There is going to be a series of these posts based off of this book I am reading. With the addition of this book, I am now in the process of trying to finish four books total (outside of school). The book is called "As A Peace-Loving Global Citizen" and is written by a Reverend by the name of Sun Myung Moon. Its originally language is in Korean and after it being a best-seller in Korea, it has been translated into several other languages.
My friend in astronomy class (Tierra) and I were talking about religion during the break. She randomly asked me "What religion were you agan?" And I said well I don't exactly have a religion but if you have to classify me, I guess I would be Christian. So then she shows me this peace-loving book and she tells me that she didn't want to take it at first.
Take it? Yep, they were giving these lovely books out for free to students in the school cafeteria today, apparently. She tells me that she was reluctant because she saw that it was written by some Christian dude talking about peace, and the mere thought of Christians trying to conjure up peace has such bad history and negative thoughts. However, she took it anyways and read the back cover. There were comments from people like the Prime Minister of Kenya to other powerful authority figures from all over the world saying how wonderful this book was, so Tierra took it.
Right when class was about to start again from the break, Tierra came with me to the cafeteria around 2:00 pm to see if the people handing the books out were still there, but they weren't. Tierra then kindly lent me her copy.
I started reading it just a few hours ago, and am already 100 pages in. The spirit of God was obviously working in this man's heart when he was an infant. You could obviously tell that this text was translated, as the wording is pretty funny in certain areas but definitely understandable. Also, the book would occasionally italicize things like "bibimbap". The way this guy writes (or the way it has been translated from Korean to English) kind of reminds me of a friend. But maybe because this friend is also Korean and Christian, haha.
The book is essentially an autobiography and this reverend is 90 years old and still preaching and outreaching. I remember having lots of thoughts while reading the first 100 pages, but right now I can only think of one thing that spoke to me:
Moon reminds us that all religions are in place to bring about goodness and peace. When people begin to alter that peaceful objective, like politics does, religion immediately begins to be associated with destruction and termination. And this is totally true. Even from the Bones episode that I saw today, The Crusades, the Inquisition, and 9/11, people believe that it is religion that is causing all the heartache. I hate to say it, but 'Christians' were the ones who designed proposition 8, something that Christians like me don't really fuss over, as much as we do disapprove of it - we will not stop the free will given so mercifully to us. Love is mutual, God's love is mutual, God loves us all, which means we are all given the free will to love Him back or turn our backs against Him. Otherwise, love will would be mechanic and one-sided and nonexistent.
And this is kind of my own philosophy as well, as well as my other 'Christian peers'. We're not exactly 'Christian'. To us personally, religion, although with its good intentions, limits humankind. Jesus's works is meant to free humankind, thus as a result, we should have a desire to willfully and wholeheartedly obey the rules the Father has sent out for us. Jesus was sent on this Earth to bring about peace and harmonious coexistence, something that "Christians" of this world have not been doing a good job of doing so far. He walked among beggars, prostitutes, tax payers (which were very much hated back in his day), people with other beliefs, and other figures that were looked down upon by society. Jesus never caused a ruckus, and we shouldn't either.
For me, deep down I've always been somewhat allured to the possibility of coexistence, race and religion. Or rather, culture and religion. Of course, I do hope that Jesus' love will prevail in the end, but seeing that I single-handedly cannot achieve such a task, for the time being all I can do is bring about as much peace as I can. One thing I think I'd like to change is that lately I've been susceptible to arguing lately, or not saying things in a very nice manner. I think part of this is having to do with me being more comfortable with voicing my thoughts, but I need to find a way to do it all more lovingly. I guess I shall pray for that.
I also have this desire of beginning to read literature from other cultures. For the past two years, I've been so fixed on 19th-Century English culture. Hmm I've read three Shakespeare play, two English horror stories, two Jane Austen stories, two Charlotte Bronte stories, one Emily Bronte story, a contemporary English play, anddd I think a lot more which are in this cupboard next to me but basically, I've read a lot of English books. This book regarding Moon and his Korean culture is honestly very interesting, so I think after I finish the books I should be finishing, perhaps I'll go back to literature originating in Asia. That is, of course, after I finish these two Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel biographies, Great Expectations, and Moby Dick.
I like reading.
By the way, I have been typing stuff for about an hour now, aha.. I'm kind of considering posting video posts but my face is too ugly for that and reading the printed word is healthy for our intellectual selves so yeah.
My friend in astronomy class (Tierra) and I were talking about religion during the break. She randomly asked me "What religion were you agan?" And I said well I don't exactly have a religion but if you have to classify me, I guess I would be Christian. So then she shows me this peace-loving book and she tells me that she didn't want to take it at first.
Take it? Yep, they were giving these lovely books out for free to students in the school cafeteria today, apparently. She tells me that she was reluctant because she saw that it was written by some Christian dude talking about peace, and the mere thought of Christians trying to conjure up peace has such bad history and negative thoughts. However, she took it anyways and read the back cover. There were comments from people like the Prime Minister of Kenya to other powerful authority figures from all over the world saying how wonderful this book was, so Tierra took it.
Right when class was about to start again from the break, Tierra came with me to the cafeteria around 2:00 pm to see if the people handing the books out were still there, but they weren't. Tierra then kindly lent me her copy.
I started reading it just a few hours ago, and am already 100 pages in. The spirit of God was obviously working in this man's heart when he was an infant. You could obviously tell that this text was translated, as the wording is pretty funny in certain areas but definitely understandable. Also, the book would occasionally italicize things like "bibimbap". The way this guy writes (or the way it has been translated from Korean to English) kind of reminds me of a friend. But maybe because this friend is also Korean and Christian, haha.
The book is essentially an autobiography and this reverend is 90 years old and still preaching and outreaching. I remember having lots of thoughts while reading the first 100 pages, but right now I can only think of one thing that spoke to me:
Moon reminds us that all religions are in place to bring about goodness and peace. When people begin to alter that peaceful objective, like politics does, religion immediately begins to be associated with destruction and termination. And this is totally true. Even from the Bones episode that I saw today, The Crusades, the Inquisition, and 9/11, people believe that it is religion that is causing all the heartache. I hate to say it, but 'Christians' were the ones who designed proposition 8, something that Christians like me don't really fuss over, as much as we do disapprove of it - we will not stop the free will given so mercifully to us. Love is mutual, God's love is mutual, God loves us all, which means we are all given the free will to love Him back or turn our backs against Him. Otherwise, love will would be mechanic and one-sided and nonexistent.
And this is kind of my own philosophy as well, as well as my other 'Christian peers'. We're not exactly 'Christian'. To us personally, religion, although with its good intentions, limits humankind. Jesus's works is meant to free humankind, thus as a result, we should have a desire to willfully and wholeheartedly obey the rules the Father has sent out for us. Jesus was sent on this Earth to bring about peace and harmonious coexistence, something that "Christians" of this world have not been doing a good job of doing so far. He walked among beggars, prostitutes, tax payers (which were very much hated back in his day), people with other beliefs, and other figures that were looked down upon by society. Jesus never caused a ruckus, and we shouldn't either.
For me, deep down I've always been somewhat allured to the possibility of coexistence, race and religion. Or rather, culture and religion. Of course, I do hope that Jesus' love will prevail in the end, but seeing that I single-handedly cannot achieve such a task, for the time being all I can do is bring about as much peace as I can. One thing I think I'd like to change is that lately I've been susceptible to arguing lately, or not saying things in a very nice manner. I think part of this is having to do with me being more comfortable with voicing my thoughts, but I need to find a way to do it all more lovingly. I guess I shall pray for that.
I also have this desire of beginning to read literature from other cultures. For the past two years, I've been so fixed on 19th-Century English culture. Hmm I've read three Shakespeare play, two English horror stories, two Jane Austen stories, two Charlotte Bronte stories, one Emily Bronte story, a contemporary English play, anddd I think a lot more which are in this cupboard next to me but basically, I've read a lot of English books. This book regarding Moon and his Korean culture is honestly very interesting, so I think after I finish the books I should be finishing, perhaps I'll go back to literature originating in Asia. That is, of course, after I finish these two Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel biographies, Great Expectations, and Moby Dick.
I like reading.
By the way, I have been typing stuff for about an hour now, aha.. I'm kind of considering posting video posts but my face is too ugly for that and reading the printed word is healthy for our intellectual selves so yeah.
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