Barack Obama

Senator Barack Obama is one of the best speakers I have heard. He not only masters rhetoric perfectly but he inspires and captivates the audience. He maintains his cool and its as if everything just flowed for him. He also is completely graceful through out the whole speech even when he attacks Senator McCain; you have to pay a lot of attention to actually see that he is attacking him. It is just incredible how well he speaks. I found a lot of pathos, ethos, and logos. 

Here is an example of pathos:"... My mom who raised my sister and me, on her own while she worked and earned her degree. Who once turned to food stamps but was till able to send us to the best schools in the country...." 

 One example of ethos: “It is not that John McCain doesn’t care, John McCain simply doesn’t get it"

 Logos: “Next week in Minnesota the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Chaney will ask this country for a third"

Will there always be a problem?

Since the begging of the Bible there is always conflict with God's wishes. Something always gets in the way of God's commands. In the Genesis, Adam and Eve and expelled from the Garden of Eden because they ate from the tree that they had been told not to. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it waspleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6). Also in genesis, after Noah awakes from his drunkenness he punishes Ham for not taking care of his father when he was drunk, Ham must become his brothers' servant. “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” (Genesis 9: 25) 

In Exodus the pharaoh doesn't want to let the Hebrew free so God causes the ten plagues.  And now, in the book of Samuel I find that the Lord tells David that he shall go to Hebron "And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron" (Book 2 of Samuel: 1) Once at Hebron the Hebrews appointed David as the King of Hebrews. “And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah." (Book 2 of Samuel: 4). But then Abner divides the Hose of Judah in two by naming Ja'besh–gil'e-ad the King of Hebrews. "But Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host, took Ish–bo'sheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahana'im;and made him king over Gil'e-ad, and over the Ash'urites, and over Jezreel, and over E'phra-im, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel." (Book 2 of Samuel: 8-9)

Maternal love

"But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever. "the end of the first book of samuel we can see that Samuel's mother doesn't want to go up to see the lord because her son is too young and wants to wean her child. she just wants to take care of him, in fear that the Lord will take Samuel from her and that he will die because he is not used to milk which is not from his mother's breast milk.

She wants the best for her baby and is willing to sacrifice her baby to the Lord as long as she knows that he will be fine. This reminds me of my sister's love towards her baby. She is completely dedicated to her. She is doing everything, she hasn't hired a nanny like most people do. instead she is 100% dedicated to her baby and she is so happy and in love. There is nothing like a mothers love towards her baby. 

When something is wrong my mother is always the first to know because she feels it. and its like that with almost all moms. It is almost as if they had a sixth sense and they were connected to their children.

Laws

Exodus chapters 22-35 were very difficult to get through. I couldn't get through it easily. I had to stop a lot. I didn't understand much. Something that really caught my attention was the begging of chapter 22. God began to make laws of restitution and human relations.  These laws resemble a lot those of today. there are many that of course are not similar but some like "If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay doubleIf the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he have put his hand unto his neighbor's goods."(Exodus 22:7-8). Today this would translate into a court hearing for  a possible thief or suspect. 

This shows us that there have always been laws even since the begging... only to tempt us more and more.

Peom Meter

The vile/ cushions/ above/ the air/ A
Weeping /the death/ of the sun, B
The streets /resting/ full of /despair/ A
Shooting/ his tears/ with a gun, B
Hit by/ bullets,/ crying /in pain C
Walking/ alone /beneath/ the rain/C

Through-out Time

Since the majority of us are young we are taught what is wrong and what is right. When this comes to mind our parents sometimes talk about the Ten Commandments. 

These are the Ten Commandments:

3	¶ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4	¶ 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:
5	Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6	And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7	¶ 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.
8	¶ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9	Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
12	¶ Honor thy father and thy mother:  that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
13	¶ Thou shalt not kill.
14	¶ Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15	¶ Thou shalt not steal.
16	¶ Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
17	¶ Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's.

As young children we get excited and learn these ten holy commandments and do our first communion. But most of us forget about them afterwards. I’m sure that most adults know the Ten Commandments but that none of them try to keep sin less.

 

There is no doubt when we say that times change. Before these Ten Commandments were practically the law and the person that went against them or disobeyed would be executed or severely punished. Today, the only punishment for sinning is a dirty conscious. Rules and laws have taken over the importance of the Ten Commandments and sadly, almost nobody cares much about them any longer. Is this because people are loosing their faith or maybe just that people are just more ignorant and they don’t pay attention to these things? Another factor that has taken over today's society is technology and the importance of going farther and doing more. Today, people are hooked on technology. About 98% of the people I know would go crazy after a month or two without technology. And everyday humanity is progressing and making more technological devices and young generations are going to be completely hooked on technology. If you compare our parents’ childhood with our childhood you will see that they are two extremes. While our parents played kickball, tag and rode their bikes, we spend our days on our Facebook accounts, Blackberries, and our computers or Iphones. There is no doubt that time has gone by and that people change through habits, culture and religion. 

Does time go by?

         Something that has called my attention from the Bible since the beginning is that it contradicts itself from page one. In chapter one of the Genesis god creates man, the heavens, and the earth. But in Genesis chapter two he doesn't create them until verse 7. Also the orders of events of these two chapters are completely contradictory and different. 

 

         In the Exodus 12:2 God tells Moses "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." but in the Genesis he had already created months days and weeks. A big fault in the bible is the time and order of events. It contradicts it self many times. Genesis 1:14 "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:" I don’t understand were they really begin to count time. Does time begin with the creation of the Earth and Adam and Eve? Or does it begin with Moses? It seems to me that the Bible is not very accurate when we are talking about time. It looks as if time goes by in some parts but in others it doesn’t.

How we came to be

After reading Genesis chapter 11,  I kept on thinking about the Tower of Babel. How the world was with one language in 11:1 "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." and that god separates all the people to different parts of the world. I guess this is another explanation from the bible on how we got so many civilizations cultures and languages.

I’m not really sure why but there are too many theories on how we got here. People often don't even know what to think. But my personal opinion is that people have a need an explanation, they need to know why we are here, how we go there and for what. These three questions can drive people crazy.  I don’t really know what I think after reading the Genesis, the Greek myths and hearing scientific theories. Will we ever know the truth?

Abraham

 I got a little confused reading Genesis 17-24.I really concentrate because  something that I did not couldn't stop thinking about was abraham being nighty nine. My grandfather is still alive and he is going to turn nighty nine in one month. When i say it about my grandfather it doesn't sound like it really is but when i read it in the Genesis I was shocked I could´t believe it. To live a hundred years is to live two life times. When my grand father tells me his stories I can't believe it. He lived through both world worlds and I cant even imagine what Abraham might of lived through and what he could of seen.

How did we actually get here?

One of the biggest unanswered questions that i ask myself is how did we get here? Was it evolution and the big bang-theory? Or was it how the bible states? That God created the earth and the heavens and that we are here because of Adam and Eve. In Exodus 1:7¨ And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.¨ This is saying that Adam and Eves decedents arrived in Egypt and that they reproduced and that was how the human race was born. We are obviously here because of reproduction but who were the first men and women? I believe that this question is and will always be one of the biggest mysteries on earth. My personal belief is that we are here because of the big bang theory and that through time and evolution we have become what we are today. But who knows?

Touch

With one simple touch,
The Earth and the Heavens unite.
Though it may not be much,
It is an extraordinary sight.

When two hands join 

Two worlds come together,

And become one.

Temptation

People are always tempted to do what is not allowed. As many say “ Rules are made to break them.” This is very true. We are always inclined to break the rules, to go against the “flow”. When Eve takes the apple from the tree, after God told both Adam and Eve, several times not to take the apple, it really reminded me of this. Most of the time people are pushed into doing something wrong by others. Like negative peer pressure. It is like a Pandora's box people are taken over by curiosity, an example I looked at my friends cellphone and saw something I was not supposed to and like adam and eve I suffered serious consequences. 

 

“[6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

The Jacobean

The Jacobean had to be very scary. In the beginning of the chapter they compared it to September 11, 2001. That day the Al Queada terrorists crashed into the twin towers. I was living in Miami and I remember how scared I was that day when my mom picked me up that day at school and watching the news. I couldn't understand what was happening. It was just a complete state of confusion. As i read on I could make many connections in my mind between these two events.

Another thing that really caught my attention was the color black. This color usually foreshadows sad moments or terror. Every time I think in the color black I think of negativism and pain. In God's Secretaries it is the same. It symbolizes evil and darkness. Something that I remembered after I finished this chapter was that at the beginning of the book, it said that England was "the white country" but that is completely wrong because it is very corrupt. It should be called the Black Country instead.

Luxury

First of all I have to say that I really liked this first chapter and that I was very surprised by it. When I read the preface I imagined a very boring and dull text but the truth is that I really did enjoy this first chapter.

Being king of England must have been very unique. James was a very self centered and egocentric man. I think his attitude was like this because he grew up as an orphan. It must have been very difficult to have to control an entire nation with out your parents helping you or giving you advice. Being king, obviously, was very prestigious and important rank. This brought James many luxuries and power. He was a very important man and people were constantly trying to impress him. They would give him gold and power. He had everything he ever wanted handed to him.

Many people usually think that the most fortunate people are those like James. They have power money and they never have to work for anything. I believe that this kind of life is full of luxuries and privileges but I don not think that James is that fortunate. It obviously is fun but sometimes having everything in the world is worse than not having anything at all.

Is it really worth it?

Something that really caught my attention while i was reading the preface was that the people that translated the King James Bible have been forgotten. Nobody knows who he or she is or who he or she was. All we do know is that these people translated this text. I don't understand why these translators were forgotten, and it really makes me wonder. Are we all going to eventually be forgotten?

People might be remembered for a century or two but are we all really going to be forgotten? Maybe a few are going to continue in the history books such as presidents and dictators. But what about the rest of us? Are we just going to be left in the past? I always have wanted to leave my mark and I don’t want to be forgotten like these translators.