Dr. Sexson's Cool New Look

So I was just wondering if anybody else noticed that half of Dr. Sexson's collar was flipped up today? Personally i'm jealous because I know that I can't pull it off. I mean come on we've all seen that one guy who walks into a party and has his collar popped. Usually we immediately make a judgement to not interact with that person, because they're likely to be one of the dumbest people you've ever met. I would like to point out that not only did Dr. Sexson pull this look off, but he was able to pull it off with just one side flipped, an ability that I would have thought next to impossible. Anyways, I would just like to congratulate and thank Dr. Sexson on making what we all thought uncool cool.

A flurry of blogs

Now that I'm finally fully participating in the blogs, and especially since the end of semester is coming, I'm seeing a flurry of blogs from almost everyone, and enjoying all of it. I only wish that I had not been so unsure of blogging and the affect it would have on my class experience. At the beginning of this class I felt that I would only be summarizing what I've read in the Bible. While I didn't read much of the Bible, I now realize that it could have been more, and that I wish I had participated more within my blog. I regret to say that I never feel like I can truly put my thoughts into words the way I want it to be, and this scared me a little away from participating (it still scares some). That's still no excuse, and I would like to apologize to and to thank everybody in the class. Most importantly to Dr. Sexson. I truly wish that this were a two semester class or something that we could continue with past this semester. Oh well, what I do plan on doing over the Christmas break is to read a little bit of everyone's blogs. I hope to see many of you in future English classes.
Good Luck and God Bless.

On the Concept of Belief

One thing I've noticed is that within the Bible there doesn't seem to be much questioning of the existence of God. I don't believe though, that the point of these books is to prove God's existence, but this question is probably one of the most prevalent questions of our time.

Does God exist? my answer- I don't know.

I consider myself an agnostic, I don't believe there is sufficient proof for the existence of some being higher than us, and I just can't bring myself to have faith in something I cannot see or even ever know. For me this means that I'm open to the possibility of God, that my scientific and truth seeking mind cannot allow me to believe that a God can exist. As Robert Langdon says in the famous book and movie Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, "God did not bless me with the gift of faith." I like to use this statement for myself because from time to time I have people ask me if I believe in God, because this statement puts a very good light on not believing. I just couldn't keep saying that I believed when in reality I wasn't entirely sure that I did, and I'm still not sure, but at least I'm not claiming something that isn't true anymore, at least I'm not lying to myself.

Personally though I believe the issue is much bigger than straight up belief. I think we have to question why the concept of God was created in the first place. And that of course was to explain the origins of our surroundings. In order to explain the how and why of existence. But now we have scientific evidence that refutes the stories used to explain these things, and even more we have received more answers on the how of existence in the last 300 years than ever before, and we are continuing to gain answers about the human anatomy, the brain, the universe, and about physics as time progresses. But these studies don't give an answer to the why of existence.

What is the why of existence? Is it just something that randomly happened in the universe as scientist's might claim? Is it because we are supposed to experience all the quirks of life as a precursor to something bigger? Is it for our experiences alone? Is it so that we might find definition for ourselves individually or as a group? Why? Why? Why? Why? I honestly don't know, and I don't think I want to know. But maybe that's where God exists, is in our inability to know this ultimate question. For me, I can't bring myself to believe for no other reason than that I have no answers. I'm not strong enough to convince myself.

Many people would then question what is the point of life, and I would tell them to experience the ups, downs, and in betweens. To observe and to create. To strive and to relax. To wish for everything and to receive nothing. To see pain in another person's eyes and to try to comprehend that pain by relating it to those times when you yourself have experienced pain. To try to define yourself in the best way possible. And finally to ask the questions pertinent to life so far as they have an answer, because the questions that don't have answers will only give you a headache, much like what I have now.

Oops

So I thought for one more good blog post I would attend Catholic Mass and see if I could get something good from it. I had heard that every Wednesday in the SUB that they have service at 5:30, and I hadn't been to a service since the weekend before I came back to Bozeman. As I'm getting to the room I notice there's a little sign on the front of the door that says "There will be no service tonight. See you next semester." My plan has been foiled. And for what reason? Dead Week. I honestly don't see what's so dead about it, I mean I see more people in the library this week than any other week in the semester. Oh well, kudos for trying right?

The Priestly Benediction

So I was looking up fun little things online about certain popular prayers within the bible and I was looking specifically at The Priestly Benediction which goes:

May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace
Numbers 6:24-26

So I looked up this prayer on wikipedia and found out that the actor Leonard Nimoy who originally played Spoc in the popular tv series Star Trek had grown up in the Jewish tradition, and he remembered when he was a boy his father making the hand signals for the Priestly Benediction, which he decided a single handed version would be perfect for the hand signal he would use when giving his Vulcan Hand Salute, which included the famous line from Star Trek "Live long and prosper." So for all you Star Trek fans, just remember that "Live long and prosper" and especially the hand signal that goes with comes from a verse in the Bible. Just makes you wonder how many other little things like that have been influenced by the Bible.
Food for thought.

Song of Solomon

So here's a link to a video of a choir singing one of the many versions of the song Set Me as a Seal Upon Your Heart. I couldn't get the link to attach for some reason so if you want to hear this song you'll have to copy and paste it. I remember performing this song in my high school chorus and thought I could share this with everybody. Don't worry though I went to the trouble of finding the best version on youtube. What I didn't realize until this class was that the lyrics for this song came straight from the Song of Solomon, this gives the song a little more significance to me now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb6uY-y9HRI&feature=related

My Commentary on My Paper (I Know This Title is Just a Little Self Pretentious)

So anyways I had a wonderful time writing this paper and it has been a journey of ups and downs of discovery. The thing of it is is that this semester, while being extremely enjoyable has been one of the most thought provocative and difficult times of my life. With a total of 18 credits and between the advanced concepts covered in 3 of these classes(Biblical Foundations in Literature, Literary Criticism and Theory, and Peer Leadership), I have come across ideas that before my college career I had never even dreamed of. And learning some of the things that I have learned has been hard to grasp and I must now learn how to make a proper application of this thought. Because of this paper I have begun to do this, for this was still one of the most unresolved questions in my life was how to apply this knowledge of skeptical wisdom without totally debunking it for extremely low reasons that would only add to the multitude of misunderstandings. And I know now that with this start I can continue my application of these thoughts I have come across. Finally I feel I must point out that for this paper my ideas on the concept of wisdom and applying it appropriately were out to here (imagine my arms spreading as if I were holding something large and round, such as a barrel), but that my ability for relating them to you the rest of the class, whether through my paper or my presentation, were somewhere in here (now imagine my hands as if they were holding something smaller, maybe a basketball or soccer ball). And with that I leave the interpretation up to you.