PRABE Reflection 10

This week I began reading a book called “Chose Yourself” by James Altucher. I guess it would technically fall into the “self help” or business category of books, but those often get a bad rap and so far I have found this very interesting and helpful for anyone trying to navigate our changing world and find success and happiness.

            The first few chapters of the book, which I read this week talk about how the world and economy is changing significantly in our current time—and how this will affect each of us as we try to become successful and plan for the future. The author talks about a time in 2002, when he was working as a stockbroker on Wall Street and the market came crashing down—he had no friends and suddenly—no money. The main message of the book so far seems to be that in today’s society, we have the option to not be enslaved by the powers that be—the hegemony that big business once held over people (and the market) is vanishing and individuals have opportunities never seen before. The author is calling readers to action, suggesting  that the only real hope is to stop placing our hope and futures in other people’s hands and begin to choose ourselves.

Reflection

The past 10-12 weeks of reflecting on my weekly reading on this blog have been helpful to organize my thoughts. It has also helped hold me accountable to continue reading on a regular basis. I am an avid reader to begin with, so to be honest—the assignment to read 90 minutes “for fun” each week is like a dream come true. Especially while I am taking 18 hours of classes, I read this assignment and thought, “I am required to read for fun every week? And it CAN’T be something school related? Awesome!” Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of this was seeing how my own thought processes became more inflective as I wrote down my thoughts and ideas about what I have read on this blog—this is a practice I will likely continue in some manner as I feel it helps organize and retain things that we read, especially if you are someone like me who reads 3-4 books a month.

PRABE Reflection 9

This week continued the reading of "Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldredge.

One of the main ideas discussed in my reading for this week was that of Jesus' "disruptive honesty." The author gives examples of Jesus confronting people in the bible with incredible honest and challenges the question of why we rarely experience this and do this for others in our own lives.

One example used is when Jesus is invited to the house of a religious leader, and rather than keeping the custom of washing one's hands before eating, Jesus proceeds directly to the table and makes himself comfortable. This amazes the religious leader that this man who claims to be the son of God would ignore such a deeply rooted tradition. Jesus responds by saying that such traditions put on a good image outside, but on the inside allows people to still be corrupt. His response may be demeaning and rude, but the author argues that this is more so just honesty and that it was necessary to challenge the beliefs of this particular individual.

He cites another example from the story about Mary and Martha, showing more gentle, compassionate honest confrontation from Jesus.

The point of this is to suggest that sometimes the most loving thing we can do is be honest with those that we care about--even when it is hard, and even when it may cause turbulence in our lives or in the relationship we have with them. Similarly, it is important to confront others with the truth in an appropriate way, knowing that some people need a more direct approach while others, more gentle.

This was a very interesting way to present the importance of honesty with those around us using Jesus as an example.

Reading Log:
Monday: 9-9:15
Tuesday: 9-9:15
Thursday: 9-9:30
Saturday: 11-11:30

PRABE Reflection #8

This week, I continued reading John Eldredge's "Beautiful Outlaw", which aims to explore the personality of Jesus. As mentioned previously, this whole idea is somewhat new to me. I was raised with a conservative background where Jesus was mainly some dude that read to children and wore a lot of white. Identifying his "personality" was never a topic of discussion- and certainly not in the way that Eldredge discusses it.

This week I read a chapter called "The Most Human Face of All." In it, the author discusses the troubling issue of Jesus being both entirely human but also an extension of God. Eldredge argues that Jesus is a portrayal of what humanity could be like if sin wasn't involved. Similarly, he cites evidence of Jesus suggesting that he is the best representation of what God is like, and that we can know what God is like by evaluating how Jesus was while on earth.

From this, the author begins to suggest that how Jesus acts is much different than the way in which much of religion suggests. He says that "religious fog" has corrupted our view of Jesus and caused a christian faith that is more concerned with rules, regulations, and tradition than it is a reflection of who God really is.

This idea builds upon some of the books I read and discussed here previously, suggesting that religion and Jesus are at odds in mainstream Christianity in the U.S. This once again is somewhat of a troubling thought because it challenges nearly everything that I was raised believing.


Reading Log:
Monday: 9-9:30
Tuesday: 8-9
Friday: 9-9:30