Gospel According to Malchus

The Gospel According to Malchus

I accompanied the soldiers to arrest Jesus of Nazareth,

Who calls himself as the King of Jews.                                 

Then, a man asked, “Whom seek ye?”

We answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

He replied, “I am he.”

Jesus was neither armed nor vicious looking, nor threatening,

But with an extremely calm and peaceful face.

All of the sudden, one of his disciples struck my ear.

The pain and shock ran through my ears.

My vision became blurry, and blood spurted across my cheeks.

I felt fury, revenge, and embarrassment at the same time.

I was beyond self-control and rational thoughts.

It was a violent abuse, worse than my master’s.

I locked eyes with the vile man.

I was ready to draw my sword, but Jesus said,

“Put up thy sword into the sheath,” to his cruel friend.

“The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?”

I was astonished by his response, and released my grip on my sword.

I was confused by the reasons we were seizing him.

According to Caiaphas, Jesus was threatening and dangerous.

My master’s beliefs contradicted Jesus’ true actions.

All I saw was Jesus saving his enemy, who tried to arrest him.

As we bound him, I still wondered why he was not resisting.

We first led him to Annas, but some disciples,

Including the man who struck my ear, followed us.

Suddenly, he stopped at the door in the palace,

And the vile disciple did not follow us anymore.

When I looked back, he was standing with an extremely guilty face.

Some Jews surrounded him and asked,

“Art not thou also one of his disciples?”

He denied the fact, and his statement astonished me.

Although I was sure he was denying it because of fear,

I asked him the same question.

“Did not I see thee in the garden with him?”

Yet again, he refused to acknowledge it as truth.

I could see through his eyes that he was ashamed and guilty,

But desperate to not be accused as Jesus’ accomplice.

The Spiritual Journey of Self-Discovery

      Siddhartha reminds me of Chris McCandless from Into the Wild. Although Chris McCandless got high grades from a satisfactory university, he ceased communicating with his family, gave away his college fund, and began traveling. He dreamed of living in Alaska, far away from the city to "find himself." His adventure into a wild area without planning, experience or supplies such as money or a compass caused him to end his life. He wanted to travel and enjoy the freedom because he opposed to a lot of societies, routines, and values. 

  This situation is similar in Siddhartha. In the first pages of the book, it seems like Siddhartha is a perfect person. He was a son of a Brahman, wise, handsome, and strong. However, Siddhartha was not happy nor peaceful, because the Brahman teachings did not give him spiritual enlightenment. Siddhartha believes,"The Brahmins and their holy books knew everything; they had gone into everything-the creation of the world, the origin of speech, food, inhalation, exhalation, the arrangement of the senses, the acts of gods-but was it worth while knowing all these things if they did not know the one important thing, the only important thing?" (Page 4) He strongly desired to be a Samana, despite his father's opposition. Eventually, his father gave him permission and he became a Samana to understand life and its meaning in the deepest levels. Although life of a Samana was not easy, he continued to practice self-denial and meditation. According to page 12, Siddhartha learned a great deal from the Samanas; he learned many ways of losing the Self. He travelled along the path of self-denial through pain, through hunger, thirst and fatigue.

  Siddhartha made me think of what I really want in life, and I realised that I should follow my own path through dedication, and achieve my goal little by little. (In that way, Siddhartha is also related to the Tao.) Siddhartha's passion of becoming a Samana and finding spiritual enlightment was extremely strong. Siddhartha and I have different personalities. He had deep thoughts and he was very patient to achieve his goal. He would travel without relying on anybody else. On the other hand, I ask a lot of people for their help, or come up with a new goal if the former did not work out. In conclusion, Siddartha taught me that religious teachings doesn't necessarily lead to one finding the true inner "self." Also, I noticed that, in Siddhartha's case, knowledge and wisdom come from experience, not books. Siddhartha could solve his unanswered questions through his journey, and this is similar to the Tao's teachings.

The Tao of the Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Tao of the Very Hungry Caterpillar

One day in the garden under the glistering sun, a newborn came out of the dirt.

The caterpillar was very, very hungry. As soon as he came out of the dirt, he began searching for food.

The first day,

he ate one piece of candy,

but he was still hungry.

The second day, he ate two cookies,

but he was still hungry.

The third day, he ate three lollipops, but he was still hungry.

The fourth day, he ate four cakes, but he was still hungry.

The fifth day, he ate five chocolates, but he was still hungry. Before he knew it, the caterpillar grew and grew.

Ant: The Tao in this part is practicing through non-action. The caterpillar doesn’t realize he is growing constantly because eating is a natural habit for living things.

Suddenly, the caterpillar‘s stomach hurt so much.

“Maybe my stomach is hurting so much because I ate so much junk food. I should try eating healthy vegetables and leaves from now on.”

Ant: The Tao in this part is about the difficulty the caterpillar is facing when he took things lightly. He didn’t think about his stomach, instead he kept on eating unhealthy junk food. As a result, the caterpillar suffers and hurts his stomach.

From that day, the caterpillar began eating leaves and fruits from the trees in the garden. The caterpillar felt much better after eating healthy food.

Ant: This part is Taoist in the way that the caterpillar does not attempt anything very big, stops being greedy, and thus achieves greatness. Because his stomachache stopped, he was a healthy caterpillar again.

One day, the caterpillar began building a cocoon around his body. By the time the caterpillar was inside the cocoon, he was very big.

   After seven days, the cocoon began to crack and the caterpillar in the cocoon came out. But the creature that came out of that cocoon was no longer a caterpillar. Instead, it was a beautiful, gorgeous butterfly with colorful wings.

Ant: The Tao in this part is the scientific nature. In the universe, the difficult things are done as if they are easy. It seems like an extremely complicated and scientific process when the caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly. However, this great act was made up of small deeds. As the caterpillar eats and eats, it begins developing and growing. In conclusion, the caterpillar achieved great acts in little things. 

Homeschooling Inside the Brains of Maria and Sarah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrBmcVasQbw&feature=youtu.be

Surviving the Holocaust

    Night is one of those many books that summarizes what Jews had to go through during World War 2. A boy named Elie Wiesel is who takes us back in time to look back on those moments of trouble for many people. Elie meets a very special boy named Moshe the Beadle, who is constantly praying and seeking answers from God. 
     Personally, I agree with Moshe because God leads us to the path to find the answers we are looking for on our own. When we are in  times of  trial, we might draw away from God and doubt his strength to help us in our path. Even though it is understandable in times of trial, you should never doubt that God will be with you. When it comes to war, I can't understand it and want it to end as fast as possible. Perhaps Moshe was feeling confused and doubtful because the Jews hadn't done anything to the Germans to cause conflict. The Jews, even though they had the equipment and the people, they decided to leave to avoid hurting those who they didn't have a conflict with. I think they should have fought back, make their voices be heard and rebel. The Jews were innocent and there was no reason to harm them. Maybe God let the war happen to test whether the Jews were still faithful and would rely on Him. 
    Night is somehow connected with the Book of Job because when Job, who was faithful and loyal to God, lost everything, he still believed in God and believed He was next to Job. On the other hand, Moshe was confused and started doubting God's powers when the Germans were attacking the Jews. Both characters started off the same, but when Moshe sees the tragedy they are going through, he draws away from God and stops seeking for answers. For example, at first Moshe says " Man questions God and God answers But we don't understand His answers. You will find the true answers only within yourself." However, when the attack of the Germans became serious, the narrator says "Mose had changed. There was no longer any joy in his eyes. He no longer talked to me of God."

Waking Up is Harder than it Seems

You hear the alarm clock beeping in your ears, and you knock it down. All you can think is “5:30 already?” You brush your teeth, wash your face, put on your uniform as fast as you can, eat breakfast, run to catch the bus, and you go to school. The same routine goes on and on every day. Waking up early everyday is very exhausting for a lot of us. Unfortunately, if you are late, you get a punishment, such as a detention or a warning. Some of us are accustomed, and have no problem with getting up very at 5o’clock. However, most of us believe school starts too early. Because high schoolers go to bed late and wake up early, I believe school needs to open later than usual.

I believe this school starts very early, and students have a hard time waking up and being at time. Most of the students in Colombia wake up at 5:40 or 5:30 to go to school, whereas students in the US wake up at 7:30 or 7:40. If we wake up for school an hour later, students would feel energetic to go to school, and that gives our school a chance for students’ attitudes to improve. We would have more time to eat breakfast and time to complete our homework.

    I’m not disagreeing with the fact that waking up early, being diligent, and starting the day early is bad. However, I believe it is too early for students to wake up at 5 o’clock to go to school. A lot of kids don’t eat breakfast because they are worried they would get late. If we entered late we would have time to eat breakfast at our homes. Most kids get up and do not want to go to school because they feel as if they do not get enough sleep. They are half awake when they get to school and it is difficult to concentrate. For example, if you had to stay up late at night finishing your homework, it would be very hard to get up early the next morning.

      During the holidays, you don’t wake up as early as the days you went to school, so it is very hard to get back to your routine. For instance, if you always waked up at 9:30 during the holidays, it is very hard to wake up at 5:00am. It will be even harder to concentrate during the day. Delaying the starting time for teenagers would be a wise idea.

Mostly people say that waking up early will help you to be a successful and a diligent person, but they’re not always right. There are numerous benefits for waking up late instead of waking up early. 

Gilgamesh's Tragic Flaw is revealed

    After reading some epics, I've found out that all heroes have something in common: The hero participates in a quest, faces obstacles that try to defeat him in his journey, gathers allies along the way and returns home, but most significantly, they have a strength and a tragic flaw. Throughout tablets nine and ten, I noticed that Gilgamesh's flaw is fear. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh grieves deeply and is horrified by the prospect of his own death. "Enkidu has died. Must I die too? Must Gilgamesh be like that?" "Gilgamesh felt the fear of it in his belly."(page 48) These lines show how fearful and grievous Gilgamesh is. His tragic flaw reminded me of Achilles, the valiant hero from the Iliad. Although Achilles possesses superhuman strength, his tragic flaw was his heel, which decided his fate and his death.
    One inference I've made is that Gilgamesh is no longer the same powerful, arrogant king of Urik who everybody worshipped. He is a coward, a man full of sorrow who fears that the same fate of Enkidu awaits him, and is desperate to avoid it if possible. "If you are Gilgamesh who killed the demon, and if it is you who wrestled the Bull and killed him why do you look like one who grieves, why is it that you roam the wilderness?" (page 55) These lines prove that when Enkidu was alive, Gilgamesh was undefeatable, but after Enkidu's death, he loses that "undefeatable" strength. In other words, Gilgamesh is only strong because of Enkidu's faithfulness, and he would have never succeeded his quest on destroying Huwawa or the Bull of Heaven without the help of Enkidu.
    If I were to be Gilgamesh, I wouldn't seek immortality and fear my own fate. Instead, I would continue the journey as if Enkidu was alive and accomplish things I know we could have done together. Personally, I disagree with Gilgamesh's decision of being immortal because I believe that we all die at some point, and we all have to face that part of life's cycle, even if he's half god.