The Religion Pumpkin

Many thanks to Hadley and Miller for their beautiful, artistic, and erudite decorations of my pumpkin.

In my pumpkin-judging opinion, it looks fantastic!!

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe Halloween.

Religion Video: The Good Samaritan

Joseph's Robe

Retold by Daniel (From the Perspective of Joseph)

... With a sudden whoosh and a hard whack, a whip pierced my skin and a crippling feeling of pain and betrayal hit my body.

I looked up with fierceness in my eyes. A tan man with a golden whip spoke in a foreign language I couldn’t understand.

I struggled to break free as intensity flowed through my veins, but a sturdy rope tangled around my body. 

I noticed there was a man behind me tied in the same rope as me. We were back to back. I couldn’t tell what he looked like, but I could tell by the exhaustion in his voice when he said, You have been sold as a slave to a pharaoh's officer, we’re going to be in Egypt soo-.  

He was paused by the snap of the whip. Yes he was going through the same misery as me ...

The Tower of Babel

Retold by Kate R. (From the Perspective of an Angel)

I had suspected this would happen a long time ago. Somehow, I knew it had always been inside of them. It had been building throughout the centuries. 

God gave humans skills mainly to increase their pleasure, make their life easier, and decrease the turmoil. When they acquire new skills it always seems to increase their pride and curiosity. It was just a matter of time for them to decide to start the thing. 

The decision was mainly one man’s. A strong and burly man who had more pride than any of the others. This man also had one big sinful desire ...

I told my Lord God my concerns about him and his rapidly growing rebellion, and how they were acting as if they were vultures picking on the hopeful, the curious, proud, and the needy. After I said this he didn’t say that he was surprised by the humans and their sinful behavior. Instead, he told me that their behavior was expected if not necessary.

The reason for their behavior is because they have an uncanny ability to almost always learn from their mistakes, along with the fact that long ago he himself made a mistake.

His mistake was that he acted on how he felt in the moment without considering the consequences, and in the moment the decision was that he would make a flood so big it would wipe out the entire population except one man and his family, and that man was Noah. Noah was the one without mistakes. Allowing his descendants to forget about mistakes, and opening the doors to a new world of mistakes that had yet to be punished ...

Questions About Buddhism

Davis O.: Why did the Buddha meditate under a fig tree, instead of in a monastery?

Hunter: Why did the Buddha believe that meditating was the best thing to do?

Hunter (#2): Why did the Buddha decide he didn't want to believe in Hinduism?

Oscar and Daniel: If it takes years and years to be reincarnated, how did the Buddha do it in one night?

Olivia T.: What is the most effective mantra? Why is it the most effective?

Carson: Can Buddhists believe something other than the Buddha's teachings?

Grace E.: Can a person meditate too much?

Caroline: How did the Buddha feel when he first left his family? And if Buddhism is all about kindness, how could the Buddha be so rude and leave his own family?

Ashton: If you should not be attached to anything or have no desires, why do some Buddhists marry?

Landon: How many branches/kinds of Buddhism are there?

Carter K.: Did the Buddha think that his religion was better or that other people were wrong? What did he think about other religions?

Porter: What went through Buddha’s mind when he was enlightened?

Buddhism: Questions About Suffering

We have been studying Buddhism.

Buddhism is sometimes called a "philosophy" rather than a religion, since many Buddhists choose not to focus on the question of whether god (or another higher power) exists. In this class, though, we are going to classify Buddhism as a religion.

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The Buddha was very interested in the topic of suffering. He asked a number of deep questions: Why do people and other creatures suffer? Is it possible to escape from suffering? How can humans lessen the amount of suffering in the world?

To think about these questions, I posed some "thought questions" to the students. They came up with fantastic responses:

What would you think if you saw a bird eat a worm? How would you feel?

Davis W.: I would feel fine ... if nothing ate worms there would be hundreds of millions of worms all around you!

Charlotte: I would feel sorry for the worm, but also happy for the bird. That worm could have been the first worm that bird has eaten in weeks!

Ella Grace [with a perspective similar to Charlotte's]: I would feel sad for the worm because his life must have ended painfully. But I would feel happy for the bird, because it found food to eat.

Grace E.: I would feel a little disgusted, first of all, because I don't think birds chew their food. So I would just watch the bird swallow the slimy worm whole, yuck! I would also be a little shocked because it was kind of sudden. Maybe even a little sad because I just saw a cool looking worm -- and then it was gone.

Sebastian L.: It's like the sun drained out. You are watching death unfold, and you can't do anything about it. This worm, minding its own business, is gone. But not lost. The worm is now food for the bird. The bird needs the food and will now grow up ... the worm is feeding life into this bird. It is sad, but you realize life is sad ... this worm is feeding the world.

Durland: I would probably start to feel very sad. I know that the bird needs to eat, but at the same time I feel bad for the worm. He did nothing wrong.

Pete [thinking about the big picture]: Seeing animals kill or consume other forms of life can be a great or a terrifying experience. On the good side, when your pet kills a rat lurking in your home. On the bad side, if your cat kills a fish that you also own.

Carter M. [thinking about the situation from the worm's perspective]: I would think about whether the worm knew that he would get eaten by the bird ... What was it like to be the worm? Was the worm thinking "Yay I'm flying" or was the worm thinking "No, a bird has got me and I will die."

Juliet: I would think about trying to scare the bird away so it wouldn’t eat any more worms … I would feel bad for the worm because it was just living its life and then all of a sudden it got eaten. The poor worm didn’t see it coming.

Grace W.: Think about it this way: the bird eats the worm, the snake eats the bird, the honeybadger eats the snake, the lion eats the honeybadger … and the lion eventually dies and then decomposes into soil, which a new worm uses as its home. All animals depend on each other to survive.

Emily: I would not do anything because I know the worm will go up to heaven and see god, and god wants that to happen. If god tells me to help the worm, I will, because that is god’s plan.

Casner: Sometimes I find worms on the sidewalk. I pick them up, and I dig a big hole so I can bury them and they can stay alive.

What would you think if you saw a 5th grader being mean to a 3rd grader? How would you feel?

Oscar: I would feel bad for the 3rd grader because he really can't do anything because most of the time the 5th grader is bigger. I would probably walk over and try to understand what happened, then I would tell the 5th grader to stop. If he didn't stop, I would walk him somewhere else.

Cort: I would tell the 5th grader to go away and never bother anyone again.

Chapin: I would go up to the 3rd grader, and I would talk to them and take them with me. I would stay with them or find one of their friends to stay with them.

Landon: My emotions would probably be both sad and mad. While I was sad, I probably would be a bystander. But when I started to get mad, I would stop being a bystander and I would say something to the bully.

Would you feel more sorry for the 3rd grader, or more sorry for the worm?

Sam: The situation with the mean 5th grader is different from a bird eating a worm. The bird needs the worm to live; but the 5th grader doesn't need to be mean to live.

Emily: I would feel the same sympathy for each, because I feel bad for the 3rd grader getting bullied but I also feel bad for the worm.

Dante: I would feel more sorry for the 3rd grader, because the worm being eaten is a natural part of the cycle of life and necessary for the bird to survive, while being mean to younger people is completely unnecessary.

Torah Stories, Part 2

Joseph's Robe

Retold by Liv K. (From the Perspective of Joseph)

[[At this point in Liv's story, Joseph has received the beautiful coat from his father, and he has been betrayed by his eleven brothers. Slave traders are taking him, by force, to Egypt.]]

The bright sky went dark and lonely, and rain drizzled from the skies. I was weary and exhausted. The whole time, my mouth never opened to say a single word.

The rain stopped and the baking sun beamed down. The day felt like it was getting longer and longer. I finally had enough. Where are we going, I mutter. 

Oh, so he does talk, the man chuckled in a deep voice.

Egypt, said another man. 

My drained eyes opened wider. Egypt? Why were we going to Egypt? Thoughts circled my head. The only question I could ask was why, so I did.

... You will serve as a slave for the officer of the pharaoh, he said. My sunken eyes had gone wide. A slave?

The beaming sun burned my pale face, and the sweat poured off my shoulders like a waterfall. I tried to ask more questions, but no words came out.

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A Tale of Two Cities

Retold by Carson (From the Perspective of the Angel)

[[At this point in Carson's story, God has instructed the angel to visit Lot and warn him of the impending destruction.]]

It was getting very dark out, and I was just about to fall asleep on the soft animal skin when Lot came into my room and yelled Dinner is ready!

I jerked up, already smelling the food. I basically floated to the dining room and sat down and waited to be served, but just then we heard a knock on the door. 

Then somebody yelled Let us in because we know there are others in there besides you Lot, and if you don’t open this door to let us in we shall knock the door down ourselves! 

I refuse to let you in my own home, now shoo!

Just then my partner cast a spell on all of them to make them blind so they couldn't destroy the door. 

Then my partner said We are messengers from God, and we were sent here to tell you that the cities are going to be destroyed by God. We advise you to gather your family and leave now. 

After that Lot was panicked and called for his stepsons, but they didn’t listen. They thought he was telling a joke, how naive of them! 

So Lot gathered his wife and two daughters and told them what was happening

... They were ready to go, and before they went I said Run, and keep on running, and do not look back! 

Torah Stories

Sibling Rivalry

Retold by Chaney (From the Perspective of Esau)

I used to ask mother where my name came from. Esau, your name came from when we first saw you. You were covered in red hair. Esau means hairy in Hebrew. She always answered the same thing. I’ve memorized it by now. 

If I was really feeling curious I would ask where Jacob’s name came from.

 Jacob’s name came from a Hebrew word. Jacob means holder of the heel. Right as your dad and I saw him, he was holding on to your heel. Mother always answered that one word for word.

[Later in the story...]

When I got home from hunting, I put down the two deer that I had caught. I walked into father’s tent. 

Hello father. I am ready for the blessing.  

Who are you?! Father bellowed. Remember, I already gave you the blessing!

You did what?!

Is it really you, Esau? Father asked in a less frantic voice.

Yes it is me. Wait! If you already blessed someone, and it wasn’t me, who was it? 

There was silence. 

I don’t know, Father stammered. 

We thought for a long time. Suddenly it hit me like a rock to my stomach.  Jacob! ... My life is ruined!

Suddenly another thing hit me, but it was more like a leaf dropping on my head. 

Can you take your blessing back? I asked with all the hope I had in my voice. 

No son, that blessing can never be taken away once it has been given, Father said in the saddest voice you can ever hear from an old, gray man.

I felt my insides boil. I was like a volcano. I was erupting. The lava was spitting and sputtering out.

I stormed out of the tent. I vow to kill that terrible Jacob!

Joseph's Robe

Retold by Henry (From the Perspective of Joseph)

[In the first part of the story, Joseph is imprisoned, meets another prisoner named Elliot, and interprets Elliot's dreams. They become friends, but then Elliot disappears.]

I spent the next week looking everywhere for Elliot, but I never found him. Sometimes, I just sat alone and called his name. I was a wilted flower. I was alone now. The world was mute. It was as if a blanket of silence had fallen on top of me.

I felt as if my faith and belief were being drained from me. Everything my father had taught me to be: reverent, brave, strong. I could no longer feel, only think and observe. I was famished. Famished for sound. Sitting alone. Crying alone.

Blinded by my tears, I was in the corner I had now chosen to live in. I was waking up slowly when I was hit with a bright light. Salvation. It fell from the sky like an angel. I was crying, but I was no longer alone. Four tall men walked in. One waltzed into the corner with two men flanked behind him. The fourth man found me. He gave me this huge wide smile. Only one man I knew could give a smile like that. Elliot

Hey old friend. One good turn deserves another, Elliot announced. I know someone who needs the same help I did. He also had a dream.

I sighed.

This is the Pharaoh of Egypt, Elliot finally ended.

... When I shook the Pharaoh’s hand I could feel it. A new beginning, a new sunrise.

Now all I need is my robe.

Religion Video: Israel

Stories From the Torah: Pre-Writing

During today's class, I introduced our narrative writing assignment. The students will re-tell a Torah story from the perspective of one of the characters. They will choose among seven of the stories we have read in the past week, including the fascinating story of Joseph and his "coat of many colors".

We began to brainstorm ideas and pre-write.

I asked the students to choose two possible stories, and to consider the interesting plot lines of each. I also asked them to think about potential challenges. Ella Grace, Sebastian C., and Carter M. did outstanding work with the pre-writing.

Ella Grace is considering the story A Bride for Isaac, in which Abraham's servant meets Rebekah at a well and asks her to marry Isaac. Ella Grace thinks there are two excellent story lines to explore: what it was like for Rebekah to leave her friends and family, and how it felt to ride on the back of a camel!

Sebastian C. is considering the story The Tower of Babel, and he is excited to provide a detailed description of how the people built such a massive, impressive tower.

Carter M. is considering the story Joseph's Robe, and he wants to imagine what it was like for Joseph to be imprisoned. Carter also thinks it could be interesting to describe the pharaoh's dream about the seven fat cows and the seven skinny ones!