Reflection #9: The Incarnation of God

Carol: Little Drummer Boy

Jesus is described as the king of kings, priest of priests, and in a nut shell, god. Even in the carol the gifts are to be "fit for a king."

Come they told me,
A new born King to see,
Our finest gifts we bring,
To lay before the King,

This verse emphasizes the giving of gifts to Jesus.

In the Nativity Story, each characters have very important roles.
Mary, to carry Jesus as pure woman.
Joseph, to have faith in Mary and protect her, and raise Jesus.
Shepherds, to witness and give shelter to the birth of Jesus.
Wise Men, to predict and celebrate the birth of Jesus.

The reasons god would come to the world as an infant, would be to give lessons of a life time, and to show of pure origins.

Reflection #8 Islam: Two Perspectives

This article is about the recent Quran Burning event being canceled.

In the American perspective there is a tone of relief and a hint of forgiveness seeing as the event would no longer take place.

On the other hand the Arabic side of the story has a tone of suspicion, caution, and fear of the potential continuation or influence that could happen. They are obviously not as forgiving for the events that have taken place.

Personal Commemoration- Reflection #7

Something I could commemorate the day I leave Korea, since this was an important time in my life, seeing as living in Korea dominated a lot of the time when I grew up. Ive learned a lot coming to Korea and I will leave a better person then when I came.

Since I lived in Korea for 4 years this event will take place over 4 days, and each day I will face towards Korea and think about all my friends and experiences I had in Korea. During this event I can wear an article of clothing that shows I went to SFS, like a SFS sweater.

"Korea has my Soul"

The Morality of Greek Myths- Reflection #6

The story of Orpheus is a love story about a talented musician venturing down to the underworld in order to retrieve his deceased beloved Eurydice. He is almost able to lead her out of the underworld but fails in the last moment, to which he mourns until the day he dies.
Orpheus is heroic due to his talent, resolve, and pure love, but it is his faults that overcome him. His obsession causes him to attempt to defy the rules of nature and fail to succeed. His obsession also prevents him from living his life after the lose of his love.
The moral the story tries to tell his that you must learn to let go. Holding on to what you can no longer have will only cause pain. And no amount of skills or talent can bring back the dead.
This story is able to explain the power of love, and the events of the underworld.

Reflection #5: Bongwonsa Temple and Nature Walk

Religion explains the answers that we don't know. We seek it because people fear what they don't know. Religion explains life and why things are the way they are, and what happens after death. People are often very devout because they want to plan for a life after death. Religion gives us rules and morals so people can live together peacefully and breaking these rules can lead to a great consequence, which is why people spend lifetimes making sure they apply for a comfortable afterlife.

Taoism explains why nature is so vast, the rule is to let be because its only when there is animals interacting with nature do things not flow smoothly.

Hinduism promises that if you follow the rules you can live forever in nirvana, which is explained to be a wonderful place to be.

In the end religion is based on surviving, and comfort (peace of mind).

Reflection #4: Buddhist Meditation

My thoughts while meditating where,

"If I am to be happy in life then Buddhism says I should shed all desire, since nothing lasts, so why want something that causes grief, when in the end there will be nothing but loss. If I'm satisfied with what I have then desire will be gone and I will be forever peaceful. In order for the there to be true happiness I must bring my surroundings to peace and not only myself. This means to help others around me until they are happy. But their emotions cannot be controlled by me, and only influenced, so bringing my surroundings to peace will be a more difficult task. In the end, it is truly only helping myself because I am achieving peace by bringing peace to others."

This is just how I think when I think about philosophy, but more deeply I think my thoughts start to contradict themselves and become complex.

Reflection #3- Gandhi: Hindu and Activist

Ghandi was the leader of the Indian Independence movement, and often used his religious values to influence others.

Ghandi's idea of Hinduism was based on the idea of balance, harmony, and peace. Peace is shown in the movie Ghandi when Ghandi constantly expresses his civil disobedience, and choice of non-violence, even if it is justified. His idea of balance and harmony is shown when he attempts to live his life in equality like when he chooses to travel in 3rd class, or when he wears the clothes of the "untouchables." He is shown to be very passionate about these values when he is angered when his wife refused to do the work of the "untouchables" or when he fasts when his followers do not use Ghandi's non-violence ideals.

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
This quote by Ghandi is the perfect example of the way Ghandi lived his life. Ghandi was greatly known for his non-violent ways, even for revenge or even justified retaliation. He further explains this with his quote from the bible to "turn the other cheek." Ghandi believed that if you don't return violence it will stop. With this in mind Ghandi was able to free India from British colonial rule.