every man's Bible
apologies for the heavily religious material in this entry--lots to think about.
(yes, ken, this is one of those "boring" entries...;))
I had lunch yesterday with a woman that I had met at church--I think I'd mentioned her previously, one of the many Amy's that I've met in GZ. Anyhow, she is one of those people who will drop mysterious tidbits but do absolutely nothing to elaborate or satisfy your curiosity; she'll use conversation stoppers like, "You're still young, but I've learned long ago to have no dreams and hopes. You can't trust anyone but God." Boom. We could write a poem:
Chicken Little was
right
the s
k
y
So over some doppkoggi, Korean tea (yeah!), and lots of kimchi that only I would eat (being the "la" (spicy) fiend that I am), Amy N. and I spoke of God and the Bible. She believes only in trusting God, in not opening up to other people, in being self-sufficient on earth. That's no way to live, in my opinion. What is life, anyway, except a series of human relationships? I wanted to hold her hand and tell her that it's never too late to start over, that it's never too late to heal and learn to trust again. But, being the good Asian that I am, I spoke to her about faith instead--faith in this world, not just faith in God.
Just today I spoke with another girl, Eva, who is returning to the states tomorrow to attend Seminary, and she asked me how my faith was going (or rather, how I was doing in "my walk with God"). Now, keep in mind that I met Eva while I was in the rather scary presence of that guy trying to brainwash me and his family, so I never really had a chance to talk to her. On the phone today, though, she asked me again what I thought about the Bible and God.
I've never once wavered in my belief that God is out there, just to clarify things. I know He's there, I know He's always been a part of my life. I still pray. I still know that I can trust Him to guide my life. I don't have a problem with God, but I have lots of problem with Christianity as a religion. For one, I don't understand how we can take a book that admittedly might be God's word and conveniently forget that it is God's word--as interpreted by men. Yes, maybe those men were prophets and apostles and therefore could be different from the rest of us, but they're still MEN, nonetheless. I cannot understand people who take the Bible literally. The Bible, as a document, can be twisted and used for any purpose; it all depends on how you read it. So when Eva asked me if I believed in the Bible, I couldn't say yes. But does it really matter? The Bible is a set of stories to help us learn to live our lives. Should we take it literally? Is homosexuality a sin? (cue Amy N., who looked at me a bit uncertainly and said, "uhh, you DO know that the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, right?" Duh.) Is masturbation a sin? Is premarital sex a sin? Is abortion a sin?
We're doing a unit on homosexuality for class, and I've thought again about the history of homosexuality and how it plays into religion. There's a man in Oklahoma who claims that he's "cured" himself of homosexuality and can "cure" anyone else. There's a woman who likens homosexuality to being a bank robber. Actors, when asked if they'll play the role of a homosexual, respond, "Oh, well, you know, if it was well-written, then I'd play the role of an ax-murderer!" Hmm. Homosexual all of a sudden equals ax murderer. Someone I'm close to is a homosexual. I cannot think that how he chooses to live his life is wrong or will damn him forever. He's a wonderful person. He's not violent, he doesn't kill people, he doesn't drink overly much, and he just wants what everyone else wants out of life. How is that wrong??
Wow, that feels really good to write it all down. Other than doing all that thinking, I've been working on my PiB application. Because Yale-China is paying for my language study, I think I'm going to stay in Beijing instead of run around trying to pay for housing, etc. over the summer in Taiwan. We'll see--if I don't get into PiB, I will definitely apply to ICLP. It's sort of sad because I had my heart kind of set on Taiwan. All in good time--I love BJ, after all, and would totally love to go back. I know the city as well as I know the palm of my hand...:)
one more thing--recently, in planning the future, I've become extremely worried about aging. relativity doesn't help things, either.
(yes, ken, this is one of those "boring" entries...;))
I had lunch yesterday with a woman that I had met at church--I think I'd mentioned her previously, one of the many Amy's that I've met in GZ. Anyhow, she is one of those people who will drop mysterious tidbits but do absolutely nothing to elaborate or satisfy your curiosity; she'll use conversation stoppers like, "You're still young, but I've learned long ago to have no dreams and hopes. You can't trust anyone but God." Boom. We could write a poem:
Chicken Little was
right
the s
k
y
So over some doppkoggi, Korean tea (yeah!), and lots of kimchi that only I would eat (being the "la" (spicy) fiend that I am), Amy N. and I spoke of God and the Bible. She believes only in trusting God, in not opening up to other people, in being self-sufficient on earth. That's no way to live, in my opinion. What is life, anyway, except a series of human relationships? I wanted to hold her hand and tell her that it's never too late to start over, that it's never too late to heal and learn to trust again. But, being the good Asian that I am, I spoke to her about faith instead--faith in this world, not just faith in God.
Just today I spoke with another girl, Eva, who is returning to the states tomorrow to attend Seminary, and she asked me how my faith was going (or rather, how I was doing in "my walk with God"). Now, keep in mind that I met Eva while I was in the rather scary presence of that guy trying to brainwash me and his family, so I never really had a chance to talk to her. On the phone today, though, she asked me again what I thought about the Bible and God.
I've never once wavered in my belief that God is out there, just to clarify things. I know He's there, I know He's always been a part of my life. I still pray. I still know that I can trust Him to guide my life. I don't have a problem with God, but I have lots of problem with Christianity as a religion. For one, I don't understand how we can take a book that admittedly might be God's word and conveniently forget that it is God's word--as interpreted by men. Yes, maybe those men were prophets and apostles and therefore could be different from the rest of us, but they're still MEN, nonetheless. I cannot understand people who take the Bible literally. The Bible, as a document, can be twisted and used for any purpose; it all depends on how you read it. So when Eva asked me if I believed in the Bible, I couldn't say yes. But does it really matter? The Bible is a set of stories to help us learn to live our lives. Should we take it literally? Is homosexuality a sin? (cue Amy N., who looked at me a bit uncertainly and said, "uhh, you DO know that the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, right?" Duh.) Is masturbation a sin? Is premarital sex a sin? Is abortion a sin?
We're doing a unit on homosexuality for class, and I've thought again about the history of homosexuality and how it plays into religion. There's a man in Oklahoma who claims that he's "cured" himself of homosexuality and can "cure" anyone else. There's a woman who likens homosexuality to being a bank robber. Actors, when asked if they'll play the role of a homosexual, respond, "Oh, well, you know, if it was well-written, then I'd play the role of an ax-murderer!" Hmm. Homosexual all of a sudden equals ax murderer. Someone I'm close to is a homosexual. I cannot think that how he chooses to live his life is wrong or will damn him forever. He's a wonderful person. He's not violent, he doesn't kill people, he doesn't drink overly much, and he just wants what everyone else wants out of life. How is that wrong??
Wow, that feels really good to write it all down. Other than doing all that thinking, I've been working on my PiB application. Because Yale-China is paying for my language study, I think I'm going to stay in Beijing instead of run around trying to pay for housing, etc. over the summer in Taiwan. We'll see--if I don't get into PiB, I will definitely apply to ICLP. It's sort of sad because I had my heart kind of set on Taiwan. All in good time--I love BJ, after all, and would totally love to go back. I know the city as well as I know the palm of my hand...:)
one more thing--recently, in planning the future, I've become extremely worried about aging. relativity doesn't help things, either.