Adam and Moses and such

So how are Adam and Eve's sin like the sin of the Israelites when they worshiped the golden calf. First God gave Adam and Eve one law, don't eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This was to protect them. God also gave the Israelites laws however they didn't make it down the mountain. The Israelites started praying to the false god, the golden calf, either because they wanted an excuse to pleasure themselves in immoral sexual activity or they lost faith in God, either way they turned their backs on the God who saved them from Egypt. In the same way Adam and Eve reject God by accepting Satan's demands and eating from the tree of knowledge. So basically they both sinned and broke the covenant with God by sinning.
Another way that these stories are similar is that the sinners are judged and punished. The Levities slaughter the idolaters and Adam and Eve are banished from the garden. Their lives become bound by rules. Adam and Eve have to toil and have painful births, while Israel is boxed in by new laws.
The biggest thing that these stories have in common is that they both turned away from God and God set rules in place to bring them back to Him. And for Tim's sake I will say Chinese Swiss Roll that is actually a Atom Bomb.

On Joseph and his Brothers, but not really.........

God is amazing. Last night some of my fellow students and I were talking about God and how He is so infinite and beautiful. We all came to the conclusion the He is so beyond our comprehension. Every sentence that came out of our mouths ended in a, "....I don't know, man..." or a, "like, wow". It is really funny to think about now, but then we were so in awe, it was very innocence and childish of us, because God is so much greater. Somethings that just stubbed us stupid were things like; God being outside of time and therefore not really making any decisions but just being, and He just is forever. "I am who I am," is the explanation that God gives us about Himself. So if He just is and always will be unchanging, than He is just an unmovable rock that our choices and decisions bounce off of, in a way. Let me explain better.

Okay, so God is like this rock. He doesn't change. If I do the same thing 50 times than the reaction from God will always be the same. Just like if I threw the same pebble the exact same way at the exact same spot on that rock, that pebble will react the exact same way. God is always forgiving and loving, however it is the way that we throw the pebble that effects what happens in this world. Life is an endless choice made up of countless choices that we make in our lives. By choosing the better of a choice we are choosing to create our life to be one step closer to the perfect life that God originally planned in the garden of Eden for us. So every decision also can bring us one step farther away from that. And every decision is unavoidable for us not to make, because by not making the decision we are deciding to not choose. Even not choosing is a choice.

So when Joseph's brothers throw him in a pit they have made a bad choice that leads them away from God. Then they are presented with another choice, should they kill their brother or not? They decide to sell him as a slave, yet another choice that sets them apart from their original purpose of human perfection. They are choosing to be imperfect. But even after they fail to achieve the gift that they have been given, freewill, they get another choice to turn back to the Lord. God being the unmovable rock that He is, always gives us that second chance. Just the fact that we are creatures of time means that we are given multiple choices. The next choice that could have been made by Joseph's brothers is to feel guilty. Then after choosing to feel guilt they can choose to realize their mistake, then choose to accept their mistake and so on. Eventually this process could have ended up in their sincere confession and when we sincerely confess God will always react the same way, forgiveness. And it doesn't stop there. We will have to make a decision after receiving that forgiveness and another after that, we don't stop choosing until we are outside of time like the angels. Which means that we must die and leave the chains holding us to time, our earthly bodies. Thank goodness for our bodies. These are the temple in which we are able to come back to Christ again and again. Anyway.....

Joseph's brothers had second chances, countless second chances (although I guess by saying countless second chances I really mean a second chance and a third chance and a fourth chance and a fifth.....), before the saintly actions of Joseph and the unchanging goodness of God brought them to Egypt looking for food. When they messed up they hit the rock in just the right place so that the pebble would ricochet toward a famine. Maybe I'm all wrong, but I'm thinking that God doesn't have a choice in the matter to bring them a second chance like this. Most people would say that God choses this to happen, but really we choose it because of our actions. Everything is our fault, and at the same time is God's fault, but how can you blame a rock for being a rock. Anyway, God is an awesome rock. He is perfect love and will never change. It is kinda unnerving to think that God doesn't choose to love us, but actually can't help it. He is just this love.... that can't help it. To me it makes Him less and less humanlike. Or maybe i am totally wrong and am going to fail this class for speaking heresy. So to anyone who has gotten this far I say unto thee, "It is my intent to speak the truth, however it is Professor Micheal Barber's duty and vocation to tell me to shut up if I am wrong. Check the comments section to see if he approves."
So the point of this blog was to answer question #3 in the "Practical Exercise" section of Chapter 6 of Scott Hahn's "Understanding the Scriptures". It is as follows:

"Joseph's brother committed a terrible sin when they intended to leave Joseph for dead and sold him into slavery in Egypt. God, however, used the situation to let Joseph assume a place of power in Egypt and eventually save his whole family from starvation. How does this story relate to the story of Noah? How does this story relate to the suffering and death of Jesus Christ?"

Well I am going to go out on a limb here and say Scott Hahn can't say that. He can't say that God used a situation to let Joseph assume a place of power in Egypt. God can't use! He can't anything, but be. And in being He does love and forgive and do everything that we know God to do, but he doesn't make the decision to set a plan into play. Okay, so basically I have said all so I don't have to answer the question listed in the text, but I will anyway. All of these stories relate to each other because they are stories of God's people in trouble and how that trouble is turned around to better us in the end. But I will say it again, that trouble only turns around not because God chooses to turn it around but because God is and "That's all folks." - Porky Pig

Creation and Such

I love the creation story! It offers and explanation for why we are the way we are and what is written on our hearts that we want to turn into, what we want to become.
The first sin of Adam and Eve is like every other sin committed by man. It is about choosing ourselves over God and others. It is selfishness. It is about taking rather than giving. Adam and Eve started out perfectly made. They lived the life that God had created for them. There was no other way for them to know how to live until Satan introduced them to the idea that God was deceiving them. It is so sad to see them fall into sin. It is sad to see anyone be less than what God created us to be. It is so sad that after being created and loved by a perfect being, Adam and Eve betray that love and turn to something that isn't as good, turn to love themselves and only trust themselves rather than the creator who made them. I realize that friends around me are falling into the same trap and it it really saddens me. Then I realize that the people looking out for me see me falling into that trap every time I sin. I wonder how hurt they are to see me ruin myself more. Then I wonder What God must feel like when I turn away from Him although His arms are open offering a perfect love.
Jesus, thank you for always being there with the full intention of bringing me to full happiness in You. Help me and my friends and family realize the beauty of Your love and the happiness and fulfillment that comes from it. No sinful moment is worth turning from You, Perfect One. You are so beautiful Lord. Life fits within Your law and I want to drop every worldly thing to make sure I reach the fullness of the creation that You made me to be. In the words of Natasha Bedingfield, "I love You, I love You, I love You".
Amen

Prayer:

Hello Readers and everyone else listening to the person reading this blog out loud,

It seems that there is some change in the wind on The Former Senator’s Blog. Recently Professor Michael Barber has asked his students to prepare a short, mental dissection on prayer. And because I admire this particular Professor of Theology and Catholic Thought I have decided to obey, also because I want to get an A or A+. Anyway these posts will be happening a lot, this one about prayer. Unlike my other posts I will pledge seriousness out of necessity of A.

I have often defined prayer as communication between God and man. After reading The CCC I have divulged a new definition, “Prayer is raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” I guess that my original definition was correct, however the Catechism expounds on it. After reading the selections Professor Barber gave us I was surprised by the new knowledge I had found besides the definition of prayer.

For instance, I was excited to see the progression of prayer through the Bible. Prayer, also defined by the CCC to be “search of God”, seems to me to be not necessary for Adam and Eve. Because if Adam and Eve were perfect and in full communion with God as God intended then why would then need to search for Him. Until the fall they were “good”. From there prayer starts very simply. One of Abraham’s first prayers according to the Catechism was building an alter. This was a prayer of action, which reminds me of a Saint Francis quote, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Then Jacob wrestles with an unnamed being who blesses him. Jacob’s prayer did not take on words, but did come into closer physical contact with God. Moses encounters God in the form of a burning bush and then on top of mountains. His prayers seem like a conversation between himself and God. The idea that came to mind and that I am trying to explain is that God might have evolved prayer as He grew His people. It also seems to me that God can encounter His sons and daughters in different ways according to the way in which He created them.

Also another interesting thought that came up in my readings is that prayer was first made as an essential action in man much like breathing. To stay physically alive one must breathe and eat and so on. To stay spiritually alive one must pray. That is why Adam and Eve died when they ate of the fruit of the tree. Prayer was suppose to be easy and natural to humanity, now it is a struggle for us to pray since the fall. To get back to where we were spiritually in Eden, we need o be in prayer constantly. But besides prayer we need something else to live. “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you shall have no life within you.” I think Jesus is talking about a spiritual death here.

I was forwarded a striking statement from Pro. Barber’s freshmen class, something to the effect of, “Abortion is a horrible thing, but at least they still have their souls intact. However the millions of teenagers who look at pornography may still have their earthly life, but their souls are dead.” That statement reminds me of the where my focus should be in the short life I have. Sometimes I forget where I could end up if I died, and I certainly forget the beauty and fullness of heaven as well. How wonderful it must be to experience the Lord for a minute? I can remember times in the past where my relationship with God was much stronger and my prayers were more meaningful and plentiful, and I remember the beauty of life and the joy and grace that entered my into heart. I can only imagine that sort of feeling of God’s presence forever. To know that I can reach closer to that peace and joy by prayer at any moment is encouraging to me, so I am going to stop typing and go appreciate the beautiful life God has blessed me with and raise my mind and heart to God.