let it be

okay, my first official blog of 2012 and i'm not really sure where to go with it.  in order to accomplish all of the goals i've mentally set for myself, i feel like i need a good plan....but i think in some ways it's better if i just see where each day takes me....so i'm in a  strange place.  of course the first place i  went when i decided i needed to explore all of this further was the bookstore......my new stash of books is comparable in size to the old, but includes books like "history of the bible", "the idiots guide to the koran", "jesus" by deepak chopra, "heathly eating heathly world" and "the mind of GOD".....all over the place....just like me.

i actually read the history of the bible over the last 2 days....and yes, i read really fast.  i just felt like i needed a brief historical context to put things into perspective for me - so check that one off....it was interesting, but like all other christian based books i've ever read, extrapolates the wording from the bible that best fits the situation....not that it wasn't right on in some places....and made a cool case for history as 3 pronged that all intersect - secular, religious and redemptive.  not sure i buy the whole package, because history in any form is completely dependent on the writer....much like the bible.  i have to say that history in and of itself became problematic for me in college....i left home absolutely sure that i would double major in history in english - my 2 greatest interests.....but found out in my first history class at brown, that history was being taught from a revisionist standpoint......basically what that means is that the white male dominated culture from which all history has been depicted, is more or less completely skewed by the bias of the writer......if you look at slavery from the viewpoint of the slaves as opposed to the landowners, you see a completely different picture - both equally true to the time period.  in much the same way, the teachings of the bible were documented by christians and from their point of view.  if you read any other ancient texts from the time of the holy roman empire, i'm sure they wouldn't see things from the same perspective.  the sustainability and consistency of the stories that became the bible certainly make the point for its legitimacy.....but the fact that the first books of the new testament weren't written until between 40-70 years after the death of Jesus, leaves a lot of room for historical revisionism to take place.  and wow, i definitely wasn't planning on going off on that tangent, but welcome to the blogosphere.

food for thought #1:  loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.....MARK TWAIN

what i was planning to say is that i am reading a devotional daily bible, so that at the end of 2012, i will be able to say i've read the entire bible.....i've read many parts over the years, but never the whole thing in any kind of order, so that's how i'm tackling the big one.  i also started healthy eating healthy world.....really just as a reminder to myself why being a vegetarian is the choice i made.....and 2 chapters in, i'm totally recommitted to not only eating better, but never buying another chicken for as long as i live.....i'm sure i will cave on that eventually, but maybe not.  the goal of a plant based diet is not weight loss, although that is usually a happy byproduct...the goal here is TO ACHIEVE VIBRANT HEALTH.....that is definitely what i am looking for and hope to pass on to my kids.  ironically, in my daily bible reading Gen 1:29 says "see, i have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed: to you it shall be for food".  how do you like that?  i'm actually surprised someone hasn't jumped on the "God wants us to be vegetarian" bandwagon before now....maybe i'll start a trend :)

food for thought #2:  we do not inherit the land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.....NATIVE AMERICAN PROVERB

i hope that by taking the time to think about my life in a more intentional fashion, i will make better choices for me, for my family, my community and with any luck at all the planet.  it's so funny to me that now that i  have decided to write, i am bombarded with things that strike me.....i think the funniest so far is the title to the blog today - that i think ties all of these thoughts together....

WHEN I FIND MYSELF IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME

SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM, LET IT BE.....

AND WHEN THE BROKENHEARTED PEOPLE

LIVING IN THE WORLD AGREE

THERE WILL BE AN ANSWER, LET IT BE....

performed last night by none other than the great Justin Bieber

(weird side note, luke just walked in and asked if any of those books on my new blog shelf were fair game....because he wants to read the history of the bible.....i love that kid.)