Living Proof

Remember when you were back in grade school, and during recess the kids would pick their teammates for their dodgeball game? More and more of your peers were leaving your side because they were lucky enough to get picked. Your mind starts racing, thinking how nobody wants you on their team or that you're not good enough. The self-loathing thoughts start rushing through your mind, leaving you to feel nothing more than mediocre---you were one of those "last but not least" kids. With a lump in your throat, you did the walk of shame over to whichever team needed one more player. Even as you enjoyed the game, you still weren't giving it your all because let's face it, most of them didn't want you on their team. Isn't this kind of similar to what we think about when we try to belong to a church? When I was younger, I attended Catholic school, or (CCD) so I can get my communion and confirmation. Most Italian Catholics did this, even if they were lukewarm in...

Whose truth?  There seems to be this illusion of "truth" when speaking about faith of a particular religion. I find that most Christians use the word "truth", while only relying on one source -- one source that is written by man and inspired by God. When you have this enormous book of rules and stories, you also have to take into consideration who wrote it, when it was written and how many times it has been translated as well as how many origins have been lost through the translations alone. Even the word "homosexual" has been translated -- well more like convoluted into something entirely differently. While newer translations used the word “homosexual,” what it comes down to is a tragic loss of translation of two key Greek words, “arsenokoitai” and “malakoi.” If most Biblical interpreters weren’t pacifists, there’d be all-out war between them on the meanings of these words. The explanation that I prefer comes from Biblical scholar D. B. Martin, tha...

Stepping outside of my faith in God, I have to say religion is a funny and strange concept. Here you have so many people living on earth believing in numerous "gods" without an ounce of concrete proof. Our faith is supposed to gather all the "spiritual experiences" it can, if we're willing enough. And on the scientific end of it, our brain can manifest such euphoria - a "god-like" feeling which can be confused with "God's presence". Many Catholics have seen "evidence" --- a statue of religious figures crying, a wood groove on an oak tree that resembled a man with a beard (Jesus) or seeing the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast up for bids on eBay. We're completely awed by it, until someone tells us it was rigged or tampered with -- or, that it was just a coincidence that their mind "saw" Jesus and not a groove that somehow can be looked at as a man with a beard.  For me, I have had confirmations of messages of God -...

If this religious group hasn't hit an all time low yet, this is certainly their most disgusting of all protests. They're planning to picket a vigil for the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School. They're known for picketing at soldiers' funerals and mostly against homosexuality, and of course, their enablers, or as they would say, "fag enablers". Religion has brought people together as well as tear them apart. One of the reasons why I'm scared of the Bible in some cases, is because the scriptures are sometimes taken out of context, misinterpreted and some of it is 'old school' methods that are scarier than we'd like to admit. Before I get into the biblical scriptures that may have backed up Adam Lanza's reasoning for his attack, I have to comment about something I do believe in: evil. As a Christian myself, schizophrenia or any other "mental illness" is sometimes confused with being possessed by demons. I know, I know -- ...

“Don’t cry!” my mother said, as she was consoling me last week. I’ve been hearing those words all of my life. To cry was to mean that you couldn’t handle it; you weren’t strong enough, or ‘the best will come along soon’. Some people have this misconception that I’m this hard-ass woman with no emotions whatsoever. I’m cold or unable to feel anything because I appear to be “strong”. I get all types of assumptions made about me all the time. How can I change peoples’ minds? I can’t. People leave lasting impressions---so this is mine: cold, heartless, uncaring and unable to feel. I handle things differently than most. If I get nervous or upset, I’ll sometimes throw in a joke or two, just to make the other person lighten up and laugh a little. To them, this means I’m not caring or that I’m just casting their feelings aside and goofing around. They really don’t know me. It’s hard for me to let go of tears in front of somebody else, but do they know the amount that’s released behind closed d...

A part of me feels a bit confused over the meaning of “truth” when it comes to the bible. I study the bible, yet I find contradictions within the scriptures of each passage and book. I solely rely on the bible, yet I have different interpretations of particular matters. For instance, in Romans 7:1, it states, “Now, dear brothers and sisters---you who are familiar with the law---don’t you know that the law applies only to a person who is still living?” Then, if you read on to verse 4, it states, “So this is the point: The law no longer holds you in its power, because you died to its power when you died with Christ on the cross.” Then you have this passage: “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. And yet we Jewish Christians know tha t we b ecome right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ-and not because we have obeyed the law....

What does the word “evil” mean? In the dictionary, it says this: e·vil /ˈi vəl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ee-vuh l] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –adjective 1. morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life. 2. harmful; injurious: evil laws. 3. characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous: to be fallen on evil days. 4. due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character: an evil reputation. 5. marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.: He is known for his evil disposition. –noun In the “religious” context, it means not following God- anything against God’s will. Then you have those who believe that homosexual relationships are “evil”. I know both words, “evil” and “wicked” can mean immoral, however, there are plenty of immoral people out there who are promiscuous and those who don’t care about their bodies. Even when I think of the words, “evil” or “wicked”, I think of immorality as well as e...

Typically I don’t like to reveal letters from a friend, but this one struck me as something I should share with everyone. This friend will remain anonymous out of respect of her privacy. Her words speak pain and they cry for help. Her agony of what she goes through reflects on what she paints on her canvas. She’s a beautiful person with so much passion. Her work is absolutely amazing. There’s a reason why a beautiful person such as herself goes through so much turmoil. Here’s her letter to me: "Hello Deb, I haven't heard anything from you in a long time what have you been doing? I have decided to contact your friend’s gallery. I finally put up a real website, please check it out. I have been down about woman. I try to hide it but it like I keep being reminded how in little ways of the major disappointments I have endured in my last relationship. So I am hiding and hoping life won't find me. Maybe the feelings are good for painting but not much else. Anyway enough about ho...