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Monday, 28 November 2011

  • Random Questions

    Here are some random questions that life has thrown my way. They may or may not be important. I need a place to put them down. Maybe you've thought about them too?

    1. Luke 17--parable of the 10 lepers
    Jesus exclaims that only one leper (the Samaritan) comes back to thank him. Supposedly the others continued on their way to see the priest for their ritual cleansing? In Leviticus, the cleansing ritual takes over a week. Maybe the other lepers just didn't consider themselves fully clean yet even though they had been healed physically. Maybe the Samaritan didn't care about the cleansing ritual because that wasn't a part of his culture. Why does Jesus say what he does? What is the point of this parable?

    2. a. What/who does the Bride refer to in Revelation 21?
        b. Theologically speaking, how crucial is the masculinity of God?

    3. If you do cold evangelism to someone on the street and they tell you that they're a Christian, do you press on to "make sure they're really a Christian" or stop? At what point? (For some reason, my reading the Bible on the L makes people want to convert me. Do I look like a black eunuch to you?? haha jk jk :P)

    4. a. How do you be friends with someone who wants to be more than friends?
        b. How do you be friends with someone with whom you want to be more than friends?

    5. a. How do you discern when dreams are from God?
        b. What do you do with those dreams?

Sunday, 17 July 2011

  • Hey, let's have a conversation...

    Lately, I've been having lots of doubts about my faith. Most days, my thoughts are very mixed up, and I can't even tell you what the issue is.

    However, I think one of the issues is:
    1.  Do I just want to believe in Christianity, or am I actually convinced of its truth? Am I just thinking and doing what I've been raised to think and do, going along with what feels good and comfortable and familiar?
    2.  And where is the line between wishful thinking (wanting it to be true) and faith? How do I tell the difference between the two?

    I need some help. If you want to talk and help me process, leave a comment or just gchat. Quick, pat answers, however well-intentioned, are generally unhelpful and do not communicate love.

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Thursday, 16 June 2011

  • summer reading list, pt 2

    Here, I'm going to list the books I've read and some questions they've raised. If anything interests you, maybe we can chat about them!

    [Will update periodically]

    Connected : the surprising power of our social networks and how they shape our lives by Nicholas A. Christakis, James H. Fowler.
    >> You are influenced by and have influence over people up to three degrees of separation from you. Okay yeah, that was really the only point of this book. That and ways in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

    Point Omega : a novel by Don DeLillo.
    >> You've decided to give up your job, home and all personal connections to begin a new life pursuing whole-heartedly one project. What is it?
    >> Where would you go to die?

    Brave new world by Aldous Huxley.
    >> What would society be like if infidelity were the norm, monogamy a scandal and emotional attachment a sign of immaturity?
    >> What would you be willing to give in exchange for global stability?
    >> Is the choice between world peace and a free-thinking global society a true dichotomy? In other words, do you really have to brainwash everyone in order to maintain and ensure world peace?

    The French lieutenant's woman by John Fowles.
    >> How would you write a book in which the author is not omniscient?
    >> "There is no ultimate plan for your life." If this is a part of your worldview, what are the pros and cons? If not, what would it be like to live as if this were true?

    The illustrated life & adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens.
    >> How is growing up in the American suburbs nowadays like being from a privileged British family in the 1800s?

Friday, 27 May 2011

  • summer reading list

    Here are some books on my radar this summer. Feel free to recommend something or read with me!

    In no particular order:

    1. Connected : the surprising power of our social networks and how they shape our lives / Nicholas A. Christakis, James H. Fowler.

    2.     Stiff : the curious lives of human cadavers / Mary Roach.

    3.     The corrections / Jonathan Franzen.

    4. Freedom / Jonathan Franzen.

    5.     Point Omega : a novel / Don DeLillo.

    6. Watchmen / Alan Moore, writer; Dave Gibbons, illustrator /letterer; John Higgins, colorist.

    7. Mrs. Dalloway / Virginia Woolf.

    8. Invisible man / Ralph Ellison.

    9. Anna Karenina / Leo Tolstoy.

    10. How to live safely in a science fictional universe / Charles Yu.

    11. Lolita / Vladimir Nabokov.

    12. The end of faith : religion, terror, and the future of reason / Sam Harris.

    13. Nurtureshock : new thinking about children / Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.

    14. The myth of Sisyphus, and other essays / Albert Camus.

    15. The stranger / Albert Camus.

    16. Fast food nation : the dark side of the all-American meal / Eric Schlosser.

    17. A short history of nearly everything / Bill Bryson.

    18. Gertrude Bell : queen of the desert, shaper of nations / Georgina Howell.

    19. Lord of the flies / William Golding.

    20. Brave new world / Aldous Huxley.

    21. The catcher in the rye / J.D. Salinger.

    22.     Late Victorian holocausts : El Niño famines and the making of the Third World / Mike Davis.

    23. The French lieutenant's woman / John Fowles. [CURRENTLY READING]

    24.     The illustrated life & adventures of Nicholas Nickleby / Charles Dickens. [CURRENTLY READING]

    25. A concise history of the Russian Revolution / Richard Pipes.

    ------
    If it's not obvious, I prefer literature, historical fiction and social commentary. Happy summer! :)