#learnings from hebrews 9

[selkies-world]

Language resources

(Duolingo alternatives)

For those who no longer use or trust Duolingo, I've put together a list of resources - apps, learning methods, programmes, etc - with a list of whether or not they are free, and my personal experience with their success at teaching a language. I have also included new ones that I haven't tried yet but which I have researched; for these, I have included a rating of how much hope I have for them panning out in the future.

[I grew up bilingual & went to a multicultural school that had a student body consisting of children from refugee families who spoke little to no English. The school prioritised teaching the entire student body the minority languages, and finding a bridge language we could all learn together to fill in any gaps in communication. Due to this, I spent the last 4 years of primary school learning new languages with the rest of the student body.

We would have a school-wide lesson for 1 hour once a week - usually with a child or staff member fluent in that language leading the lesson at the front of the gym with a microphone so we could hear the correct pronunciation in time with reading the native spelling & English phonetics on the projector screen at the front of the hall. We were expected to use this language in the corridors when we spoke with teachers or staff members and when we passed by other students regardless of what their or our native languages were. As far as fluency went, we were expected to be able to recognise and say greetings and goodbyes, enquire to each others well-being, know how to ask for assistance, how to ask for medical help for various things, how to ask where the bathroom was, to give and receive directions around the entire school, as well as colours, names of things found around the school, make small talk about our activities of the day and our family, and why we were out of class - all with relative ease & mutual understanding.

We changed language after every break, so it was roughly 8 hours of lessons in each language, before we would start again with a new one.

Alongside this, the older students in the school (final 3 years, aged 9 - 11/12) would learn French 3+ hours a week for those 3 years so their writing, reading and speaking standards were acceptable for the beginning of high school. In 1 of these years, we also studied both of our native languages for the first time, for 6 weeks each.

I left traditional schooling at 11, and while I was home-schooled I taught myself Italian, Russian, and Latin from scratch, along with relearning my preferred native language, and 2 forms of sign - I used Makaton as a young child and in school as I have a form of mutism, but as a teen I realised I associated this language with the severe trauma I experienced at school, and so suffered from flashbacks and dissociative episodes when I used it. This, along with medical concerns, led to me learning BSL, and then SSE. Today, I use a combination of English, SSE and my native language in everyday settings. I have a mental block for learning French due to it being heavily associated with my trauma.

I am saying all this not for sympathy, but so that you can see firstly how much I enjoy and value learning languages, and in order to show my experience levels with learning languages. I've used, tried, and tested all of the learning methods I will be talking about in this post. I have either used or done a lot of research into the apps and programmes discussed in this post.

And yes, I have prioritised ones that teach endangered languages, indigenous languages and languages that aren't often included in language media such as Hebrew, various forms of Arabic, Navajo, Gaelic, and others. I have also included ones that teach and / or document sign languages and sign communication systems.]

Please note that the following lists are arranged in no particular order. They are not ranked best to worst or by any other X to Y ratio. They are simply ranked according to how I remembered, tested, or found each of them.

Apps

1: Fluyo.

Rating for hope / faith: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: n/a

Cost: unknown

Status: not yet publicly available

Please note that while Fluyo is not yet available, its Kickstarter page is flourishing, its app is in development, and the developer is a man of colour who has continued to devote himself to this app and its development despite rising health concerns, developing a life-changing disabling condition, and numerous set-backs. His YouTube channel is very educational, and he has also written a book on language-learning. If you would like to know more, you can learn about him here. Fluyo is set up like a computer game with multiple cute characters who are interactive rather than stationary, and I genuinely have high hopes for it once it is released.

2: Babble

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial for the first lesson, but a paid subscription is required for any further lessons

Status: available to download

3: Language Drops

Personal experience: ☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free for some lessons, but a paid account is required for access to all lessons

Status: available to download

4: Fluent forever

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free access to basic lessons to build your confidence with the language, but a paid subscription is required for unlimited access

Status: available to download

5: Lingopie

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial for 7 days, but a paid subscription is required after that for continued use of the app

Status: available to download

6: Fluenday

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

7: Language flower

Hope for: ☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆

Cost: free, as far as I can tell

Status: available to download

8: Sign BSL / Daniel Mitchell

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

Please note that Daniel Mitchel offers a BSL version of this, along with an ASL version.

9: Bright BSL / sign lab

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness:☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for some lessons + premium for all other lessons

Status: available to download

Please note that Sign Lab offers this app for the following sign languages: BSL (Bright BSL), ASL (ASL Bloom), LSF (Pause LSF / Langue des Signes, yoDGS, Libras (LibrasLab), Italian Sign Language (MeLISegno), and Toleio: Norsk Tegnspråk.

10: BSL zone

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

11: Reverso context

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

This is less for learning a language, more for quick reference / fact-checking a translation.

12: Pimsleur

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free 7 day trial, but a paid subscription is required for continued use

Status: available to download

13: Memrise

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for introductory levels, with a premium option to unlock majority of lessons

Status: available to download

14: Busluu

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: Free, with a premium option to download lessons, more repetition, and extra lessons

Status: available to download

15: Hello Talk

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

16: Rosetta Stone

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: monthly subscription is required

Status: available to download

17: Lingo Deer

Personal experience: ☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option for all lessons beyond Basics 1

Status: available to download

18: Beelinguapp

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, but a subscription is required for total access

Status: available to download

19: Lingvist

Personal experience: ☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆ (though it does have an option to suggest other languages for them to add, and which language you would like to learn from, and they'll email you when / if that language becomes available)

Effectiveness: unknown

Cost: free

Status: available to download

[Please note this one is not photosensitive friendly or seizure friendly. I had to close the app as soon as I opened it due to the design on their opening page, and even when I reopened it and clicked straight through, their colour scheme was still upsetting to my senses.]

20: Lingvano

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for a few lessons, but for access to all lessons, a paid subscription is required

Status: available to download

21: Duocards

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, but a more advanced version is available for premium accounts

Status: available to download

22: Chatterbug

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free with limited access, but a paid version is available

Status: available to download

23: Mango languages learning

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, with a premium account required for further access

Status: available to download

24: EdX

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost:

Status: available to download

Please note that EdX is an app which houses courses on multiple subjects, not specifically a language-learning app.

25: Mondly Languages

Personal experience: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free, though it does repeatedly offer you a subscription account for an experience catered to you and your interests

Status: available to download

Please note this one may be triggering to those who are photosensitive or whose senses are upset by rapid moving gifs. There is a crown in the top right-hand corner which vibrates very quickly.

26: Speakly

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free trial, with a subscription account required for further use

Status: available to download

27: Pocket sign

Hope for: ☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, as far as I can tell

Status: available to download

28: Lingo legend language learning

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, though I think there may be a premium option either available but unmentioned, or in the works

Status: available to download

Please note that this app offers you the chance to vote for which languages should be added to its interface, so they can prioritise which ones to fund.

29: INC sign language app

Hope for: ☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to download

For those with religious trauma, please note that INC stands for Iglesia Ni Cristo, and the INC Sign Language App "is a project of the Christian Society for the Deaf under the Christian Family Organizations Office of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ)". While it does not appear to prioritise religious content, the content does feature people dressed in suits as if for attending a church sermon.

30: My signing time

Hope for: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: 14 day free trial, and a subscription is required after this point

Status: available to download

Please note that this one is aimed at babies / toddlers & families.

32: Falou

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option if you want to learn more than 1 language & unlock additional courses in your chosen language

Status: available to download

33: Earworms

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free for the demo, then after that, the lessons are broken into two "volumes" to buy individually, or 1 bonus-pack which contains both to buy once at a slightly reduced cost.

Status: available to download

Please note that Earworms used to be available as CD lessons, which is when I first used them. The CDs were in Volumes and were more expensive than all costs on this app. I used them 10 years ago and still remember what I learned despite not getting to use the language very often, so I can guarantee their method is very effective.

34: Qlango

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, with a premium option for the final 3 levels

Status: available to download

Please note that this one is laid out more like a semi-immersive lesson plan rather than a game. However, it is currently my favourite one.

Other resources

1: Signing hands (YouTube)

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆

Cost: free

Status: available to watch

2: Military style

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆☆

Cost: n/a

Status: available to begin for free, though it will be difficult for you to find an environment that allows you to experience this authentically. If you would like to learn more about what the military style is, I will speak about it further below.

3: Textbooks / Reading materials

Personal experience: ☆☆☆☆

Languages available: ☆☆☆☆☆

Effectiveness: ☆☆☆☆

Cost: free, or otherwise up to you (what you are willing / able to spend on it)

Status: available to start whenever you feel like it

You can find numerous language-learning resources listed at the end of this post. I also recommend buying an up-to-date dictionary and thesaurus in your chosen language, and studying it. Study the grammar noted in the front, and then actually read the dictionary. It will seem strange, but it will benefit you in the long-run. Make notes as you go, highlight and colour some things in as you see fit.

Learning methods

1: Immersion

Over and over again, we are told that immersion is the best, most effective way to learn a language. This is because this is how we often think children learn languages - and we're partly right about that.

Immersion is the process of immersing yourself in the chosen language, with one single choice: learn the language, or suffer.

If our brains have to choose between struggling to pronounce a few words while gesturing to something we want and clinging onto sounds we hear like trying to hold onto a wet otter, or not getting what we want, we're going to choose to sound & look like an idiot, pointing and saying basic sounds, even if trying to remember the reply is like trying to remember Pi.

With enough time, though, we pick the language up remarkably well when we have no choice but to pick it up. This is the method which has us mimicking accents and gestures and expressions in order to best gain what we want: to express ourselves, our needs and our desires.

However, immersion is often critiqued because unless you have the means to fly to the country that speaks your desired language and live there with 0 influence from your native language for 6+ months... Well, you're not fully immersed, are you? Language apps try to give you an immersive experience, but you can always put your phone down. Depending on where you were educated, you may have had an immersive language class, where you had to learn the language or not be able to join in and so failed by default.

Good ways to mimic immersion are: finding radio channels in your chosen language and watching TV shows in your chosen language without subtitles, and listening to music in your chosen language.

2: Flashcards

Flashcards often tend to be a popular way to test your memory and retention of a particular subject. However, using them to begin learning a language can lead to a loss of motivation.

If you are creating the flashcards yourself, I would recommend creating them in 2 sets: 1 which is the traditional flashcard (your first language OR a picture on one side, and the translation on the other side), and 1 which has twice as many, with only 1 side being used. This second set should be designed like playing cards - the word or picture on one side, and a plain back.

This second set can be used when you're wanting to boost your motivation or confidence - arrange the cards face down, and begin playing the children's game of Pairs. Another option would be Snap.

When you return to using the traditional flashcards, you'll have a better foundation to build on if you've taught yourself to see these as fun, and taught your brain to associate these cards with quickfire responses - such as are brought to the surface during childrens' cards games.

3: Stickers

This is a method which seems obvious once it's pointed out, but seems confusing if you've never done it before.

Simply put, using stickers is when you create or buy stickers with the translation of everyday objects, words and phrases in your chosen language, and put them up around your house. "Door" goes on the door. "Cupboard" goes on the outside of a cupboard, "bread" goes on the inside. "Fridge" goes on the fridge door. "Milk" goes behind the milk so you see it every time you pick the milk up. "Lightswitch" goes above / under the lightswitch. Etc etc etc.

This is a memory retention technique used for multiple scenarios. Nurseries and schools may sometimes have the Makaton sign for something shown in a large diagram stuck to the walls / surfaces. Carehomes may have the names & purposes of objects stuck to the surfaces / objects in the dominant language, for the residents with memory issues or communication barriers.

While this is a good technique for quickfire memory boosts, it can be a slow way to learn a language from scraps, and is better suited for when you are semi-familiar with the written form of the language you are learning. It is also a good way to get everyone involved, as everyone in the home will be interacting with the stickers.

4: Forced conversation

This one is controversial, but can be very effective if it is approached with an open mind, clear communication and previously-agreed upon rules and lines.

The method of forced conversation is exactly what it sounds like: it is when you are engaged in a conversation in your target language, in which the person whom you are conversing with refuses to speak your original language. However, no matter how poor your language skills are, or how uncomfortable you get, they do not stop the conversation, and you do not let to leave the situation until they are satisfied you have communicated well enough, and have understood them. This will usually be "proven" by them giving you instructions, asking a specific question, or requesting you do something for them - if you follow the action through, you have understood them, if you try to give a vague answer and do not do the task, you have not understood them, and the interaction is forced to continue. Again.

This method is controversial because it is not immediately inclusive or welcoming for those who are shy, have anxiety, any form of Mutism, or who have a neurodiversiry or learning disability which impacts their communication. In formal situations, it is often these people who fall behind or get put off from learning a language if forced conversations are the only method they have the option of.

However, if there are adaptions made and accommodation previously discussed and provided, this can still be a viable method which is inclusive to all.

If the person speaking your target language is previously informed of your communication issues or complications, and are instructed in how to accommodate you (ie: Do they need to point at something, or use picture cards as prompts? Do you prefer using picture cards? Do you get distracted if they use hand gestures? Do you need fidget toys provided? Will it be easier for you if you are not forced to maintain eye contact? Will it be better for you if one or both of you are moving around rather than sitting down directly across from each other? Do the lights need to be altered in your environment to make the sensory experience less overwhelming? Do you use noise cancelling headphones? Do you focus better if there is music on in the background? Are there certain tones of voice or volume levels that need to be avoided? Does constantly changing body language stress you out? Do you have a stutter or speech impediment that may impact your pronunciation? Etc.)

Accomodaring these issues, and coming up with a signal to take a break (ie, if you have issues telling the difference between "I am angry at you personally" and "I am tired today" in vocal tones and facial expressions, will you get upset if you think the person is angry at you for not knowing their language? If so, do you need a signal to take a break so you can clearly communicate your stress, and they can give you an answer in your original language and clarify anything which is upsetting or confusing you, before continuing the conversation in your target language?) or to speak in simpler terms? Is their one subject you can talk about particularly well (a hyperfixation) which they can use in the conversation to help you engage?

All of these accommodations may seem intimidating, but if all those involved are aware of these accommodations going into the conversation, it can make the interaction much more positive and productive.

Forced conversation uses the same logic as immersion: if your brain has to choose between looking / sounding like an idiot who stumbles over words, or a very uncomfortable situation which lasts longer each time you make a mistake, your brain will choose to look like an idiot in order to achieve what it wants.

5: Repetition

Repetition is a very common method of learning a language, though it is often criticised for being ineffective.

It is when a phrase or word is said by one party, and repeated by another. If the second party does not pronounce it correctly, the first party repeats it again. This continues until the second party gets it correct. Then the pattern is repeated with another phrase / word. Once a certain number of words have been said correctly by the second party, the first party will return to the start and repeat the process again, with the second party having to say the phrases / words correctly multiple times before being able to move onto the next. The entire process continues in this loop until the second party is saying things correctly with ease.

This method is part of what makes up both immersion, flashcards and military style methods for language learning. It can also be used with textbook learning.

However, it is often critiqued because once the second party is away from the first party and left to their own devices, their confidence in their previous pronunciation will falter, and when they return to the lesson or need to use the language again, they'll be at a lower level of achievement than they were when they left. It is also very tedious, and can become boring.

6: Music

When I spoke about immersion, I briefly mentioned music. I also said that we assume children learn language via immersion. However, as adults we often overlook something else which plays a crucial role in teaching children language: music.

Children learn language, rhythm, speech patterns, and turn-of-phrase via songs, rhymes, riddles, fables, tongue-twisters, and music.

This is why it can be priceless to learn songs in your chosen language. Lullabies. Nursery rhymes. Children's songs. Pop songs that are ridiculed as being too simple or written without talent. Theme tunes from children's shows. Traditional rhymes and tongue-twisters. Most of these can be found via a long time on YouTube.

Music works in a unique way, worming its way into our minds. Our brains are hardwired to recognise and remember patterns - and music is made up of patterns. This is why we get songs stuck in our heads for no reason. Being able to use this to your advantage to learn or remember a new language can be an amazing experience.

7: Subtitles and language swap

This is a method which can be useful when you are learning more than one language, but are more familiar with one than the other.

It is where you watch / listen to a certain media in 1 language, while reading the subtitles / lyrics in another language. This way, the language you are more familiar with / fluent in will fill the gaps of understanding the less familiar one.

You can then challenge yourself by removing one language (muting the media & only reading the subtitles, or removing the subtitles and only listening to the provided audio) and seeing how well you follow along / understand.

This can also be used with your target language and your original language.

8: Writing it down

This is another form of repetitive learning which can be useful when studying / retaining for an exam, but can also be useful when you are first learning the written-to-verbal patterns of a language.

One method is longterm recall: this is where you write down short notes, words & phrases in your target language 1+ hour after engaging with your learning resources. This tests how much you retained. It is a physical show of how much you have actually learned.

Another method is short term recall & build-up: this is where you choose a single word / phrase, and write it as lines (Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are green and brown. Ducks are-) until your page is full. Then go back to the start and write over the top of your own writing, staying as close to your original marks as possible. Repeating this pattern multiple times until your page rips or the words become close to unreadable tricks your brain into focusing morenon your handwriting than on the language - as such, you will start to see the phrase / word as a pattern to follow, and it is then left to your subconscious mind to retain it while your conscious mind prioritises hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

9: Textbook

If you're more academically inclined, you may prefer a textbook method of study. This is the style used in most night classes and / or some traditional education classes.

Textbook methods have everything arranged by date and time, and learning goals are broken down & laid out according to a set calender: by x, you will have learned this amount, by y, you will have learned this amount, so on so forty until the final set date when you will be "fluent" or a certain level of reasonably fluent.

Most of the time with this method, you will be following guidelines, activities and lesson plans previously arranged in a chosen textbook, and that textbook will be your sole or primary resource.

10: Bilingual books (page by page)

Using page-by-page bilingual books can be confusing and is often overlooked in regards to adult education - however, it can be somewhat interesting to try.

On one page, the text will be written in your original language - on the opposite page, the same text will be repeated in your target language. Seeing the two side-by-side allows you to read your target language and instantly refer back to your original language if you get stuck on a word or phrase.

There is another form of bilingual books often given to children: line-by-line. These feature the image / picture, with the original text written clearly and simply, usually no more than 1 or 2 sentences per page. Directly underneath them will be the translated text written in a different font.

11: Same story / movie, different language

While this can be a fun method, it isn't always the most beneficial if you're looking for accuracy - however, it can be useful if you're wanting to test yourself.

It uses a similar logic to the subtitles & language swap method: you put on a movie you are familiar with, but you put it on in your target language with 0 subtitles. This allows you to engage with the language while using the familiar movie / story as a bridge.

12: Military Style

This is perhaps the most effective technique to use of you have a set amount of time to reach a specified level of understanding / fluency in a language. However, it is also one of the most difficult to fully replicate yourself.

Military style is a form of forced immersion combined with forced conversation and repetitive loops, but with reward and punishment techniques to make you prioritise learning the language over your own comfort zone / personal boundaries.

An example of this style would be party 1 having party 2 engage in forced conversation in front of an audience, then having them repeat a phrase they got wrong over and over until they get it right - all in front of the audience, with a rule set which forbids party 2 from sitting down or disengaging the interaction until they have finished the task. Nobody in the audience is allowed to help party 2. Party 1 continues to push party 2 outside of their comfort zone by having them continue the conversation, repeating any mistakes until they are corrected, and the conversation does not end until it is completed.

After that, party 2 has to do 100 push-ups while repeating the phrase they got wrong the most - and they have to pronounce it correctly while doing the push-ups. Any mistakes, and they go back to 1, regardless of if they were at 7 or 98.

This combined punishment of mild public humiliation and physically pushing their body beyond its limits makes the brain see learning the language as the solution to ending this treatment - as such, party 2 will be far less likely to repeat those mistakes again.

Alongside this, there is forced immersion, in the sense that nobody is allowed to speak their original language in any context or to anyone - they must use the target language or be ignored at best or ridiculed at worst.

Understandably, this method is difficult to replicate on your own or outside of the army.

However, there are some tokens which can be taken from it: notably forced repetition & physical exercise.

Set yourself a challenge using any of the previously mentioned learning methods or apps. Keep note of your mistakes.

At the end of the challenge (say 30 minutes of learning) count up all your mistakes. Now do a push-up / squat / pull-up / sit-up / etc for each mistake you made while repeating the phrase out loud. If you stall too long on making a connection in your mind or stumble over the sounds, start counting from 1 again. Repeat this until you're continuously getting the mistakes correct.

At the end, go back to your lesson and repeat it. Did you get less mistakes?

Thoughts & considerations when it comes to learning a language - for language savants and novices alike

"If you don't use it, you lose it" is probably one of the most hated phrases in terms of learning anything new - and especially in terms of learning a language. I think a better expression would be "If you don't make room for it, you won't keep it".

If you don't make time to learn a language, you won't learn it.

If you don't challenge yourself to reach a certain standard, you won't achieve any standard.

If you don't make the effort to retain the new information, you'll forget it.

When you learn a new language, you have to make room for it in your mind. You have to be willing to make mistakes and continue, knowing you're not doing it perfectly. You have to be willing to make it a priority, even if nobody else in your life sees it as one. You have to be willing to be frustrated and tired and bored. You have to be willing to get every single thing wrong and try again. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable with the new sounds you're making and you have to be willing to be patient while your brain digs out a new burrow of tunnels and connections which didn't previously exist.

If you genuinely want to learn a new language, you have to make room for it in your mind and life. Even when sometimes it's a tight fit.

Resources, as promised

Reading, writing & textbook materials:

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 4

Book 5

Structured notebook 1

Structured notebook 2

Structured notebook 3

Something worth checking out 1

Other things to invest in:

A dictionary in your target language

Picture cards

Flashcards

Stickers

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[mxmajor]

Cool things i learned abt the Dora Milaje from the dora milaje training manual

this is canon to the 616 and comics, not the MCU, but it was cool to learn about and definitely impacts my canon compliant AU fic. So it might be useful to others. Its not the full book, not even a chapters worth of info, but if you were considering getting it, do so. It made me look at wakanda forever differently, too.

Joining

they accept women from all 5 tribes (17 in the comics) between the ages of 15-20 to become Dora

They have to bring a gift and be accepted by Bast to begin training

If accepted they are called Kanwata and the process takes 4 years to complete.

Upon initiation they go through an ori ceremony where their heads are shaved and they received their first ritual tattoo. They receive another tattoo each year, an ink with vibranium, until the second and final ori ceremony where they receive the final tattoo after their acceptance from Bast.

Training

They have to learn 7 of 10 languages: Wakandan, Xhosa, Hausa, Arabic, Yoruba, English, Igbo, Mandarin, Swahili, and Korean. They have 9 additional elective languages they can learn, especially to connect to the diaspora and blend in: cantonese, Hebrew, Japanese, French, Farsi, Spanish, Amharic, and Portuguese. They get to conversation and translation in the following years.

In the first year they must learn hand to hand combat in the forms of Ngolo, Laamb, Silat, Muay Thai, Musangwe, and Krav Maga. Once the required mastery has been met they add weapons in the second year. The Dora are considered "living weapons".

In the comic verse, they have a mystical and supernatural combat section. The kanwata training is in 3 pillars: physical, mental, and spiritual/herbal. They study vibranium application and properties as well as herbal practices like identifying plants for food and medicinal purposes.

Essentially, Dora are super smart and well trained so it takes a unique situation for them to be unprepared lol. There is even more that goes into what was listed above.

Structure

The DM have 3 major units: Guard Units, Airborne Units, and Support Staff Units. This includes Domestic, international, and Off world teams in the comics.

Dora can be broken into units, squads, or teams (helpful when trying to name group that they might be on a mission in)

They are all trained in combat and munitions (weapons) but some units are researchers, mechanics, pilots, healers, or apart of a secret division (like the cia) but no one knows who is in that secret division

Kanwata are the trainees, the 3rd and 4th years apprentice with Iya Dora and/or train younger Kanwata.

Ile Dora Milaje is what the group of active, graduated, and fully initiated Dora are called.

Iya Dora is the council that confers with wakandan leadership (Taifa Ngao, the council of elders), determines the graduation passage of kanwata, and governs the active duty, dismissal or removal from Dora ranks. There are Dora that have been re-instated after dismissal.

There are some cool excerpts if you clicked the link below. I am tired of typing lol.

[girlactionfigure]

🚨 G7 WARNED OF IMMINENT IRANIAN ATTACK ON ISRAEL WITHIN 24 HOURS 🚨

‼️The G7 countries have informed that Iran could mount a full-scale attack on Israel within 24 hours.

‼️General Michael Kurilla, Commander of U.S. Central Command, is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday to review plans and coordinate forces in the Middle East.

‼️U.S. President Joe Biden will convene his national security team in the situation room on Monday at 2:15 PM ET (9:15 PM Israel time) to discuss developments in the region.

‼️In a special report by Army Radio, Efi Triger noted that the IDF has recently deployed several units from the Home Front Command and the Jordan Lions Battalion to reinforce the defense of the Seam Line communities in the Sharon area. This action follows an urgent warning after recent targeted killings, indicating plans to carry out infiltration attacks on these communities, orchestrated by Iran and Hamas.

The Shin Bet received intelligence that terrorists from the Tulkarm area intended to infiltrate settlements in the Sharon Seam Line area. Consequently, soldiers have been stationed within these settlements to provide an immediate response to any incidents, given the proximity to Palestinian territories.

These units are tasked with serving as the last line of defense within the settlements, should all other security measures fail, learning from the events of October 7th. It became evident on the night between Friday and Saturday that there were genuine threats, as a terrorist cell from Tulkarm, eliminated on Saturday morning, was planning an infiltration attack in Israel.

Security officials told Army Radio that Iran and Hamas are attempting to divert Israeli attention to Judea and Samaria to provoke an intifada, hoping this will prevent an Israeli attack in Lebanon. Judea and Samaria risk becoming the main theater of war once again.

🔅EMERGENCY PREP - THE BASICS

via ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime

Things are scary, “well what am I supposed to do?”

Basic preparation IN ISRAEL:

.. Drinking water.  Buy some bottled water, 9 liters per adult (less for children).

.. Washing / flushing water.  Have a few buckets or fill a bunch of used water bottles, to wash or flush with - fill buckets when emergency starts, BUT not if you have small children who can drown in an open bucket.

.. Medicine.  If you take chronic medicine (every day), get the 3 month supply from your Kupah.

.. Money.  Have cash on hand in case ATM’s and credit cards aren’t working.

.. Food.  Canned, dry, etc, supplies on hand for a week per person.  Baby food? Formula? Special nutrition? Pet food?

.. Light.  Flash lights, candles. 

.. Communications.  Have a power-bank or two for your cell phone.  And maybe a radio (buy at hardware stores).

.. Shelter.  Make sure it is ready.

More here -> Supplies and Equipment for Emergencies.  https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15903-en/pakar.aspx

❗️EMERGENCY PLANNING

Links work in Israel.

.. Preparing your home for an emergency.  https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15902-en/Pakar.aspx

.. Help Prep your Neighborhood and Family Elderly.  https://www.oref.org.il/12550-20999-en/pakar.aspx

.. Know the Emergency numbers:

Police 100 emergency, 110 non-urgent situation

Ambulance 101

Medics 1221

Fire 102

Electric Company 103

Home Front Command 104

City Hotline 106

Senior Citizen Hotline *8840

Social Services Hotline 118

Cyber (hack) Hotline 119

🔸 MENTAL HEALTH HOTLINES, in case you are freaking out:

.. in English : Tikva Helpline by KeepOlim, call if you are struggling!  074-775-1433.

.. in Hebrew : Eran Emotional Support Line - 1201 or chat via eran.org.il

...

[thenightling]

Things we learned about the character Beetlejuice in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Spoilers below: 1. He's actually Italian. 2. His cause of death was poisoning. 3. He told the truth about having lived through the black death. 4. He's six-hundred-years dead. Age at the time of death unknown. 5. He married a soul-sucking succubus cult leader and somehow thought it would be fine. 6. He was a grave robber (and apparently didn't wear shoes). 7. His plan for a "Green card wedding" has now grown into an unhealthy infatuation / obsession with Lydia. 8. He's multi-lingual. 9. He's familiar with Russian literature. 10. He knows how to open a portal to Hell or Hell-like dimension. 11. He now has minion who are apparently all victims of the witch doctor we saw in the waiting room at the end of the first movie. 12. Beetlejuice now canonically loves a good song and dance number in every incarnation of the character from the movies, to the animated series, to the Broadway musical, to his appearance on Teen Titans Go. 13. He is well-versed in the many corridors of The Afterlife Social services office. (Is the Netherworld all one building in the movies? It was an entire dimension in the animated series where it was called Neither World). 14. He's actually really good at dividing his attention. (See the Wedding scene). 15. Beetlejuice has a weirdly romantic side and really wanted MacArthur Park to play at his wedding. 16. Beetlejuice is familiar with the German legend of Faust. (Note the contract signed in blood. (Who would have guessed he actually has some sense of culture???) 17. There's a very high chance Beetlejuice was born Jewish. He says L'chaim at one point in the Beetlejuice Broadway musical and Mazel tov in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

18. Beetlejuice's mortal marriage was definitely not Christian or Hebrew. The ceremony had him and his bride drink each other's blood, bite the heads off chickens, and sacrifice a goat. 20. Beetlejuice has a sense of justice, as twisted as it may be, going out of his way to show Lydia Rory's true nature, and sending the ghost to Hell (or a Hell-like dimension) that tricked Astrid. I'm starting to feel like the version of Beetlejuice from the animated series is the most "accurate" depiction of the character, as weird as that sounds. Since the movie version has shifted to be more like him and the Broadway musical version feels like a prequel to the cartoon.

[scribeforchrist-blog]

What I Really Needed Is Peace

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

=======================

+ James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your    passions

=======================

VERSE OF THE DAY

======================

+ Psalm 4:8 In peace I will lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

=======================

** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM AT PEACE

I AM HEARING GOD

I AM WAITING ON GOD

I AM NOT ALONE

======================

READ TIME: 9 Minutes & 45 Seconds

======================

THOUGHTS:

======================

  I can remember thinking life was so simple because if I got my liquor on Friday. I had a good movie to watch; that was my life, something simple, nothing complicated, and a lot of times, I would think it couldn’t get better than that, and I had to learn that life could get better, as I gave my life to God he made me see that life was better with him and what I wanted to do was just be in peace.

We see our life as full with peace because we have all these things and money. We think we are at peace, but peace is only obtained when we trust God. We must trust in God for peace, but the peace he can give us is everlasting. I could remember thinking that weed and drinking could make me feel so good that nothing else is better, but as you smoke, you always have to smoke to keep your high; you always have to buy it, but the peace of God, I didn’t have to buy it , it came freely his word says “Freely you have received; freely give.” And he gives freely to us when we allow him to give.

 John 14:27 peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

  See, the world can only give us so much peace; the world can give us only what it has, which is so tiny; we can sit here and say we were in peace when we were sinning, but sinning only puts us in a loop of the same thing which is sin. Then we are back at the empty place, over and over again, but with God's peace, we don’t have to worry about it; we don’t have to worry about being in this endless loop of the same feeling, we just have to let go of the mindset that what we are doing is right to obtain peace, peace starts with us, we can allow our day to be messed up by something someone does, or we can ignore it and give it to God now when you first do this you're going to be irritated you're going to be frustrated. Still, as you do this more often, you learn this is what we are supposed to do all along.

 Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

  When we are in peace with God, we learn we can sleep in peace because we have the safety of the Lord. I'm not going to lie to you that peace is hard to get sometimes when thinking about finances, life, problems, and our love life, but our minds don’t know how to let go. I don’t care what you do; whatever you try to use for peace instead of God won't last. Still, when we depend on God, our life becomes easier, and sleep becomes easier because we are then leaning on God, and that is what peace is about: leaning on God for everything; peace is about knowing that we can get it from God, not from our things here on earth. There is so much out there to give us peace: weed, drinking, gummies, pornography, relationships; it all is there to help us gain something, but are we gaining something? No, we are opening doorways into our lives for spirits to attach themselves to us.

 Hebrews 12:29 for our “God is a consuming fire.

  We talked this week about the fire that God has that can consume anything that we have that’s not of him when we submit to him. His fire cleanses what in us that’s of the flesh, but this comes from time spent with God and building a stable relationship with him, not just talking to him a little at a time, but when we fully allow him to be our everything. Some might find this hard to do, as the Holy Spirit said above, because we have allowed things to be our peace, and we start to allow the Holy Spirit to be our friend, guide, and teacher; we begin to see what we are doing wrong.

 1 Samuel 1:15 Not so, my Lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord.

  It's different levels. I noticed that we get on with Christ; sometimes, we are on this unique level, pouring our souls into him. Then we have these levels where we don’t engage enough, but whatever season you are in, don’t give into the temptation to draw away but ; pour your heart out to him and allow him to hear you speak; allow him to hear what your feelings when I go to the prayer closet I often time am pouring my heart to him because I don’t want it to be ever a moment that I'm not showing him I do care. Yes, he knows, but when we let him know, we are doing this by doing what Hannah did, we are pouring ourselves out to him.

  Proverbs 1:5: let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

  We listen with our ears, but do we truly listen to the voice of God? We learned this week about how sometimes we don’t listen with our ears; we allow our habits and actions to tell us what to do, but every day, we should be listening to the voice of God, and when we do this, we will see and hear what the Holy Spirit is trying to say to us we can live our whole lives and never hear the voice of God. Still, it’s because we don’t try to sit quietly and wait for him; we allow what we think we heard to lead us. We can't allow that to happen; we must be sure that what we heard was of the Lord.

  Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart

  When. We look in the mirror, and it won't lie to us; what we see is what we see that’s like our heart; we learned this week that our heart reflects our true intention; it reflects what we are feeling and a lot of times, we might say no this isn’t my true feelings, but when we give ourselves to the Lord he can see into our true thoughts its nothing we can hide from him, we must be able to be real with God it's some people I can't be real with I can't even tell you countless of people that pretend to be something they’re not just to make someone happy, but we can't pretend with God.

  ***Today, we learn that we need Jesus to give us peace; a lot of times, we think other things will bring us the ultimate happiness, and it can money, people, and things can bring you happiness, but what I am looking for right now in my life is the joy I want the joy of the Lord I want the peace that doesn’t leave, I want that more than anything, we can sit and think how many times we have had pure happiness that didn’t end so quickly not so much but when we give ourselves to God we can guarantee what he gives us is real, and it's true that’s what I need

  1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

We also discussed some of the topics of the week, and one of them was about how weak we can be and how God won't allow anything to take us over that he won't provide a way out of; we might say, oh, I got myself in a situation, but with every situation God has given us a way out he's just waiting for us to escape, that’s something I use to cry to the Lord about because I will be so overwhelmed. I say, Father, please help me, and he will because I asked him to; how many times have you asked him to help you? He might not help you the way you like. Still, he will at his timing and his speed; we must be patient with him; today, if you feel this way you go to him and say, Father, I need you to help me to be more like you, help me to call on you, it's okay to be in a place in your life where you need help. Still, we must be ready to allow him to free us from it and be willing to let go of it. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

======================

PRAYER

=====================

Heavenly Father, we thank you for today; we ask you to help us take what we learned this week and apply it to our lives. Father, forgive us if we have done anything to offend the Holy Spirit. Lord, give us strength today; help us to get peace from you and not from things here on earth; we love you, Father, and we ask you right now to tear down anything the enemy has for us and his plans. We rebuke it in Jesus' Name Amen

======================

REFERENCES

======================

+ 2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

+ Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

+ Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God

 ======================

FURTHER READINGS

======================

 Proverbs 9

Judges 3

Job 12

Ecclesiastes 11

======================

[study-with-aura]

Friday, September 13, 2024

Hello Friday! I was a busy day, and I'm very tired. I have to get up an hour earlier than usual tomorrow for the Girl Scout trip, but I wanted to get this posted really quick. I am heading to bed right now. Good night!

Tasks Completed:

Algebra 2 - Read about polynomials + practiced polynomial vocabulary + learned to classify polynomials + practice + learned to add and subtract polynomials + practice

American Literature - Copied vocabulary terms + completed reflective essay (edits will be next week)

Spanish 3 - Reviewed vocabulary + read about questions + question exercise

Bible 2 - Read 1 Kings 9:10-28 and 1 Kings 10

Early American History - Read about family and social life in the thirteen colonies + read a short passage from the Charter of Rhode Island + answered study guide questions + finished reading “Colonial Life: Work, Family, Faith”

Earth Science with Lab - Completed rock cycle interactive

PE/Health 2 - Read a health article "COVID-19 Lockdowns Prematurely Aged Teenage Brains, Study Shows"

Music Appreciation - Copied major necessary terms from the second part of the Q section of the music dictionary + watched listening guide to Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" + listened to the prelude + wrote a music description of the prelude using musical terminology

Khan Academy - Completed US History Unit 2: Lesson 3.11

Duolingo - Studied for approximately 30 minutes (Spanish + French + Chinese) + completed daily quests

Piano - Practiced for two hours

Reading - Read pages 250-285 of The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

Chores -  Dusted my bedroom, my bathroom, and the study + laundered my bedding

Activities of the Day:

September Study (John 14:22-24, 1 John 1:3)

Personal Bible Study (Hebrews 1)

Volunteered 3 hours at the mission

Ballet

Variations

Journal/Mindfulness

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Ten Commandments

1 Then Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the ordinances and the laws which I propose to you this day, that ye may learn them, and take heed to observe them.

2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

3 The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers only, but with us, even with us all here alive this day.

4 The Lord talked with you face to face in the Mount, out of the midst of the fire.

5 (At that time I stood between the Lord and you, to declare unto you the word of the Lord: for ye were afraid at the sight of the fire, and went not up into the mount) and he said,

6 ¶ I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

7 Thou shalt have none other gods before my face.

8 Thou shalt make thee no graven image or any likeness of that that is in heaven above, or which is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth.

9 Thou shalt neither bow thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, even unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:

10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

11 Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain.

12 Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.

13 Six days thou shalt labor, and shalt do all thy work:

14 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt not do any work therein, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maid, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, neither any of thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: that thy manservant and thy maid may rest as well as thou.

15 For, remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to observe the Sabbath day.

16 ¶ Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

17 Thou shalt not kill.

18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

19 Neither shalt thou steal.

20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.

21 Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s wife, neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s house, his field, nor his manservant, nor his maid, his ox, nor his ass, nor ought that thy neighbor hath.

22 ¶ These words the Lord spake unto all your multitude in the mount of the midst of the fire, the cloud and the darkness, with a great voice, and added no more thereto: and wrote them upon two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. — Deuteronomy 5:1-22 | 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 15:13; Exodus 18:20; Exodus 19:1; Exodus 19:18; Exodus 20:2-3; Exodus 20:5; Exodus 20:21; Exodus 23:1; Exodus 34:17; Leviticus 19:11; Numbers 14:18; Matthew 5:21; Matthew 5:33; Matthew 15:4; Mark 2:27; Luke 13:14; Luke 18:20; Luke 23:56; Romans 7:7; Hebrews 8:9; Hebrews 12:18

Read full chapter

The Ten Commandments

[pugzman3]

Hebrews 2:15-18 - And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Hebrews 4:15-16 - For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 5:7-9 - Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Hebrews 7:25-26 - Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

[mycolourfullworld]

Cleopatra ascended the throne at the age of 17 and died at the age of 39. She spoke 9 languages. She knew the language of Ancient Egypt and had learned to read hieroglyphics, a unique case in her dynasty. Apart from this, she knew Greek and the languages ​​of the Parthians, Hebrews, Medes, Troglodytes, Syrians, Ethiopians, and Arabs.

With this knowledge, any book in the world was open to her. In addition to languages, she studied geography, history, astronomy, international diplomacy, mathematics, alchemy, medicine, zoology, economics, and other disciplines. She tried to access all the knowledge of her time.

Cleopatra spent a lot of time in a kind of ancient laboratory. She wrote some works related to herbs and cosmetics. Unfortunately, all her books were destroyed in the fire of the great Library of Alexandria in 391 AD. C. The famous physicist Galen studied her work, and was able to transcribe some of the recipes devised by Cleopatra.

One of these remedies, which Galen also recommended to her patients, was a special cream that could help bald men regain their hair. Cleopatra's books also included beauty tips, but none of them have come down to us.

The queen of Egypt was also interested in herbal healing, and thanks to her knowledge of languages, she had access to numerous papyri that are lost today. Her influence on the sciences and medicine was well known in the early centuries of Christianity. She, without a doubt, is a unique figure in the history of humanity.

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 9/6

What am I feeling today?

I wish I had been more productive today. Then again I was really tired and it was probably good for me to get that extra bit of sleep. Prayerfully all my plans can follow through today. Also, I’m trying so so hard to keep a level head. There’s a brother in the church who I’ve developed an interest in and I don’t want to spiral like I have the habit of doing in the past. I just need to trust in God and His timing and not fret and preoccupy myself with worrying about whether he likes me or will ask me out again or if he feels the same way about me etc.

Bible Plan: Rethinking Love and Romance

Finally, we turn to the New Testament’s Christmas story—wait, what? We associate angels, shepherds, and wise men with the Christmas story, but romance? Stick with us. There is something profound to learn about love from a character who does not have a single line in the story.

Matthew’s gospel tells us that Joseph was betrothed to Mary. In their world, betrothals were more serious than modern wedding engagements. The two were legally bound to one another, though they didn’t yet live together or consummate their relationship. During the betrothal time, Mary discovers that she is pregnant—and the baby is not Joseph’s (Matt. 1:18). Imagine being Joseph in this scenario. What is he supposed to do? In their culture, this would have been humiliating to both Mary and him.

Joseph shows lovingkindness to Mary by deciding to divorce her quietly (Matt. 1:19). That doesn’t seem very loving, but consider the cultural context. Joseph could have preserved his own reputation by publicly shaming Mary. He could have told everyone she was pregnant with a child that wasn’t his, leaving her to carry the burden alone. But Joseph won’t do it. He shows mercy toward Mary.

The authors say he wants to divorce her quietly because he is a “righteous” (Greek: dikaios) man. This word in Greek is deeply relational, describing someone doing right by another person and treating others as infinitely valuable creations of God. What could be more loving than treating someone with mutual respect and acknowledging that God built them for honor, blessing, and endless lovingkindness? Joseph wishes Mary no harm. He chooses to care for her.

Joseph is later awakened by a messenger, an angel, who instructs him to not divorce Mary. For Joseph, a quick and quiet divorce instinctively looked best for everyone involved. But Joseph chooses to trust the angel and, again, acts in a way that cares for and blesses (or gives life to) Mary—a picture of true love.

Most of us aren’t getting angelic instructions about who to stay romantically involved with. Wouldn’t that be nice? But we can still choose to act in love toward others in the way that Joseph did. Are we loving another person because of what they can do for us, or are we loving them so that they can be built up, cared for, and blessed with life? Are we choosing to do right by the other person regardless of what they can do for us?

In today’s video, learn more about the Hebrew word khesed that describes the relational and active love that God has for his people.

Matthew 1:18-25 NIV

“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

I never thought about this too deeply but let’s take a moment to reflect on this situation. Joseph is a man betrothed to a woman who is now pregnant with a child that he knows it not his. Think for a moment how that would make you feel, betrayed? angry? bitter? disappointed? disgusted? hurt? I can’t imagine what it must have been like initially for Joseph but take some time again to reflect on how he responded to the situation.

It says he did not want to expose her to public disgrace. Think about what that says about him and his character especially during this time period and cultural context. He loved Mary in a way of respect and kindness, he was looking out for her even when it may have seemed she wasn’t doing the same for him.

This can lead us to a great practical:

Are we loving another person because of what they can do for us, or are we loving them so that they can be built up, cared for, and blessed with life? Are we choosing to do right by the other person regardless of what they can do for us?

No matter what happens or how how people treat us today (and any other day for that matter) - we should show the same love that God has shown us. Let’s not grumble when asked to do something. Let’s build up other people with our words. Let’s take the time to encourage one another.

[mariacallous]

“The Hague’s Hypocrisy,” roared the headline in one of Israel’s mass-circulation dailies. “The Hague’s Disgrace,” blared the competing paper.

Outrage was the most obvious public response in Israel when the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced that he’d seek arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of crimes against humanity. Khan’s parallel request to arrest three Hamas leaders didn’t quiet the fury.

Netanyahu, predictably, accused Khan of feeding “the fires of antisemitism.” But even Israeli legal experts who are deeply critical of the prime minister were disturbed that Khan seemed to put Israeli and Hamas commanders in the same category. “It’s unacceptable to create legal equivalence between the attacker (Hamas) and the attacked (Israel),” as one wrote.

I’m an ordinary enough Israeli to share some of that reflexive anger. The world does seem to pay outsized attention to Israeli actions, and to forget which side committed atrocities on Oct. 7, 2023, and ignited this war.

But outrage is a poor tool for judging whether Khan has a case against Netanyahu and Gallant. For me, the key to answering that question is in a name: Theodor Meron.

Before submitting his request, Khan submitted his evidence to a committee of leading experts on the laws of war. They agreed unanimously that “there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects he identifies have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the ICC.” Theodor Meron—a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, jurist, and former Israeli diplomat—is by far the most prominent of those experts.

I first encountered the name “T. Meron” in the Israeli State Archives more than 20 years ago while researching The Accidental Empire, my book on the history of Israeli settlements in occupied territory. His signature appeared at the bottom of a page in a declassified file from the office of the late Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. The top of the page was marked “Most Secret.” What appeared in between pushed me to find out more about him.

Meron was born in 1930 to what he would describe as a “middle-class Jewish family” in Kalisz, Poland. His “happy but, alas, short childhood” ended at age 9 with the German invasion. Somehow, he survived the Holocaust while living in Nazi ghettos and labor camps. Most of his family did not. Soon after the war, at age 15, he managed to immigrate to the city of Haifa in what was then British-ruled Palestine.

For six years, his only schooling had been suffering. The lost years of education “gave me a great hunger for learning,” he’d say later. He completed high school in a new language, then a law degree at the Hebrew University, then a doctorate at Harvard and post-doctoral studies in international law at Cambridge.

In 1957, with no academic position in the offing, he took an offer from the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Just after the Six-Day War in 1967, he was appointed as the ministry’s legal advisor—effectively, the Israeli government’s top authority on international law—as a 37-year-old wunderkind.

A decade and an ambassadorship later, he returned to academia. As for many Israeli scholars, this meant going abroad—in Meron’s case, to New York University’s law school. His legal writing has been described as having “helped build the legal foundations for international criminal tribunals”—starting with the one established by the United Nations in 1993 to deal with crimes committed in the wars following the breakup of Yugoslavia.

By then a U.S. citizen, Meron was appointed as a judge on that tribunal in 2001. He served for several years as its president and on its appeals court. In an interview, he said he found his position “poignant” and “daunting”: the onetime child prisoner of the Nazis now presiding in judgment on crimes including genocide. He has taken particular pride in a ruling that “defined rape and sexual slavery as crimes against humanity.”

Well into his 90s, Meron is again a law professor, this time at Oxford University—as well as an advisor to Khan, the ICC chief, most recently on the case against the Israeli and Hamas leaders.

It is crucial to recall that Khan’s request for warrants is not a conviction. What Meron and the other experts confirmed is that the evidence and the law provide a basis for trying Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as Hamas figures Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.

The experts’ report rejected any Israeli claim that the International Criminal Court lacks standing. “Palestine, including Gaza, is a State for the purpose of the ICC Statute,” they said. Unlike Israel, it has accepted the court’s jurisdiction. The court therefore can rule on actions in Gaza—and by Palestinians on Israeli territory, the report says.

In a joint opinion piece in the Financial Times, Meron and his colleagues also stressed that “the charges have nothing to do with the reasons for the conflict.” To unpack that: Israel may be fighting a justifiable war of defense—but certain Israelis, including the head of government, may have committed crimes in the way that they’ve conducted that war.

The proposed charges against Sinwar, Deif, and Haniyeh include the crime against humanity of extermination in the killing of civilians in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and the war crimes of taking hostages and of rape.

The central charge against Netanyahu and Gallant is that they engaged in “a common plan to use starvation and other acts of violence against the Gazan civilian population”—in order to eradicate Hamas, free the Israeli hostages, and punish the Gazan population. In other words, impeding humanitarian aid wasn’t a foul-up. It was allegedly an intentional means of waging war.

Khan lists the types of evidence that he gathered—interviews with survivors, video material, satellite images, and more. He did not release the evidence itself. For now, we’re left to rely on the unanimous view of the experts. And there is likely no one on earth more qualified than Meron to judge whether Khan has a solid case. To suggest that Meron is persecuting Israel seems laughable. To claim that he is antisemitic is obscene.

This isn’t a verdict. It’s a reason to take the charges seriously.

In fact, Israel would likely not be in this situation if its government had taken Theodor Meron seriously much sooner—in September 1967, when he wrote the memorandum that I found in the archives.

At the time, Prime Minister Eshkol was weighing whether Israel should create settlements in the territory it had conquered in the unexpected war three months earlier. Eshkol leaned toward reestablishing Kfar Etzion, a kibbutz that had been overrun by Arab forces in 1948. The site was between Hebron and Bethlehem in the West Bank, which had been ruled by Jordan in the intervening years. Eshkol was also interested in settlement in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory that had also recently been conquered by Israel.

In a cabinet meeting, though, the justice minister had warned that settling civilians in “administered” territory—the government’s term for occupied land—would violate international law. Eshkol’s bureau chief asked the Foreign Ministry’s legal advisor to weigh in.

Meron’s response was categorical: “My conclusion is that civilian settlement in the administered territories contravenes explicit provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” The 1949 convention on protection of civilians in time of war, he explained, barred an occupying power from moving part of its population into occupied land. The provision, he wrote, was “aimed at preventing colonization” by the conquering state.

Nine days later, a group of young Israelis settled at the Kfar Etzion site, with the government’s backing. At first, the settlement was identified publicly as a military outpost. As Meron himself had noted, it was legal to build temporary military bases in occupied territory. But this was a ruse, and it quickly wore thin as the civilian character of new settlements became obvious.

So the government soon depended instead on the argument of two prominent Israeli jurists, Yehuda Blum and Meir Shamgar. They argued that the Fourth Geneva Convention didn’t apply to the West Bank. Since Jordan’s sovereignty there had gone almost entirely unrecognized internationally—so their argument went—it wasn’t occupied territory.

As Meron himself wrote in 2017, 50 years after his original memorandum, this theory doesn’t hold water. The convention isn’t aimed at protecting states and claims of sovereignty. It protects people living under occupation from acts of the occupying power.

This raises the question: What would have happened if Eshkol’s government had gritted its teeth in 1967 and accepted its own lawyer’s opinion?

To start, there’d be no settlements in occupied territory. The entire network of large Israeli suburbs, smaller gated exurbs, and tiny outposts wouldn’t exist. The Israeli military would not need to guard these communities, and Israel would not have invested vast resources in tying itself to occupied territory.

We can’t know if there would now be a Palestinian state next to Israel, or perhaps peace in some other constellation. Settlements have not been the only obstacle to a peace agreement. But they are a major one. Moreover, a portion of the settlements—the ideological exurbs—have been a hothouse for the Israeli radical religious right, utterly opposed to giving up land. The two most extreme parties in Netanyahu’s government are led by settlers and count the settlements as their core constituency. Without the settlements, the odds of Israel avoiding its current predicament would have been better.

Accepting Meron’s opinion back then could also have established a different attitude toward international law among Israeli politicians and military leaders—namely, a position of stringent observance. Perhaps such an attitude would have led Netanyahu and Gallant to conduct the current war in a different way, avoiding the acts now alleged by the ICC prosecutor.

Yet the key word is alleged. A critical element of the crimes that Khan alleges is that they were intentional—that starvation and other causes of civilian death were a policy.

It is indeed possible that Israel’s leaders deliberately prevented food and other basic needs from reaching the people of Gaza—that aid was blocked as a means of pressuring Hamas to release hostages or even to give up rule of Gaza. Hamas has used Gazan civilians as human shields; perhaps Netanyahu sought to use their suffering as a weapon against Hamas.

It’s also possible that the failure to get food to Gazans is a result of multiple factors: of the chaos of battle, Egyptian mistakes, Hamas actions, Israeli soldiers mistakenly firing on aid workers just as they have sometimes mistakenly fired on other Israelis, and of the Israeli government’s incompetence—a continuation of the miserable ineptitude that left Israel unprepared on Oct. 7.

All too many people in the world seem to be certain already which of these possibilities is true, based largely on their prior assumptions or the tsunami of media reports. If Khan ever does manage to bring Netanyahu and Gallant to trial, though, he will need to establish intent with hard evidence.

There is another lesson that I took from finding Meron’s 1967 memo: The best evidence of government intent often lies in documents that stay secret for decades. This is even more true of decisions in war, and it adds to the reasons that Israel itself should be investigating what has happened in Gaza.

It’s unlikely that the International Criminal Court would have access to classified Israeli documents. On the other hand, an Israeli state commission of inquiry into the entire conduct of the war—from the disastrous intelligence failure of Oct. 7 onward—would be able to demand such access, and to call top officials and officers to testify.

An explicit point made in Khan’s announcement is that he would defer to Israel if it were conducting its own “independent and impartial” investigation of the alleged crimes. This is the principle of “complementarity”: The ICC’s jurisdiction applies only when national judicial systems fail to act.

A commission of inquiry isn’t a criminal proceeding. But if Israel were investigating itself, then Khan would have good reason to suspend or end his own investigation.

Within Israel, however, it’s a given that Netanyahu’s government will not instigate an inquiry commission with the necessary independence and wide mandate. That can come only if the country’s intense political crisis leads to the fall of the government and new elections.

Netanyahu would like to use the reflexive public anger against Khan’s request for arrest warrants to restore some of his lost support. But the rational reaction is the opposite: The potential ICC case is one more reason to end Netanyahu’s rule and investigate all facets of the war.

Or to put it differently: In 1967, at the start of the occupation, an Israeli government ignored a warning from a remarkably young advisor on international law. Today, Israel needs to heed a new warning from a remarkably old authority on the laws of the war—the same man.

[bijoumikhawal]

The Song of Songs has quite recently (1973) been assigned to the time of Solomon by a distinguished Hebraist, Professor Chaim Rabin of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. For more than forty years now evidence has been accumulating for some kind of relationship between the cities of the Harrapan civilization of the Indus Valley and lower Mesopotamia during the latter part of the third millennium B.C. and into the second (cf. C. J. Gadd, PBA, 1932). Rabin (205) called attention to the few dozen typical Indus culture seals which have been found in various places in Mesopotamia, some of which seem to be local imitations. He suggested that these objects were imported not as knickknacks, but because of their religious symbolism by people who had been impressed by Indus religion. To the examples of Indus type seals in Mesopotamia cited by Rabin (217n2), we may add a dated document from the Yale Babylonian Collection, an unusual seal impression found on an inscribed tablet dated to the tenth year of Gimgunum, king of Larsa, in Southern Babylonia, which according to the commonly accepted "middle" chronology would be 1923 B.C. (B. Buchanan, 1967).

[...]

Rabin cited a story from the Buddhist Jatakas, the Baveru Jataka, which tells of Indian merchants delivering a trained peacock to the kingdom of Baveru, the bird having been conditioned to scream at the snapping of fingers and to dance at the clapping of hands. Since maritime connection between Mesopotamia and India lapsed after the destruction of the Indus civilization, and since the name Baveru (i.e. Babel, Babylon) would hardly have been known in the later period when trade with India went via South Arabia, Rabin concluded that the Jataka story about the peacock must ultimately date before 2000, an example of the tenacity of Indian tradition (p. 206). Ivory statuettes of peacocks found in Mesopotamia suggest that the birds themselves may also have been imported before 2000 B.C. (cf. W. F. Leemans, 1960, 161, 166), and Rabin (206) wondered whether the selection of monkeys and peacocks for export may not have derived from the Indian tendency to honor guests by presenting them with objects of religious significance. Imports of apes and peacocks are mentioned in connection with Solomon's maritime trade in I Kings 10:22 [=II Chron 9:21], the roundtrip taking three years. The word for "peacocks," tukkiyyim, singular tukki, has since the eighteenth century been explained as a borrowing of the Tamil term for "peacock," tokai. Tamil is a Dravidian language which in ancient times was spoken throughout South India, and is now spoken in the East of South India. Scandinavian scholars claim to have deciphered the script of the Indus culture as representing the Tamil language (cf. Rabin, 208, 218n20). Further evidence of contact with Tamils early in the first millennium B.C. is found in the names of Indian products in Hebrew and in other Semitic languages. In particular Rabin cites the word 'ahalot for the spice wood "aloes," Greek agallochon, Sanskrit aghal, English agal-wood, eagle-wood, or aloes, the fragrant Aquilaria agallocha which flourishes in India and Indochina. The Tamil word is akil, now pronounced ahal. Its use for perfuming clothing and bedding is mentioned in Ps 45:9 [8E] and Prov 7:17 and Rabin surmised that the method was one still current in India, the powdered wood being burned on a metal plate and the clothing or bedding held over the plate to absorb the incense. Rabin supposed that it was necessary to have observed this practice in India in order to learn the use of the substance (p.209). Aloes are mentioned in 4:14 among the aromatics which grace the bride's body. The method of perfuming bedding and clothing by burning powdered aloes beneath them may clarify the puzzling references to columns of smoke, incense, and pedlar's powders in connection with the epiphany of "Solomon's" splendiferous wedding couch ascending from the steppes (3:6-10), bearing it seems (cf. 8:5) the (divine?) bride and her royal mate. Myrrh and frankincense only are mentioned, but "all the pedlar's powders" presumably included the precious aloes from India.

Opportunity to observe Indian usages would have been afforded visitors to India in the nature of the case, since the outward journey from the West had to be made during the summer monsoon and the return trip during the winter monsoon, so that the visitor would have an enforced stay in India of some three months. Repeated visits with such layovers would provide merchant seamen with the opportunity to learn a great deal about local customs, beliefs, and arts.

After a brief critique of modern views about the Song of Songs, none of which has so far found general acceptance, Rabin ventured to propound a new theory based on Israel's commercial contacts with India during Solomon's reign.

There are three features which,in Rabin's view (pp. 210f), set the Song of Songs apart from other ancient oriental love poetry. Though occasional traces of these maybe found elsewhere, Rabin alleged that they do not recur in the same measure or in this combination:

1. The woman expresses her feelings of love, and appears as the chief person in the Song. Fifty-six verses are clearly put into the woman's mouth as against thirty-six into the man's (omitting debatable cases).

2. The role of nature in the similes of the Song and the constant reference to the phenomena of growth and renewal as the background against which the emotional life of the lovers moves, Rabin regarded as reflecting an attitude toward nature which was achieved in the West only in the eighteenth century.

3. The lover, whether a person or a dream figure, speaks with appropriate masculine aggressiveness, but the dominant note of the woman's utterances is longing. She reaches out for a lover who is remote and who approaches her only in her dreams. She is aware that her longing is sinful and will bring her into contempt (8:1) and in her dream the "watchmen" put her to shame by taking away her mantle (5:7). Ancient eastern love poetry, according to Rabin, generally expresses desire, not longing, and to find parallels one has to go to seventeenth-century Arab poetry and to the troubadours, but even there it is the man who longs and the woman who is unattainable.

These three exceptional features which Rabin attributed to the Song of Songs he found also in another body of ancient poetry, in the Sangam poetry of the Tamils. In three samples, chosen from the Golden Anthology of Ancient Tamil Literature by Nalladai R. Balakrishna Mudaliar, Rabin stressed the common theme of women in love expressing longing for the object of their affection, for their betrothed or for men with whom they have fallen in love, sometimes without the men even being aware of their love. The cause of the separation is rarely stated in the poem itself, but this is rooted in the Tamil social system and code of honor in which the man must acquire wealth or glory, or fulfill some duty to his feudal lord or to his people, and thus marriage is delayed. There is conflict between the man's world and the woman's and her desire to have her man with her. This conflict is poignantly expressed in one of the poems cited (Rabin, 212) in which a young woman whose beloved has left her in search of wealth complains: I did his manhood wrong by assuming that he would not part from me. Likewise he did my womanhood wrong by thinking that I would not languish at being separated from him. As a result of the tussle between two such great fortitudes of ours, my languishing heart whirls inagony, like suffering caused by the bite of a cobra.

In the Tamil poems the lovelorn maiden speaks to her confidante and discusses her problems with her mother, as the maiden of the Song of Songs appeals to the Jerusalem maids and mentions her mother and her lover's mother; but neither in the Tamil poems nor the Song of Songs is there mention of the maiden's father. In Rabin's view the world of men is represented by "King Solomon," surrounded by his soldiers, afraid of the night (3:7-8), with many wives and concubines (6:8), and engaged in economic enterprises (8:11). Significantly, however, according to Rabin (p. 213), Solomon's values seem to be mentioned only to be refuted or ridiculed: "his military power is worth less than the crown his mother (!) put on him on his wedding day; the queens and concubines have to concede first rank to the heroine of the Song; and she disdainfully tells Solomon (viii 12) to keep his money."

Since the Sangam poetry is the only source of information for the period with which it deals, Rabin plausibly surmised that the recurring theme of young men leaving home to seek fortune and fame, leaving their women to languish, corresponded to reality, i.e. the theme of longing and yearning of the frustrated women grew out of conditions of the society which produced these poems. Accordingly, the cause for the lover's absence need not be explicitly mentioned in the Tamil poems and is only intimated in elaborate symbolic language. Similarly, Rabin finds hints of the nonavailability of the lover in the Song of Songs. The references to fleeing shadows in 2:17, 4:6-8, and 8:14 Rabin takes to mean winter time when the shadows grow long. The invitation to the bride to come from Lebanon, from the peaks of Amana, Senir, and Hermon in 4:6-8 means merely that the lover suggests that she think of him when he traverses those places. The dream like quality of these verses need not, inRabin's view, prevent us from extracting the hard information they contain. The crossing of mountains on which or beyond which are myrrh, incense, and perfumes all lead to South Arabia, the land of myrrh and incense. Thus the young man was absent on a caravan trip. Even though he did not have to traverse Amana or Hermon to reach Jerusalem from any direction, he did have to traverse mountains on the trip and in South Arabia he had to pass mountain roads between steep crags ("cleft mountains") and it was on the slopes of such mountains that the aromatic woods grew ("mountains of perfume"). Coming from South Arabia, however, one had to cross Mount Scopus, "the mountain of those who look out," from which it is possible to see a caravan approaching at a considerable distance. In 3:6 "Who is she that is coming up from the desert, like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense, and all the powders of the perfume merchant?" is taken to refer to the caravan, the unexpressed word for "caravan" sayyarah, being feminine (Rabin, 214 and 219n29). "The dust raised by the caravan rises like smoke from a fire,but the sight of the smoke also raises the association of the scent a caravan spreads around it as it halts in the market and unpacks its wares."

The enigmatic passage 1:7-8 Rabin also related to a camel caravan despite the pastoral terminology. Rabin's theory encounters difficulty with the repeated use of the verb r'y, "pasture," and its participle, "pastor, shepherd" in view of which commentators commonly regard the Song as a pastoral idyl. His solution is to suggest that the term may have some technical meaning connected with the management of camels.

The list of rare and expensive spices in 4:12-14 reads so much like the bill of goods of a South Arabian caravan merchant that Rabin is tempted to believe that the author put it in as a clue.

Be it what it may, it provides the atmosphere of a period when Indian goods like spikenard, curcuma, and cinnamon, as well as South Arabian goods like incense and myrrh, passed through Judaea in a steady flow of trade. This can hardly relate to the Hellenistic period, when Indian goods were carried by ship and did not pass through Palestine: it sets the Song of Songs squarely in the First Temple period (Rabin,215).

As for the argument that the Song contains linguistic forms indicating a date in the Hellenistic period, Rabin points out that the alleged Greek origins of 'appiryon in 3:9 and talpiyyot in 4:4, the former word supposedly related to phoreion, "sedan chair," and the latter to telopia, "looking into the distance,"are dubious.

The phonetic similarity between the Greek and Hebrew words is somewhat vague, and this writer considers both attributions to be unlikely, but even acceptance of these words as Greek does not necessitate a late dating for the Song of Songs, since Mycenaean Greek antedates the Exodus. Neither word occurs elsewhere in the Bible, so that we cannot say whether in Hebrew itself these words were late. In contrast to this, pardes "garden, plantation," occurs, apart from 4:13, only in Nehemiah 2:8, where the Persian king's "keeper of the pardes" delivers wood for building, and in Ecclesiastes 2:5 next to "gardens." The word is generally agreed to be Persian, though the ancient Persian original is not quite clear. If the word is really of Persian origin, it would necessitate post-exilic dating. It seems to me, however, that this word, to which also Greek paradeisos belongs, maybe of different origin.

[...]

Rabin's summation of his view of the Song of Songs is of such interest and significance as to warrant citation of his concluding paragraphs (pp.216f):

It is thus possible to suggest that the Song of Songs was written in the heyday of Judaean trade with South Arabia and beyond (and this may include the lifetime of King Solomon) by someone who had himself travelled to South Arabia and to South India and had there become acquainted with Tamil poetry. He took over one of its recurrent themes, as well as certain stylistic features. The literary form of developing a theme by dialogue could have been familiar to this man from Babylonian-Assyrian sources (where it is frequent) and Egyptian literature (where it is rare). He was thus prepared by his experience for making a decisive departure from the Tamil practice by building what in Sangam poetry were short dialogue poems into a long work, though we may possibly discern in the Song of Songs shorter units more resembling the Tamil pieces. Instead of the vague causes for separation underlying the moods expressed in Tamil poetry, he chose an experience familiar to him and presumably common enough to be recognized by his public, the long absences of young men on commercial expeditions. I think that so far our theory is justified by the interpretations we have put forward for various details in the text of the Song of Songs. In asking what were the motives and intentions of our author in writing this poem, we must needs move into the sphere of speculation. He might, ofcourse, have been moved by witnessing the suffering of a young woman pining for her lover or husband, and got the idea of writing up this experience by learning that Tamil poets were currently dealing with the same theme. But I think we are ascribing to our author too modern an out look on literature. In the light of what we know of the intellectual climate of ancient Israel, it is more probable that he had in mind a contribution to religious or wisdom literature, in other words that he planned his work as an allegory for the pining of the people of Israel, or perhaps of the human soul, for God. He saw the erotic longing of the maiden as a simile for the need of man for God. In this he expressed by a different simile a sentiment found, for instance, in Psalm 42:24: "Like a hind that craves for brooks of water, so my soul craves for thee, O God. My soul is a thirst for God, the living god: when shall I come and show myself before the face of God? My tears are to me instead of food by day and by night, when they say to me day by day: Where is your god?" This religious attitude seems to be typical of those psalms that are now generally ascribed to the First Temple period, and, as far as I am aware, has no clear parallel in the later periods to which the Song of Songs is usually ascribed.

Rabin considered the possibility of moving a step further in speculation about Indian influence.

In Indian legend love of human women for gods, particularly Krishna, is found as a theme. Tamil legend, in particular, has amongst its best known items the story of a young village girl who loved Krishna so much that in her erotic moods she adorned herself for him with the flower-chains prepared for offering to the god's statue. When this was noticed, and she was upbraided by her father, she was taken by Krishna into heaven. Expressions of intensive love for the god are a prominent feature of mediaeval Tamil Shaivite poetry. The use of such themes to express the relation of man to god may thus have been familiar to Indians also in more ancient times, and our hypothetical Judaean poet could have been aware of it. Thus the use of the genre of love poetry of this kind for the expression of religious longing may itself have been borrowed from India.

Rabin's provocative article came to the writer's attention after most of the present study had been written. It is of particular interest in the light of other Indian affinities of the Song adduced elsewhere in this commentary.

pg 27-33, Song of Songs (commentary) by Marvin Pope

[girlactionfigure]

🔅 WED morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( 1 / 2 )

⭕ SUICIDE DRONE attack at Eilat by IRAQ SHIA (Iranian) MILITIAS, interception failed but drone missed, hitting the sea.

 ▪️ON THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX DRAFT.. the Attorney General: The recruitment of 3,000 yeshiva students must be started immediately, all the ultra-Orthodox who are required to be drafted must report to the recruitment center, any budget that concerns those who do not enlist must be stopped.

.. COMMENTARY:  One of the principles for rabbis ruling for a community is not to attempt to uphold a law that the community will not keep - turning the community as a whole into violators.  Apparently the justice system believes if they declare it will happen?  Whether you agree with drafting Torah students or not, saying “do this” to a large group who is already refusing is… silly.

 ▪️RELATED - POLITICS & CONSCRIPTION LAW CHANGES.. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Edelstein in the conscription law debates: "Either the adjusted conscription law will pass with broad agreement or the law will not pass at all."  (Hint: there is no broad agreement possible.)

.. The MK says: “I know that the High Court's ruling will not bring even one recruit - I will continue the committee's deliberations on the way to a correct, agreed upon and historic (conscription) law.”

 ▪️LEGAL WAR BLOCKERS.. The military attorney's office ordered not to eliminate Gazan citizens who participated in the Oct. 7th massacre. The reason: they are not defined as Hamas terrorists.  From the interpretation of the military attorney's office for the laws of war, it is claimed that only those who belong to a fighting force can be killed intentionally in war. Targeted elimination is a preventive measure, not a punishment, and therefore, since the "civilian" is not part of the fighting force, he cannot be killed in retaliation.

If the Shin Bet and the IDF learn of the location of Gazans who have murdered, looted, raped or kidnapped Israelis, they do not have legal authorization to eliminate them. (N12)

🔥ARSON ATTACK.. Overnight a huge wildfire fire broke out near the "Ofrit" base on Mount Scopus, believed to be started by Molotov cocktails from nearby Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem.  Damage to the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus.  Brought under control.

 ▪️AID - WATER.. In an official letter sent from the Office of the Minister of Defense to the Chief of Staff, the head of the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Energy, the request is made - the desalination plant in Gaza must be connected to electricity for the first time since the beginning of the war, due to a humanitarian need that would allegedly prevent the sewage from flowing into the sea.

🔅 WED morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

( 2/ 2 )

▪️AID - FOOD.. for the 5th time so far, the United Nations threatens to suspend its humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip, if the security of the aid workers does not improve while being attacked by Hamas again and again (( and therefore complaining to Israel? )). Over 1,500 trucks are backed up by Kerem Shalom.

▪️AID - ORDER 9 COMMENTS: The State of Israel continues to provide aid to an enemy that continues to spit in its face. Risking soldiers for treats to the terrorist organization that massacred our children is a terrible crime. The State of Israel must immediately stop aid to Hamas in its current form.”

▪️PROTEST - RETURN THE HOSTAGES!  Sderot Reger in Be’er Sheva.  Small crowd.

▪️IDF MANPOWER CHANGE - COMBAT PROFILES TO COMBAT.. hundreds with a combat profile destined for the intelligence and tech services will serve as combat fighters. Senior officials explained this is a change from the "small army" concept: "It would have been better for a genius to be in cyber and not a fighter in the paratroopers or in an elite unit”, with the idea "it is better for the army to have them in the offensive cyber at the expense of another fighter in the paratroopers or even in an elite unit”.  

But with the extended need for combat infantry, the combat rating must override the education and intelligence rating.

Intelligence unit 8200: “This may harm the quality of soldiers in our unique roles.”

▪️NOT WHAT THEY THOUGHT - CAPTURED TERRORIST DIET & THE COURT.. The Israeli Association for Civil Rights petitioned the High Court that the diet being served to mass murdering baby killing captured Oct. 7 massacring terrorists was “not healthy” and “included too many processed meats - unhealthy”.   The Prison Service sat with professional nutritionists: Instead of 4 slices of bread, they will get 3 in the meal with plain tahini.  Instead of processed meat (sausages), lentils.  

“The minister (Nat. Sec. Ben Gvir) made the conditions of the terrorists worse and is not ashamed of it. The food provided is the minimum required. If the judges want to care for the well-being of those who perpetrated the massacre - let them declare it in the hearing."

♦️IDF ATTACKS.. 3 airstrikes one after the other in a fire belt layout in the Al Dahani area in Rafah.

♦️COUNTER-TERROR - SILWAD (Ramallah area).. firefight.

⭕ HOUTHIS SAY.. struck cargo ship MSC Sarah V in the Arabian Sea, using new ballistic missile system.

⭕ HAMAS ROCKET.. at Sufa, near Gaza town.

[kbaemi]

✧✧✧ PROFILE as of 2024 ✧✧✧

✧✧✧ BASIC INFO ✧✧✧

✧ BIRTH NAME — noriel eulália reis ignácio

✧ KOREAN NAME — cheon hwa yong

✧ HANGUL — 천화용

✧ NAME MEANING —

・cheon - sino-korean 天  for "sky, heavens"

・hwa - sino-korean 花 meaning "flower", 和 meaning "harmony, peace", 火 meaning "fire, anger, rage"

・yong - sino-korean 龍 meaning "dragon"

・noriel - Portuguese version of Nuriel, meaning "light of God" in Arabic and "Fire of God" in Hebrew

・eulália - means "sweetly-speaking"

・reis - means "kings"

・ignácio - means "fire"

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ NICKNAMES —

・by bts, family, and friends - noria | nori | nora | hwayongie | yongie | yongyong

・by army - brazilian bombshell | beauty of bangtan | golden retriever | sunshine | siren of kpop

✧ BIRTH DATE — 01 september 1997

✧ ZODIAC - virgo | ox

✧ BIRTH PLACE — la boca, buenos aires, argentina

✧ ETHNICITY — ½ brazilian | ½ korean

✧ NATIONALITY — brazilian | korean | argentine

✧ LANGUAGES —

・portuguese - 100%

・korean - 100%

・spanish - 100%

・english - 93%

・japanese - 87%

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ HEIGHT — 179 cm (5'10.4")

✧ WEIGHT — 50 kg (110lbs)

✧ BLOOD TYPE — AB

✧ MODIFICATIONS — "7" tattoo

✧ CLAIMS —

・face claim - bruna marquezine

・spanish voice/rap claim - emilia mernes | maria becerra | nicki nicole

・korean voice claim - younha | youha | seori

・dance claim - lisa | chungha | ten

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ GENDER — female

✧ PRONOUNS — she/her

✧ SEXUAL ORIENTATION — bisexual

✧ RELATIONSHIP STATUS — in a relationship

✧✧✧ CAREER ✧✧✧

✧ STAGE NAME — noria

✧ HANGUL — 노리아

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ COMPANY — Big Hit Music

✧ TRAINEE PERIOD — 09/16/2012 - 06/12/2013

✧ DEBUT AGE — 19

✧ GROUP — bts

✧ POSITIONS — main vocalist | main dancer | sub rapper | producer | center | maknae

✧ REPRESENTATIVE EMOJI — 👑/🐉

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ RANKING —

・vocal : 10/10

・dance : 10/10

・rap : 6/10

・visual (korean standard) : 6/10

・producing : 9/10

・songwriting : 9/10

・choreography : 8/10

・stage presence : 10/10

・leadership : 2/10

・public speaking : 4/10

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧✧✧ PERSONAL ✧✧✧

✧ MBTI TYPE — ESTP | entrepreneur

✧ ENNEAGRAM TYPE — 8 | the challenger

・accepting : noriel is open-minded and non-judgmental towards others, regardless of their differences or flaws. she embraces diversity and understands that everyone has their own unique qualities and experiences that shape who they are. she is not easily offended or defensive when faced with opposing viewpoints or criticism, and she is willing to listen and learn from others. as an accepting person, she values inclusivity.

・active : noriel is proactive, energetic, and tends to take charge of their lives. she are not afraid of taking risks and is always ready to face challenges. she is motivated by her own goals and is willing to work hard to achieve them. she is quick to take action and is not content to sit back and wait for things to happen. she is always seeking new opportunities and ways to improve herself.

・adventurous : noriel is willing to take risks and explore new or unfamiliar territory. is often motivated by a desire for excitement, novelty, and challenge. she has a strong sense of curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and experiences, and a willingness to push past their comfort zone.

・ambitious : noriel is driven and goal-oriented. she has a strong desire to achieve something significant and is willing to work hard to make it happen. she is not content with just getting by, but strives to excel and make a difference in her life and the lives of those around her. she is always striving for success in her career, achieving personal goals, and pursuing her passions and dreams.

・charitable : noriel shows kindness, generosity, and compassion towards others by giving or sharing something valuable, such as time, money, or resources, without expecting anything in return. being charitable is a selfless and noble quality that reflects a person's willingness to help those in need and make a positive difference in the world. she understands the importance of giving back to her community and society as a whole.

・cheerful : noriel has the ability to think imaginatively and generate original ideas. she is able to see things from a fresh perspective, think outside the box, and come up with unique solutions to problems. she has a natural inclination towards artistic expression, innovation, and experimentation.

・competitive : noriel sees competition as a welcome challenge. as somebody who grew up in sports, she thrives with challenges and always wants to come out on top. she is highly motivated to work harder when others achieve great success. when she fails at something, this motivates her to rebound from the failure and come back at the challenge with a new strategy to succeed.

・creative : noriel has the ability to think imaginatively and generate original ideas. she is able to see things from a fresh perspective, think outside the box, and come up with unique solutions to problems.she has a natural inclination towards artistic expression, innovation, and experimentation.

・daring : noriel is willing to take risks or face challenges with courage and boldness. she often displays a sense of adventure, creativity, and independence, and is willing to push boundaries or challenge authority in pursuit of her goals.

・determined : noriel is somebody who has unwavering focus on achieving a goal or objective, despite any obstacles or challenges that may arise. she stays committed to her aspirations, no matter howdifficult the path is.

・diligent : noriel is very hardworking, thorough, and persistent in her efforts to achieve a goal. She is dedicated to her work and takes great care to ensure that she completes it to the best of her abilities. She is organized, disciplined, and focused, and is willing to put in the time and effort required to achieve success.

・direct : noriel is a very straightforward and honest individual. she never beats around the bush nor hides her intentions. she expresses herself clearly and assertively. this quality helps noriel in appearing confident and decisive.

・eager : noriel is always enthusiastic and excited about things. she is always eager to learn, succeed, and try new experiences. she is motivated and driven, and approaches tasks with apositive attitude and a strong desire to achieve her goals. this trait helps her overcome obstacles and succeed in her endeavors. however, the trait can also lead to impatience and recklessness if not tempered with caution and consideration.

・easily bored : noriel enjoys novelty, which makes her an excellent tinkerer, but also much less reliable when it comes to focusing on things as novelty wanes. once she understands something, she tends to simply move on to something new and more interesting.

・energetic : noriel has a lot of physical, mental, or emotional vigor and activity. she is lively, enthusiastic, and active. she is full of life and always seems to have a lot of energy to spare. she has a can-do attitude towards life. she is usually very productive, driven, and passionate about what they do. she is always looking for new challenges, and she thrives on the excitement and adrenaline of takingrisks and pushing herself to the limit.

・enthusiastic : noriel is somebody who highly interested and passionate about things, often exhibiting great excitement and energy towards them. she always displays eagerness and zest, demonstrating a genuine love for what she is doing or what she believes in. she is usually optimistic, positive, and motivated to pursue her goals and dreams.

・excitable : noriel is easily inspired or stimulated by external factors and tends to react with enthusiasm, energy, or impulsive behavior. she can become overly excited or agitated in response to positive or negative stimuli and may find it difficult to control her emotions or impulses. this leads to her being easily distracted, having a short attention span, or being prone to outbursts of enthusiasm or anger.

・extroverted : noriel is a very expressive and outgoing person. she is very talkative, sociable, active, and warm. she is someone who feels energized by the external world and social interactions. she is very comfortable and excited in group settings. noriel is a "people person" and has a wide range of friends to prove it.

・fun-loving : noriel is a person who enjoys having fun, is playful, and has a lighthearted attitude towards life. she tends to be spontaneous, adventurous, and often seeks out new experiences. however, this trait can also indicate a lack of seriousness, so it's important for her to balance it with other traits to create a well-rounded and believable person.

・grounded : noriel exhibits a sense of calm, stability, and authenticity, fostering well-grounded hope for her future. she possesses self-awareness, emotional resilience, and a balanced perspective on life. she approaches life with a sense of purpose, acts in alignment with her values, and maintains healthy boundaries. she is open to different perspectives and seeks truth and understanding rather than clinging to ay rigid beliefs.

・happy : noriel is normally in a state of joy, contentment, and satisfaction. she is generally optimistic, cheerful, and sees the good in the world around her. she tries to always have a positive outlook on life and tends to be resilient in the face of adversity. she is usually social creatures, enjoying the company of others and spreading their joy to those around them.

・hardworking : noriel is diligent, dedicated, and persistent in her efforts to achieve goals. she is always willing to put in the necessary time and effort to accomplish something despite obstacles or challenges that may arise along the way. she is seen as being reliable, responsible, and committed to achieving success through their own efforts.

・impatient : noriel is always ready to get things done. she is always ready for projects to constantly be moving forward and struggles when plans and ideas remain stagnant. she wants things done fast and becomes frustrated when things are not already done.

・impulsive : noriel is highly confident in her 'gut feelings' and her ability to feel her way through problems and situations. she acts without thinking sometimes and it can cause regret later.

・independent : noriel is all about self-reliance and autonomy. she has the ability to rely on herself for guidance, decision-making, and problem-solving. she has a deep sense of self-trust, knowing that she possesses the skills and resources to overcome any obstacles. she embraces challenges as opportunities for growth, refusing to be paralyzed by self-doubt or dependent on others for her success. noriel has a strong desire for personal freedom, both in thought and action. she resists societal pressures to conform and instead forges her own path, guided by her values and aspirations. this autonomy allows her to explore her true passions, make bold choices, and live a life aligned with her authentic self. independence can be a challenge in her social relationships, including in romance. when she has someone else’s schedule – especially a social calendar – imposed on her, she is unlikely to sit well for long. her tolerance can be quite low for having others take her time away from what she'd prefer to be doing.

・insensitive : noriel is somebody who relies on logic. even when she tries to meet others halfway with empathy and emotional sensitivity, it rarely seems to come out quite right, if anything is even said at all. noriel struggles with empathy and sensitivity towards the feelings and the needs of others.

・loyal : noriel is very faithful, dedicated, trusting in any type of relationships. she is steadfast in her support for her loved ones and is always accepting and loving towards them. she will weather storms for her friends and family.

・open-minded : noriel is receptive to a wide varieties of ideas, arguments, and information. she is non-prejudiced and tolerant of most people. she is always asking questions and searching for information if she is introduced to challenges of her life beliefs.

・observant : noriel has the ability to pay close attention to details and to be aware of her surroundings. She notices things that others might miss and is able to draw conclusions from small hints and clues. She is often able to anticipate the actions of others and are quick to adapt to changing situations.

・passionate : noriel is a self-motivated individual who will never run from hardships. she is growth-oriented and is always looking for ways to grow as a person and as an artist. she is full of determination and perseverance to see her goals and dreams come true.

・reckless : noriel is somebody who will engage in an activity without concern for it's after effects. she disregards the dangers of a situation and it's consequences. she is not one who stops and thinks before acting.

・reserved : noriel is somebody who is notoriously difficult to get to know. she keeps her personal matters to herself and often just prefer silence to small talk. she prefers to keep her thoughts and ideas to herself. She does not like to share too much information about herself, hold back on their opinions and emotions, and may only share information when it is meaningful.

・spontaneous : noriel is always able to go with the flow and think on her feet. This flexibility comes with some unpredictability, but she is able to store her spontaneity for a rainy day, releasing her energy just when it’s needed most.

・unapologetic : noriel is all about self-validation and accepting herself for all that she is. she has no need to seek any outside validation or approval in order to feel good enough or worthy. as easily as noriel is able to go with the flow, she also has moments where she ignore it entirely and move in another direction with little consideration for others’ preferences. If someone tries to propose a different direction, she can become quite blunt in her irritation.

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ FAMILY —

・THIAGO NORIEL IGNÁCIO — FATHER

—— birthdate : 02.13.1965

—— birthplace : rocinha, rio de janeiro, brazil

—— ethnicity : brazilian

—— occupation : professional futebol player (retired) | olympian | coach

—— status : alive

・CHEON DAN BI — MOTHER

—— birthdate : 01.12.1968

—— birthplace : saekdal-dong, seogwipo-si, jeju-do, south korea

—— ethnicity : korean

—— occupation : gymnast (retired) | olympian | nutritionalist | restaurant owner

—— status : alive

✧✧✧ TRIVIA ✧✧✧

✧ HABITS — humming and dancing when eating delicious foods | always moving around in her seat | fidgeting

✧ PHOBIAS — anatidaephobia (fear of ducks or geese) | ornithophobia (fear of birds)

✧ MEDICAL CONDITIONS — adhd | vasovagal syncope | anemia | alpha-gal syndrome

✧ ALLERGIES — hazelnuts | beef | veal | pork | lamb | venison | dairy products | gelatin | seafood | shellfish | chicken | turkey | duck | pheasant | partridge | egg

✧ TALENTS — accents | impersonations

✧ HOBBIES —

・instruments : guitar | piano

・dance : ballet | modern | samba | hip hop

・sports : futebol (soccer) | swimming | surfing | kayaking | rock climbing | taekwondo | brazilian jiu-jitsu | mma

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ FAVORITES —

・food : sweet potatoes | carrots | mushrooms | bread | peaches | tofu | girgopan (choripan vegano)| | empanada vegano | pão de queijo vegana | feijoada vegana | bibimbap | bulgogi | samgyeopsal (pork belly) | japchae | oi muchim (spicy cucumber salad) | kimchi | beoseot gangjeong (sweet crispy mushrooms) | doenjang-jjigae (soybean paste stew)

・sweets : alfajores vegano | dulce de leche vegano | brigadeiro vegano | beijinho vegana | paçoquita | hotteok | bingsu | bungeoppang

・drinks : water | limonada suíça | umbuzada | guaraná antartica | horchata | dr pepper | minute maid joy apple lychee

・genres : reggaeton | bachata | cumbia | urban | latin pop | latin trap | r&b | rock | k-pop | pop

・artists : queen | eminem | shakira | britney spears | christina aguilera | mariah carey | rihanna | bad bunny | daddy yankee | wisin | pitbull | don omar | j balvin | maluma | shinee | stray kids | txt | ateez | megan thee stallion

・books : harry potter | percy jackson

・movie : fast and furious series

・tv show : ted lasso

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

✧ LIKES — beaches and the ocean | aquatic animals | cats | cows | elephants | going to aquariums | going to zoos | going to amusement parks | extreme sports | listening to audio books | harry potter series | percy jackson series | playing sports | working out | playing video games | dark colors (black, gray, green, etc) | fruit scented perfumes | spicy foods | sweet foods

✧ DISLIKES — allergies | school | orange juice | beer | bananas | alcohol | reading | flowers | greeting cards | bullies | sitting still | cigarette smoke | people touching her without permission | strong smells | loud chewers | sour candies | creatures with more than 4 legs | doing nothing | quiet

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Running But I’m Not Tired

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

=========================

+ Proverbs 4:23 Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

=========================

VERSE OF THE DAY

========================

+ 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Do you not know that in a race, all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

=========================

** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM RUNNING FOR JESUS

I AM HAPPY

I AM KEEPING MY CROWN

I AM A SERVANT OF JESUS 

********************************

THOUGHTS:

=======================

     Some are natural runners; some learn to run daily by hitting the gym or running on a track. Some people do squats or a specific regimen to prepare to run because we don’t start as runners. It takes time; you will never see someone go out and start running because they know they never did it, so they start with a jog, but whatever they do, they do it slowly.

  As we run for the lord, we all start small; as walkers, joggers, and then runners, we have this fire for the lord. It is indescribable. It’s hunger, and as you eat the word that hunger grows, and as you praise him that love grows, everything grows over time. When this happens, we usually add wood to the fire by building this incredible relationship with him daily by submitting and changing. We talked about this Sunday, and we must live a life of surrender.

   Hebrews 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

    Just like you'll never see a new runner running down the street, no you will see them jog , just like you'll never see a six-month-old baby eating steak because they aren’t ready; when we are living the Christian life, we all start on milk, and we build ourselves up because if we start with meat, we won't be able to take it, we would turn away, that’s why we must start off walking and then jogging.

  We must wait for God to show us how to run, and when we run, we will run this race to get the prize, which is to go to heaven. And when we run like this with , us going at a slow pace and learning the basics and enjoying the milk that God placed us on and not rushing it, we learn the bible truly when we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us; you never want to rush the small moments with God, you never want to rush the beginnings stages with God because you’ll miss it, you’ll miss those simple moments that you didn’t enjoy because you wanted to move pass the milk. At any stage of your relationship with Christ , enjoy each day while you're drinking of the living water.

  Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 When we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us, we learn how to press toward the goal; we learn how to handle life in the right way; we learn we must pray. We learn we must seek him with our whole heart; we learn to deny our flesh. If we start too fast, we often won't learn anything or how to condition.

  Some runners wear running shoes to add comfort and fit gym shorts or leggings because they condition according to the weather. They learn they need this or that to push through. Still, in our Christian walk, we have to have this same idea. Suppose we don’t learn how to condition ourselves through the storms of life and walk over the traps the enemy tries to set for us, we will stumble because if we don’t learn that in the beginning that we must hold on to God hands even when things look rough. We will always fail because we didn’t grasp that mindset early on.

In that case, we will forever run into a problem, and that problem is dealing with the enemy, rebuking him. A baby in Christ wonts know how to rebuke until they learn certain things . Still, as we run this race, we must understand that our goal is to walk with God, and we must grow and develop. If we run in a way that isn’t how the Holy Spirit shows us, we will forever fall; learning to run isn’t about how fast we do it but how we grow in him.

Philippians 2:16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

 We must hold fast to the word of life so when we see Jesus, he will be proud of the way we denied our flesh, denied our cravings, denied our wants, and we didn’t run in vain; we ran to see Jesus, a lot of us are tired but we must not give up we must keep running to Jesus.

  ***Today, we learned that we don’t just start off running; we start slow and by listening and learning from the Holy Spirit. A lot of us don’t know the basics of some verses and things because we are so busy trying to run like everyone else, but just because someone is running doesn’t mean they are running the right way or in the right direction.

  We must understand we as believers are all on the same path going to heaven, but we all are at different speeds; some are slowly getting there, some are running so fast that they aren’t tired yet; and it’s some walking and occasionally running. We don’t have to compete with one another; we are all trying to see Jesus. To be a better runner for Jesus, we must equip ourselves with our amour of God and not just anything; we can’t just read the word and not apply it, just like we can’t say we have the amour of God and not wear it. Every day, the word says that we must die daily and that what we must do to run with him we must do it daily so that we can have the crown of life. The Bible tells us not to let anyone take our crown, and we can’t, but if we aren’t careful about how we run, we will let the distractions of life take it from us.

©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

========================

PRAYER

========================

Heaven, Father, we thank you for today; we ask you to forgive us of the sins we have done. We ask you to help us understand your word and apply it. Lord, help us run this race for you and no one else. Help us to be faithful to you, and lord, we ask you to give us strength to run because some days it gets hard to run, but we ask you to help us push through to see you. Lord, we need you to guide us and show us the way, in Jesus' Name, Amen

========================

REFERENCES

+ Hebrerws 11:21 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

 

+  Revelation 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

 

+ Philippians 2:16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

 ========================

FURTHER READINGS

=========================

Proverbs 29

Exodus 2

Judges 8

Jonah 2

=========================

[pinguphd]

An intro into Fatima Pierce, OC for 9-1-1. Credit for this template goes to DMBadger from DeviantArt

General Information:

Full Name: Fatima Pierce (Born Al-Basra)

Nickname(s): Titi

Age: ~36

Gender: Female

Place of Birth: Basra, Iraq

Date of Birth: Unknown, however the date she chose to put on all of her information is April 14, 1987

Race: Arab

Occupation: Lieutenant Colonel in the Army/Firefighter

Appearance:

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 175 lbs

Skin Color: Medium Olive

Hair Color: Black

Hair Style: Almost always up in a bun, when it’s down (and while I am aware of the issues with the hair type charts this best describes what I have in mind so forgive me) 3a curl type, length hits the bottom of her shoulder blades

Eye Color: Amber

Clothing: Frequently in the varied army uniforms, when in civilian clothing she opts for fitted clothes in greens, grays, blacks, and blues

Accessories: Always wears her dog tags

Features: Multiple scars typical of someone injured semi-often in war (i.e. gunshot, knife wounds and shrapnel)

Relationships:

Family: Birth family dead, estranged from adopted family

Love Interest/Crush: Ravi Panikkar

Friends/Allies: The 118, an as yet to be named best friend

Enemies: … probably her adoptive parents, I mean c’mon they don’t talk.

History: Born in southern Iraq, all she’s ever known is a lifetime of war. Enlisted and got her commission as soon as she could since American soldiers saved her life, she eventually made the transition into serving in a more advisory/training type role in the California National Guard to be close to her best friend in Los Angeles

Personality: Reserved, generally introspective and very observant. Once you can get her talking and comfortable with you though? It’s all over.

Other Information:

Likes: Staying busy and occupied, my girl does not know how to stay still.

Dislikes: Quiet, not feeling settled, not having a sense of family or a feeling she belongs

Sexuality: Bisexual

Hobbies: Learning new languages, reading everything she can get her hands on: typically history books of the Middle East, military history, and prefers the classics. If a book has been translated into English she tries to read it in its original language. Also likes to stay busy with her hands, so she took up cross stitching and crochet. Muay Thai, weight lifting and cardio-she is ALWAYS working out if she’s not at work.

Goals: All she ever wants is a sense of belonging, a sense of family. She’s never really had a serious relationship with… well anyone. No family to speak of she just wants people around her who love her, romantic or otherwise.

Habits: Reads everything she can get her hands on

Fears: Being alone.

Trivia: No clue when she was born, a resident polyglot (languages she is fluent in include, but are by no means limited to English, Arabic, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew and Spanish). Her first language, to everyone’s surprise is Arabic.