Ezra

I have a couple of Biblical thoughts after reading Ezra in the Bible. I know that God decreed a temple be built in his honor, but the people seem a bit eager in my opinion. I can't decide why this seems to be the case. I think it may be that people were eager to please a God after during such a confusing and turbulent period. You had or wanted to be able to see that your God and His decisions were better than a neighbors beliefs. The temple might have been a type of status symbol. It was important to have so that you could begin to understand how great and glorious your God actually is. I am still not quite sold on it though. Such magnificence is not really necessary to be a believer. This issue is probably worked out later in the Bible, I have to keep the bigger picture in mind. I was going to write sentence or two out here about the whole marrying of other countries thing, but have now talked myself out of it.

I have another religious theme that I want to touch upon here. I have lightly considered the priesthood before. I remember once after I graduated high school and was still in limbo about what I was going to go to college for I listened to a sermon about serving God. I began to wonder if being a preacher was a good thing for me. I remember hearing similar sermons a time or two in the past since then. I am glad that I am in the place I am in now, but would consider being a catholic priest if I thought that was my calling. I had a priest once tell me he didn't start his path until he was in his mid twenties and working on his fathers farm also. I think I would enjoy such a vocation. I would get to sit and reflect on readings, share my thoughts with an audience and have a clear goal or ambition each day. The only downside would be the amount of training I would have to take to achieve that status. While that might not be all that much, I have already spent some time and effort on what I have achieved so far.

I also have the more fun of my families thanksgiving celebrations tonight. Should be more fun, but my aunts and uncles are really the ones that enjoy it. Hopefully I can sit and watch some good sports for most of the night. I am almost past this feast time and haven't put on much weight yet. With my workout routine as it is, I was up over 201 once again, but have done enough now to get myself back down to 198. Heres to eating reasonably and getting back to work once the fun is over.

times typed "oftern"-0