Jesus and Paul: Similarities and Purported Differences

* An informal essay done for my Introduction to the New Testament class.*

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Jesus and Paul: Similarities and Purported Differences

                The textbook has several handy lists of similarities and differences, which will be the primary reference for this essay (Ehrman 389 and 390). Some of the differences are used to claim that Jesus and Paul advocated different religions. The focus of this essay is not to argue that point, though it will come up a bit. The primary purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast Jesus and his apostle, Paul.

                First, the similarities; these cannot really be refuted, a basic reading of the text (New Testament) will agree with these particular similarities. Both men were born Jewish, and though were Christians, believed they adhered to the Jewish Law all their lives. Both ascribed to an apocalyptic view of faith (that the end would soon come). Jesus and Paul predicted the coming of the Son of Man to judge the world (the textbook specifies their belief as the return of Jesus within the lifetime of Jesus’ disciples; this is not a commonly held belief by Christians today). First Jesus, then Paul, by their actions and their preaching taught that the Law was not salvation (i.e. obeying the Law to the letter will not save a person from hell). Finally, both men taught that faith in God is necessary, and that the Law, stripped down, was summed up by loving your neighbor.

                Now, for the differences (differences highlighted): Jesus taught that the “the coming judge of the Earth is the Son of Man.” Paul taught that the judge was Jesus. This is not a contradiction. While Jesus never directly said “I am the Son of God.” He was approached by several people who called him God, and he did not refute them. He also said, “he that hath seen me [Jesus] hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). By Jesus’ history, he was the “Son of Man” having been born to Mary.

            Jesus taught that “to escape judgment, a person must keep the central teachings of the Law as Jesus himself interpreted them.” Paul taught “to escape judgment, a person must believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and not rely on observance of the Law.” Again, this is not a contradiction. Jesus did teach his followers to uphold his version of the Law. “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt. 22:37-39). However, Jesus also said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). This is the same as what Paul taught. Paul taught to believe on the resurrection of Jesus, and the death and resurrection of Jesus was how Jesus offered salvation to the world. One more thing, Paul may not have required strict adherence to Jewish law, but he made it clear that Christians were to act in a way which honors the Lord. The instructions, admonishments, and praise for actions, line up with the Law, it can be inferred that while following the Law is not salvation, it is fine to still follow the Law, and that it likely is a good guideline.

            Jesus taught that “Jesus own importance lies in his proclamation of the coming of the end and in his correct interpretation of the Law.” Paul taught that “Jesus importance lies in his death and resurrection for sins.” This view assumes that Jesus did not believe he was the Son of God, which is not the case. If Jesus importance did lie in “the coming of the end and in his correct interpretation of the Law” why did he assert the need for salvation, through himself? (John 14:6) When the belief is that Jesus knew he was the Son of God and was teaching that Jesus is the only way to God (which seems likely based on Scripture), then Paul’s belief again lines up very well with Jesus teaching.

                Jesus taught that “The end of the age began in the lives of Jesus’ followers, who accepted his teachings and began to implement them in their lives.” Paul taught that “The end of the age began with the defeat of the power of sin at the cross of Jesus.” This can be argued both ways, to the moon and back. This seems almost trifling. Why does the exact beginning of the age really matter? Is not the true issue that Jesus offered salvation to everyone? Even before his death, Jesus was pointing people toward God in the exact same way that people are pointed toward God today. Again, John 14:6, “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” So, based on that statement, then perhaps the end of the age began when Jesus said that. It is reasonable, however, for Paul to have correlated the death of Jesus with the end of the age. What is the answer? I don’t know, and maybe it isn’t that important?

             So, a lot of the differences between Jesus’ and Paul’s teachings seem to be based on the fact that Paul was teaching afterward. His teachings do not contradict Jesus’ teachings, they simply are based on Paul’s worldview, and since his teachings do not contradict or negate Jesus’ teachings, it is simply inaccurate to say that Paul and Jesus taught different religions. Paul’s beliefs—that Ehrman portrays as much different from Jesus’ beliefs—actually agree with Jesus’ teachings.

* Like with all these essays, any reference to the textbook is from Bart Ehrman's "A Brief Introduction to the New Testament" 3rd Edition

Vicarious Suffering

*Informal essay done for my Intro to the New Testament class.*

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Vicarious Suffering

First, what is vicarious suffering? I had never heard of it until I read about it in the textbook. Auburn University provides this definition (as it relates to Jesus’ vicarious suffering): “In one sense the sufferings of Christ were vicarious; they were in man's behalf as are the mother's in behalf of the child. But they were not instead of man. They were in no sense substitutional. Love suffers for its object, and in a sense experiences vicarious sufferings.” So, this definition is almost useless if you have no idea what vicarious means. 

You may have a vague idea about vicarious: it means alive, exciting, like, really feeling life, you know, living in the moment, but usually you talk about someone “living vicariously through another person”...so there is a vague clue, but really, what does it mean? Well, Google to the rescue, right? And now you know my thoughts about the word vicarious. What is the dictionary definition of vicarious? It means: “experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.” So, basically, you imagine experiences happening to yourself based on another person’s actual experiences. Like a book or movie that makes you imagine yourself in it. There is, however, a secondary definition: “Acting or serving in place of someone or something else; substituted.” Now, this secondary definition certainly makes a lot more sense than the first one.

Alright, so to sum up vicarious suffering, we would say: that the suffering of Jesus’ (or any other ‘vicarious sufferer’) are in behalf of someone else, the sufferings are not substitutional (even though that definition does say ‘substituted’). 

Jesus’ death to save others was not a new thing. In Jewish history there were several others who died to save others. During the Maccabean Revolt a man sacrificed his life to kill an elephant so that others lived. Other descriptions in the Maccabees describe the torture that Jews went through when they refused to give up their religion. The notion of this suffering for someone else was coined as ‘vicarious suffering’ by Christians.

There have been many, many more ‘vicarious sufferers’ throughout the years of Christianity. There have been countless martyrs, countless abuses toward Christians. The tortures, the deaths, the insults, the snide remarks, the mean glances, the shunnings, the shamings, all these things have Christians endured for their faith, these are vicarious sufferings. Each Christian will vicariously suffer in his own way. I am in no way saying that Jesus’ and the martyrs deserve less credit for their sufferings (God forbid I am faced with what they faced), but the little insults each day, the sidelong glances (America’s way of subtly shaming a Christian, and sometimes it is much more than subtle), to the recently converted Christian in Iran (who literally faces death for her choice), these are all examples of vicarious suffering.

To suffer is natural; the Bible warns Christians that they will suffer for their faith (John 15:20), but not just for their faith, for Jesus. Many Christians face death, the ultimate sacrifice, and are willing to give up their lives for Jesus, on behalf of their fellow Christians. These are the ‘vicarious sufferers.’ May God give strength to them and to the ones he continues to call.

* Like with all these essays, any reference to the textbook is from Bart Ehrman's "A Brief Introduction to the New Testament" 3rd Edition

Suicide

Again, just an informal essay for my Intro to the New Testament Class. I have to say, the class is certainly introducing me to many different viewpoints and views of the New Testament.

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Suicide

Suicide is a tough subject, no matter what your view on the subject, there is no way to soften the topic. Some people believe that anyone who commits suicide is bound for hell. Other people take a gentler approach, and say that suicide does not prevent a person from getting into heaven. Some people even say that the apostle Paul contemplated suicide and since Paul was is such an important Christian figure, and he contemplated it, then it must not be bad.

First, why do people believe that Paul contemplated suicide? Bart Ehrman gives an example from a book written by Arthur Droge and James Tabor to support the idea that Paul was suicidal (Ehrman 245). The idea put forth is quite interesting. Most people equate suicide with depression, hopelessness, anxiety, etc. Hardly anyone thinks that a “happy” person will commit suicide. It appears that there was a Jewish tradition of “self-inflicted death as a gain over present inflictions that should be accepted joyfully” (Ehrman 245). Several examples are then provided. So let’s move on to Paul himself. Paul states in Phil. 1:21 that “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is the basis for the “suicidal Paul” argument. Yet another passage that seems to support this idea is Phil. 1:22-24 “ If it is to be life in the flesh, this would be a good work for me, and I do not know which to choose, but I am constrained by the two things, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is much better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.” So was Paul contemplating suicide? Paul did not commit suicide, but it appears he may have been contemplating it. So, if Paul was contemplating suicide, does that mean suicide is not wrong? 

The other group does not believe Paul was suicidal. This group believes that suicide is wrong. Suicide is murder, the Sixth Commandment says “thou shalt not kill” (Ex. 20:13). Paul himself says several things that completely contradict the notion of committing suicide. Phil 4:11 “in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” This verse conveys an idea that one should be content in their situation, being content in the situation can hardly be described as suicide. 

Yet another reason that it is doubtful that Paul was suicidal is that Christians believe that the primary purpose of man (the reason humans were created) is to glorify God. One of the very best ways to glorify God is to bring others to him, that they may glorify God as well. In cutting off your life, you are cutting off opportunities to glorify God and to bring others to the knowledge of him. This is, essentially, cutting off the relationship with God. Suicide is selfish, it hurts others, suicide is not just something that affects only the individual who does it, and it has widespread ramifications. How can someone think that it is ok for them to decide when they will die? God knows the proper time for a person to die, Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” A person who commits suicide is going against God’s will for their life. If they hadn’t decided their time to die, then they would have lived longer. 

Finally, it actually is likely that Paul craved heaven. It is only natural for a Christian to want to get past these tough, stressful, hard days of earthly life to get to that wonderful final reward, eternity with God. If heaven weren’t something to be desired, then there would be no need for it. Christians live as if they are citizens from a foreign land, their true home is elsewhere, heaven (1 Pet. 2:11-12). Christians look forward to eternity, but they don’t cut off their earthly life for it, in fact, a lot of Christians believe suicide will condemn a soul to hell. Living out life here, in the best way possible, doing their best to glorify God, makes the “prize” of heaven worth it. In 2 Timothy, life is compared to a race, with heaven as the prize. In order to get the reward, the work must be done for it. The verses Paul wrote about looking forward to heaven are an introduction to how wonderful heaven will be.

In conclusion, I don’t believe that Paul was suicidal. What I do believe is that he craved heaven and the intimacy with God that comes with it. He may have longed for heaven (I believe he did, as all Christians should), but did not actually consider suicide. Suicide is a selfish action, one that takes away from our purpose here on earth, and that makes it a sin.

* Like with all these essays, any reference to the textbook is from Bart Ehrman's "A Brief Introduction to the New Testament" 3rd Edition 

Tradition of Faith

     I wrote this paper last week for my religion class, there is an informal essay due each week. The chapters we read last week in the textbook talked about how it is unlikely that anyone really knows exactly what happened during Jesus' life, and how unpredictable oral tradition is. Which may be true. And then, in school, last Thursday, I was talking with someone who said he believes in God, but isn't sure if the Bible can be trusted.  As usual after the conversation, I thought of lots of things that would have made much more sense had I said them at the time. I spent a while mulling the conversation over and creating better responses, obviously too late for use. So, those two things were the impetus for this essay.

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Tradition of Faith

                Tradition is a syncretic word. The word means so many things to so many different people. Traditionally, families have Thanksgiving dinner. This is a tradition that is an actual happening, it is a physical tradition. Traditions are passed down from generation to generation. This could be a tradition of making potato soup on Saturday nights, because that is how Grandma did it, or it could be a tradition of character. A tradition of character is somewhat different than a physical tradition. A trait of generosity, trained by parents, passed on by their children, “give the shirt off our backs,” is an example of a character tradition. Traditions can be stories, told by grandparent to child, friend to neighbor, stranger to stranger. An example of this is George Washington and the cherry tree, the story is not even true, yet it is a tradition in the United States of America. The tradition of faith is one of the most common traditions passed on. People often do not realize that faith is a tradition, but it most certainly is. Usually, religion is passed down. If a parent is Lutheran, then the family is Lutheran. If the parents are Jewish, the family is Jewish. Faith is a tradition, and a very important one.

                One of the ways the Bible, the basis of my tradition of faith, was recorded was by oral tradition. Oral tradition? Surely, that is not a reliable basis for faith. Stories passed from person to person, often not even by eyewitnesses surely cannot be reliable. Christianity grew through people speaking to one another. For the first few decades after Jesus’ death, there was no text to pass around; the only way to share the Good News of Jesus was to tell each other about him, by his commandment. Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation (ESV).” His disciples did just that. Believers shared stories with others; those who were told then shared the stories with still more people. You can be positive that the stories of Jesus did not have the exact details, but the important part was there: that this man, this Son of God, was truly who he claimed to be. That Jesus was someone worthy to be worshipped, that Jesus was worthy to be called the Son of God.

                So, if these traditions that were written down in the Bible were changed: the details aren’t always 100% accurate; people took liberty and changed the text occasionally, how can we be sure that what is in the Bible is worth believing? Faith. Faith is the answer to that question. If I believe there is a God, and I do, and that God is all powerful, which I do, it is then a simple answer. I believe that God has the power to, despite human failings and oral traditions with errors, allow his followers the gift of a text that has not lost its potency. Indeed, what is important has not been lost. The message of God, of salvation, of grace, of love, those things, the most important things, will never be lost. The all-powerful God I believe in will not leave his children without a guide. He works through human failings, in spite of mistakes in oral tradition, all for the redemption of his creation whom he loves very much.

A Brief Intro to the New Testament

     That is the title of one of my classes. I took the class knowing that there would be doctrinal differences. I was kind of looking forward to picking them out, and taking time to examine exactly what I believe. Tonight I read the first 2 chapters. I will definitely be challenged in this class. The textbook is very reader friendly, it isn't a pain to read, which is really nice! According to the syllabus, the class may be tough for Christians because it looks at the New Testament historically rather than in depth. It is a study of historical context, about the authors, and the changes the New Testament has gone through. 

     First, the author of the book, Bart Ehrman, is an agnostic (a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God). He was a Christian but in desiring to learn more about the Bible began studying the original languages and eventually textual criticism, noting many discrepancies. Today, he is an agnostic (Wikipedia, I know, not super reliable). Reading the first chapter led me to believe that the author was not a Christian. Though he says he is writing from a historian's viewpoint, not a believer's, just reading the text was an indicator. Reading through this textbook will indeed give me many opportunities to test what I believe. I know now to tread carefully, everything the textbook says will need to be carefully examined against my worldview. I am a little disappointed that the book does not have a more Christian bent. I also will find myself doubting what he has to say, since he doesn't believe it himself. Even though he has years of study in the subject under his belt, he has lost some credibility in my mind.

     The second chapter had a comparison of the religious perspective of Jesus' time and the religious perspective of today. Back then, the only faith with one God and written texts was Judaism, which made complete sense to me, any other religion believed in many different gods. Today, most religions are exclusive: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. Also, today most people believe in one god, it simply makes more sense. Another interesting thing is that back then gods were involved more in day to day life, but not really in the afterlife. While today, the promise of heaven and threat of hell are significant parts of most religions, and of course God is involved in daily life today as well. Religion in those days entailed ritualistic acts of worship, not morals and ethics, we get our ethical base from Christianity, pagans of the day did not get ethical base from their religion. Jesus, however, came along and changed all that. Jesus birth, death and resurrection opened the world up to knowledge of him, which I am very thankful for!

     Well, those are some thoughts I had while reading it. I needed to get my thoughts in order to be able to complete the assignment. So, I guess the blog got the overflow of thought. :)

My Awesome Best Friend!

So, my dear best friend Lynette is an awesome person. If any of you have met her, then you know this. Her birthday was on July 2. No longer a teenager. We are getting old ;) Instead of being like normal people and just waiting for other people to bring her gifts, she went around and gave her friends gifts! 

 She brought me flowers at work! She is the best!

Happy late, late, late Birthday, Lynette! The flowers and card meant so much! I just know that 20 will be your best year yet!

Family Times

So, I've been busy... Well, not super busy. Since it is summer, and I'm mostly at home, like all the time, there hasn't been too much to share. I haven't really been thinking up any deep thoughts; again, it's summer. Who thinks deep thoughts in summer?!? Seriously, it's summer. Summer is when you forget about thinking and anything intelligent, right? Ok, ok, fine, I'm just lazy:) And also, after a while, if all I say is that I've been gardening and mowing grass, people are going to start getting really bored, as am I!

This past week, my sister Dorcas came up for a week. I did manage to get a couple pics of the kids:) Luckily, I didn't take any sister pics or anything.

I helped out with VBS this past week, and Nick and Ali came with me a couple nights. The one evening we stopped at the park to ride the seesaws on the way home. It was fun, and Nick found a frog, which he was quite proud of! He carefully took the frog from the road to the river, to make sure that he would be ok:)

We did, of course, go to see fireworks! 

Candy Bandits

These poor GA kids had never been to a real parade before. So, we took them to our firemen's parade. Dorcas asked me if grocery bags for candy was a little excessive, she understood once the parade got started. The kids made out like bandits with all the candy, as their grocery bags and faces clearly show. And, just to clarify, Dorcas gave about half a bag of candy away at the parade, so, even with Dorcas' generosity, the kids will still have candy to munch on for weeks to come!!

Road Trippin'

Brooks was relieved to not be in the car anymore!

We had a family gathering in PA, it was a larger one than usual. So there were lots of cousins to catch up with and the weekend was quite enjoyable. We played volleyball, softball and had lots of time for conversation as well. All my immediate family came out to the reunion this time, so it was nice to see everyone:)

My Uncle David lost his long battle against cancer this past week. His memorial service coincided with our family reunion in PA, so we traveled to PA bright and early Friday morning (getting up at 4 is never, ever fun). The memorial service was a wonderful tribute to my uncle's life of service. And at the reunion, there was a time of sharing about Uncle David's life. There were some tears, and much laughter! Of course, any prayers for the family are deeply appreciated!

While at the service, there was a clear theme. Uncle David was a Godly man, who spent his life giving to others. Everything he did pointed to God. His life was a testament. I couldn't help but ask if it had been me, in place of him, what would people say? Would people know that I am a Christian? Does my life really reflect God? Have I done anything of worth? How can I live my life so that when I die, people can look at my life as an example? As one of the speakers said, (I'm summarizing) my uncle not only showed us how to live, but he also showed us how to die. This is so true. He truly was an inspiration to any one who met him!

Question for You:

- Do you have relatives who inspire you? Why? What is it about them?

- Do you enjoy extended family reunions, meaning family outside your siblings?

Family

     This week was full of family time! From Martha coming to slave in the garden visit on Monday, to my spending the night at her and David's house twice, to a picnic at the park this evening. This week has been full of family:) 

Here is Camden enjoying some Grandma time!

Summer Days

     This week, two boys stayed with us for 3 days. It was great fun. Because of the rain, the creek was high. Which meant that we could go wading. That meant lots of splashing, building a dam and general fun, creekish stuff:) Here is a picture of our feet, as you can tell, sopping wet.

   
     Even though I'm used to peace and quiet around here, it was a nice change to have 2 live wires keeping all of us on our toes. 

     Today we made cookies. The boys were a big help, though they may have eaten more cookie dough than cookies;) Licking the beaters was the highlight for the younger one!

     You can guess that this week stayed pretty busy with the extra little people around. Since it rained a lot today, they had to be inside most of the day, we made cookies on our rainy day. But, it cleared up this afternoon/evening and we headed down to the creek again, per the request of 2 rambunctious young men.

     By the way, thanks to everyone who commented! I really enjoyed reading them:)

A Question For You:

What are some good rainy day activities? Any memories from when you were a kid? How about as an adult?

Summer Begins

     I'm just going to start off by saying that I have no pictures. I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures, so here is a picture-less post. Let me amend that, a mostly picture-less post.

     I know summer hasn't technically started yet, but for me, if it's hot enough to feel like summer, grass needs mowing, we work in the garden, and I can go barefoot, then it's summer. Up until this week, I felt like I hadn't caught up from the end of the semester, like I just had lots to do. Summer is supposed to be when you relax and aren't too busy, right?!? Well, the last couple weeks haven't felt much that way.

     Thankfully, this week is starting to feel like summer is supposed to. To me summer is supposed to be busy (although, if it weren't I'd be fine with it), but not stressed. If I could just stay at home all summer I think I would be a happy camper. I'm a bit (ok a lot) of a homebody. My schedule is pretty settled, and I feel like I'm at least mostly caught up. I can finally just "be in summer." 

     Last week, while mowing I stepped on a nail. I was mowing grass without shoes, around a recently burnt scrap pile. I should have been wearing shoes, so I totally deserve the pain I've been in for the past couple days. I had to work Friday and Saturday, so I limped around like crazy all day. My tetanus shots are pretty up to date, so I'm not too worried about that, but I've been soaking it in water with Epsom salt a bunch. It hardly hurts anymore, but I did end up with a pretty nice bruise on top of my foot. In this picture you can see that my right foot is kind of puffy, it was taken on Friday.

     Since I have no pictures, I will just say that I have been busy mowing grass, going to work, sleeping in a bit, spending time with friends, reading (which is great, because I have so much to catch up on), stressing a bit about my future (there are a lot of colleges to choose from, am I right?), gathering eggs, and just enjoying summertime (at least as much as I can... I hate it when customers come in and talk about the beautiful day outside:/).

A Question for You: 

I figured I'd try a question. I know that there are only like 4 people who read this, but hey, y'all answer, ok? ;)

*What marks the beginning of summer for you? Do you go by the date, or just when it starts to feel like summer?

Currently

     I found this survey on a blog I follow, I've been following Julie for a while now. I really liked the survey, so I thought I would do it as well! The survey is pretty self explanatory, it's what is currently going on with me:)

Current Books:
Right now I'm reading "The Forest" by Edward Rutherford. It's a long, slow read, I've read some other books in the process of reading this one. It covers about 1000 years of the history of the New Forest in England. It is fictionalized history. I've read a couple other books similar to this, specifically "Roma" by Steven Saylor. I love that these books incorporate lots of history! I'm able to learn while enjoying the story, it's not just a dry history book. "The Forest" reads kind of slowly, but is worth reading.

If you're really interested in what I'm reading, check out the reading widget and you can see the books I've read this year. I'm aiming for 100, but am falling way behind. It's summer, though, so hopefully I'll catch up?

Current Music: 

I mostly just listen to what's on the radio, but there are a couple songs that I really look forward to hearing: The Band Perry's "Better Dig Two" ( I know it's kind of out of date now), Swedish House Mafia's "Don't You Worry Child," Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason" and Jason Mraz' "I Won't Give Up." I really, really like songs that have meaning. The Wailing Jenny's are consistently on my list of favorite bands. I never get tired of them!

Current Guilty Pleasure: 

There is a bowl of candy at work, filled with Tootsie Frooties. I love, love, love the green apple ones. Once I start eating them, it's super hard to stop. I ate all the green ones, and then started on the blue ones, and then I came into work and found that my boss had refilled the bowl and there were more green ones:):):)

Current Nail Color:

Simple, chipping, white tips that I did myself a couple weeks ago. Nail polish just doesn't work on my fingernails, so only my toes. I tried fingernail polish and I can't leave it alone. I'll chip the polish off all my fingers within three days:/

Current Drink:

Water. I mostly just drink water. Although Burger King has a DELICIOUS Pina Colada smoothie right now!!

Current Food:

I found, at our local bulk food store, these amazing crackers! They are sooo good, and really healthy, and really low on calories! I crave them all the time.

Current Wishlist:

This dress, in yellow. It's on a really good sale right now, the final sale, I believe, at Divine Modestee. I guess I'll have to decide how much I want it;)

Current Needs:

Actually, nothing really...

Current Indulgence: 

Amber's birthday, and so there is lots of cake and ice cream around!!

Current Blessing:

A great family, and all this free time to catch up on stuff! A picture of my adorable little nephew, for photo evidence of my great family!

And just because I have so many blessings, I'll add on that I got my results back from my classes and it looks like I did very well:) I'm satisfied with all my grades! I definitely owe Mom special thanks for the proofreading she did for me! And Amber, thanks for covering for me so much while I'm at school and work!!

Current Excitement:

Wednesday and Thursday, Martha and I did some extreme cleaning. This evening I came home from work as fast as I could, because some cousins from out of town were here. Also, I'm getting all excited for the cookout next Thursday!! It should be great fun:)

     And that's my Currently. Nothing that exciting, but, you know, stuff. I've certainly been staying busy! 

Going Back to High School: Field Trip.

     On Wednesday night, one of my high school teachers called me and asked if I would go on a field trip with her and two of her students the next day. I didn't have any plans so I agreed. Mrs. Wilson taught a couple classes in high school and then took over teaching the special education class. Throughout high school I was her teacher's aide. It was really fun to get to see her and the girls again.

Here is a picture of us in high school. A couple of my friends and I taught the girls crochet once a week. 

We went to Luray Caverns. Only two of the girls were on this field trip.

Pluto's Ghost. Probably the coolest, in my opinion, column in the caverns. My pictures are all from my cell phone, so they aren't very good at all.

This is a lake. The water is very shallow and very still, so the stalactites are reflected perfectly in the water, making it look like they are growing from the bottom of the cavern as well.

Our tour guide knew exactly what she was doing, and answered questions brilliantly! It is a great cavern! The largest on the East Coast.

They have a sluice set up, and you can buy bags of dirt to pan for gemstones or arrow heads. 

It was a lot of fun!! 

     Thursday was jam packed full of stuff. After I got home from the caverns. I quickly whipped up a batch of bars, took a little nap, I was super tired from staying up waaay too late finishing my final essay, and was off again. This time to a cookout with some friends from school to celebrate the end of the semester. It was great fun! I don't have any pictures of that, however. When I got home from the cookout. I put the finishing touches on my essay, which mom found time to proofread for me, and collapsed into bed!

College Stuff

     While I'm not quite finished with everything for school yet, I'm almost done. Yesterday was my last day of class on campus. Summer break is here:) Just one essay for an online class and I will be finished. I thought I would share a couple highlights of the Spring 2013 semester.

     I took 6 classes. Between class and work I stayed reasonably busy this spring;)

There it is. School.

I had a lot of spare time in between classes. Some of it was spent studying. Larger parts were spent playing video games, talking with friends, browsing Pinterest for delicious recipes because I was hungry...

And, playing with toys from Timeless Toys.

One great thing about living in West Virginia is the beautiful scenery that I get to enjoy during every drive to and from school. A great thing about evening classes, is that sometimes you get out early, and sometimes on those evenings, you get a pretty sunset as you drive home:)

This semester had a lot of snow days! I missed Science 4 weeks in a row, due to snow and spring break. I didn't mind missing that at all!

Over Spring Break I was lucky enough to be able to go to Georgia to visit my sisters. It was great fun. I did something I never have before. I rode a train. Trains are quite economical, and the ride was enjoyable. It was full on the way home, which made it less enjoyable (I dislike assigned seating). It was dark for most of both train rides, and I regretted not being able to see the scenery. Plane travel is much faster, and therefore usually more desirable. But, if you have time, I would recommend riding the train at least once!!

My schedule for the fall semester. One more semester at Eastern and I will be done. Well, done at EWVCTC at least. It was a good semester and I'm looking forward to the fall:)

Happiness

     On Monday, in my Human Diversity class, we watched a documentary called "Happy." Basically, they went around to places all over the world and asked different people why they were happy. One lady was run over by a truck, she had been a very beautiful woman. After the truck ran over her, her face had to be reconstructed, and she is no longer the ideal "beautiful" woman. Yet, she is happy. The documentary went to Denmark, the world's happiest country. They also went to Bhutan, this country, instead of focusing on G.D.P. is trying to bring up national happiness. 
  
     One thing that really stood out to me, is that the amount of money a person makes has little effect on his or her happiness. A person struggling to get by may not be as happy, which obviously depends on the person. But, if compared, a person making $50,000 vs. a person making $20,000, neither is happier. Basically, they found that if basic needs are covered, then the amount of money earned doesn't really affect happiness. 

     There is just one more notable thing in the documentary. They talked about religious fanatics. The example the documentary used was of Christians hating gay people. People who hate others are less happy. This is completely true. It saddened me, though, to see this example of professing Christians, not showing the love of Christ. Because it is through our faith that we have our happiness, and we should share that with those around us. Even the people whose views and lifestyles don't agree with ours. And then, I was thinking more and I wondered, is this how everyone sees Christians? As haters? If so, it's terrible. And it's also a sobering thought, am I living my life in a way that shows the nonchristians around me the unconditional love of Christ? 

     Ok, so those are a couple thoughts that have been in my mind since Monday. The documentary is really interesting and I would recommend that you check it out! It's on Netflix. 

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2010/08/12/happy-movie/

First Things First

     Project Mennonite. It's kind of a weird title for a blog. What's the point of it? Well, I came up with the title, tried it, wasn't sure if I liked it, and tried a bunch of different things. Turns out, that pretty much anything I could think of, was already taken. So, I thought why not. It's an available name and it kind of fits. A chronicle of my life as a Mennonite in this big ‘ole world.

     What will I put on the blog? Basically... Anything I feel like. Probably just stuff about my life, or at least what I deem interesting enough to share with the world;) There will probably be stories about school, and work, and the other things I do. Maybe a short story or poem here and there; but, it can pretty much be summed up as an online journal.