Pre: Rabbi Flip

     I will admit, I do not have an extensive background in religion. Prior to this class, I had not really ever thought about studying the bible. Genesis 1:1-16 seems simple enough. God creates the world, the light, the dark, plants and the world. I don't know if it could have been done in seven days or not, considering its taking us months to just build a new parking garage... but hey, I won't argue. 

     I am, however, confused about Genesis 37. I must be missing something. I read past 37:17 (for the first time), and could not understand why Joseph's brothers would want to kill him. "'Here comes this dreamer. COme now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams,'" (Genesis 37:19-20). 

     In reading this, I was utterly confused. I couldn't help but thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It may seem a little of topic, but we will be reading "A Testament of Hope" in this class. The thought of killing a dreamer, of killing a dream, lead me straight to the thought of Dr. King. His was a dream that led to his death, and I'm sure many others. A beautiful dream. Now, I don't know what Joseph's dream was, but I don't think that dreams, no matter what they, should ever be the demise of the dreamer. 

     I think that we are all dreamers. We all have hopes, thoughts, prayers, dreams. These are the things that make life beautiful. They give us life. For without them, there would be no substance to existence. So why kill them?

     Continuing through the readings, reading Ester did not confuse me. I liked the twist that it gave. Throughout millennia, the people of Jewish faith have been persecuted. Now, not only does a woman hold extensive power, but a Jewish woman. I liked that, because to me it seems as though women often times get overlooked, especially in religion. However, Ester kind of throws a spin on things. 

     We ended with Ecclesiastes. Which seemed like an odd choice. In my mind, the teacher is constantly battling with himself. He says that God's word is the ultimate word, that God is the ultimate power, and who am I to argue with that. But he then almost contradicts himself: "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept m heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil," (Ecclesiastes 2:10). We are supposed to give all we have away, to the poor, and that is that word of God. God controls everything. Yet here our teacher is, living life to its fullest material meaning. 

    These were just some of my thoughts upon reading. I'm not looking for answers, for I have heard that if you ever think that you have an answer to the Bible, that you're probably wrong. And I think it's probably good to have questions. So, question some more!