While I was reading the Tao I kept on remembering many passages from the Bible. The passages above are two of the Ten Commandments. Similar to the first passages from the Tao Te Ching, it is stated in the bible that one must not have any image or representation of God nor may one use his name in vain.

“The Tao that can be told

Is not the eternal Tao

The name that can be named

Is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.

Naming is the origin

Of all particular things.” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 1)

 

The first thing that is said in The Tao Te Ching is that the Tao cannot be explained and it can’t have a name. Similar to that of the Ten Commandments, one should not use Gods name in vain nor shall one name the Tao.

These two “rules” are similar because they are both trying to preserve the power and importance of the Bible and the Tao Te Ching, because once you name something so important and mysterious as the Bible or the Tao you are taking away some of its importance and mystery. If you make an image of god, you are reducing it even more. And eventually both will be reduced to a simple theory, which is exactly what these two passages are trying to prevent.

 

The Tao is supposed to always remain a mystery and it is suppose to be impossible to explain. So are Gods powers. We know that Taoism exists but we don’t know its source. Same with Gods powers, we know they exist but we don’t know the real source. The true essence of faith lies within these principles.

“Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations

arise from the same source.

This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.

The gateway to all understanding.”(Tao Te Ching: Chapter 1)

“For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse…”(Romans1: 20)

I began to look at the New Testament and realized that some of the Lord’s teachings are the same of those in the Tao. For example:

“The more you talk, the more you are likely to sin. If you are wise, you will keep quiet. “(Proverbs 10:19)


”The mouth, on the other hand, becomes exhausted if you talk too much. Better to keep your thoughts inside you.” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 5)

Both are saying that you should keep your mouth shut for useless matters. This shows that the Bible does teach some similar things as the Tao. I have found that these two have many characteristics in common and that the Tao and The Bible have some similar teachings. I think that the Tao expresses them in a much more direct way.

“Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”(Matthew 26:52)

“People who try to take the executioner's place are like people that try to take the Master Carpenter's place. If you use the Master's tools, you just cut your own hands.” (The Tao Te Ching: Chapter 74)

In the bible we assume that God is supposed to be teaching the good and defending it. But that is no the case, God is impartial because he is the creator of everything and everyone thus he loves all his creations. But what about a thief? That’s still is one of his creations. All humans sin and yet, God still forgives all of our sins. God is above good and evil.

The Tao doesn't take sides;

it gives birth to both good and evil.

The Master doesn't take sides;

she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:

it is empty yet infinitely capable.

The more you use it, the more it produces;

the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center.” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 5)

The Tao is also like God in this sense; it is above good and evil, and in Taoism the yin yang represents this.

“When people see some things as beautiful,

other things become ugly.

When people see some things as good,

other things become bad.

 

Being and non-being create each other.

Difficult and easy support each other.

Long and short define each other.

High and low depend on each other.

Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master

acts without doing anything

and teaches without saying anything.

Things arise and she lets them come;

things disappear and she lets them go.

She has but doesn't possess,

acts but doesn't expect.

When her work is done, she forgets it.

That is why it lasts forever.” (Tao Te Ching: Chapter 2)

In Taoism good and bad compliment each other. Without bad, good wouldn’t exist, and without good, bad wouldn’t exist either. Good and bad balance each other out. In every wrong, there is some good and in every good there is some bad.

Both of these books are the basic pillars to universal beliefs. And they are very similar. They are both spiritual guides to help their readers become better people. But the bible is a religious book, and I believe that the Tao is more a philosophy than a religion. But they both have common basic principles and teach their readers and followers positive life lessons. They both make humans undertake the quest to find a spiritual life through a matter as deep as faith. 

The Tao In GO

While I was playing Go, I began to think of how the Tao Te Ching and Go are alike. In the Tao, we learn how to balance good and evil with the yin yang. When you play Go you have to make the right move to win. The Tao is trying to teach us how to become better people. It is like a spiritual a spiritual guide that tries to make humans better people. In Go we must look for the right choice to move in order to win.  much like in life. we could use the game Go as a metaphor with life. You always have too look for the right move to make to do better and we may be in difficult situations through out our lives but there is always a solution  and like the Yin Yang, there is always some good in bad and always something bad in good. 

Love everything you do

One thing I noticed was about Confucius was that he always says very wise things but all his preachings have to do with love. I think that everything that Confucius did, he did it with love and gave the best of his energy.

"Set your heart upon the way, rely upon Virtue, lean upon Goodness, and explore widely in your cultivation of the arts." This quote is really inspiring. I have really enjoyed reading these analects. There are many lessons to be learned from them.  This quote really made me think.

 You can understand this quote by dividing it up.

The first part: " Set your heart upon the way… ". Confucius is saying that the "way" is the path of life, so you must love your life and love everything you do in life.

The second part: "…rely upon Virtue…” Here you must always believe that everything you do have a positive outcome and you always have to have faith in that goodness is always on your side.

The last part: "…and explore widely in your cultivation of the arts." Here he is asking all of us to cultivate the arts to help and give new input to the society we are in.

He is asking to be positive and to love and live our lives and love what we do and find the goodness in everything at all times.

Confucius is very wise and I love whom he writes. The beauty of his writing really touches 

love for learning

Reading Analects 4 through 6 a quote from the Analects really caught my attention. "In any village of ten households there are surely those who are as dutiful or trustworthy as I am, but there is no one who matches my love for learning," (5.28) I began to analyze this quote and I realized what Confucius meant. If you don’t love what you are learning you wont enjoy it so you want really learn. Confucius teaches about finding a love for learning. We can see that he wants his students to love what they do in order to find goodness in their selves and to learn more you should love what your doing.
Many people I know, who are a lot older than me, have always told me that the essence in learning is not the same anymore. Our parents or grandparents use to go to school because they enjoyed learning. Everyday was more exciting because they would learn knew things. I’m sure that these would all be perfect examples of people who do have a true love for learning new things, people who are thrilled with the thought of learning knew things, and this isn’t only in their childhoods, this is all there life’s. I could perfectly use my parents as an example they are in their forties and they still love learning new things. They really enjoy it.
Today, the majority of students attend class because it is am obligation. We are forced and we can’t seem to find a joy in learning and this makes me go back to Confucius’s quote. Maybe he is right, we must find a joy and an entertainment in learning if we really want to succeed and learn more.