m e a d o w l a r k

Just wanted to show you all some pictures I’ve taken since the leaves turned all pretty

The picture of me wasn’t taken by me (Obviously) But the rest were

Enjoy!

-Elaine

  I too, have always been interested in the different  religions of our world. Travis, you show a great sence of knowledge and perception.  I firmly  believe God looks at our Heart. I have met people that I honestly believe were Christian in thier heart but did not believe in the Christian Religion. Will God condemn them to Hell? Of Course not!!!    I know that I will see Gandhi, Leo Buscaglia, Kaoru Norimura(our Buddist exchange student in 1984) and many others who have different belief, or life styles in Heaven.  It was Voltaire who said “What is true Religion? Love God and your neighbor as yourself” and William Penn wrote “Religion itself is nothing else  but to Love God and man” and my favorite is from Gandhi.  He stated “I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.  I believe that they are all God -given and I believe that they were necessary for the people to whom these religions were revealed.  And I believe that if only we could all of us read the scriptures of the different faiths from the standpoint of the followers of these faiths , we should find that they were at the bottom all one and were all helpful to one another.” Thats it for quotes!!! When someone needs help, encouragement  or whatever we need to be there for them.  Please continue to send cards or phone calls to Shari.  She still has a way to go and may need surgery because her back seems to not be healing straight. And of course, remember her in your Prayers.  Love Mom

Renee’ and I were able to slip away last week for a very lightly scheduled business trip to Washington D.C. (I think the term, “Boondoggle” may have been used more than once)

By day, I sharpened my public speaking skills on salesmen and my engineering peers. By night, we dated, shared complete thoughts (doesn’t happen often with teenagers), and enjoyed each other’s company while sampling the culture, food, and scenery of our nation’s capital.

I can only imagine how long a person would have to be there to see all of the “must-see” monuments, exhibits and events. We walked the National Mall until our joints ached. We visited many sites, including the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon. The lighter shade of the new bricks on the exterior wall point  you to the exact crash site. Even though I was standing there, I still struggled to comprehend how a tragedy like this could occur. It is beyond me.

I am thankful that not everyone thinks the like me, (too boring and too many bicycles)  however I cannot understand how anyone could think that freedom is not a good thing. At the White House we saw a protestor (whom I smelled way before I had seen). He had set up a tent, sang folk songs and barked to both of the people in his audience about how we need nuclear disarmaent now! (umm, ok…)

This, on the heals of our visit to the Holocaust Museum (the biggest must-see of them all) where we learned of Hitler’s skillful use of terror to persuade entire villages when one villager chose an opposing world view.

I have to admit that the Holocaust Museum changed my perspective on life. I was taught in school that it was a madman who was bent on extinguishing a race of people, which it was, but I never learned how much world-wide culpability existed. There was plenty of shame to go around.

Renee’ and I decided that the entire city is a must-see for our whole family. The history, the government, the monuments, the museums are all are too much for us to not experience together before growing up gets in the kids’ way.

Tentative plans are for late May. Interested? Seeing family there would only make it that much more of an event.

chuck

well on Friday i had a sleepover w/ my bff, Kevra Wolfe. we had a lot of fun we played Guitar Hero then we walked up and down my street and talked on the phone w/ a friend of ours and his name is Jake Nohner and he likes me a lot. but anyways we went inside and played some more of Guitar Hero 2. then after that we made popcorn and watched a movie/ and went 2 bed at the same time. the movie we watched was called Dan in Real Life. then on Saturday, we took manny on a rollerblade walk/ ride. then we came home and then left right away and went on a bike ride, and hung out over at my friend Blake’s house. but now today October Monday, 6, 2008, i am thinking of joining the Farmington Girls Lacrosse Team.

I like how Travis writes the longest blog in internet history, proving that he is the smart one in the family, and I just get to write boring little exerpts about my life.

Well, school is started, and I really like all of my classes. I’m doing really well, too. I’ve been incredibly busy lately, and it’s been hard to balance out my life between school, church, friends, family, and running. I’m barely home anymore, which sucks big time. I also haven’t had any time to use my camera, which bothers me alot. But I started yearbook committee a few weeks ago, so I get to take pictures all the time during school. That was especially fun during Homecoming week, since we had “Spirit Days”, where we get to dress up like something different on each day. It was really funny to take pictures of everyone dressed up so crazy. On super hero day, everyone dressed up as Batman or Superman, but I wore my best friend Katie’s volleyball jersey with a cape and silver leggings. I called myself SuperKatie And then I wore the whole thing to her game that night! It was very cool. Well, I have to vacuum now So i will check in again the next time my parents make me blog.

Love you all!

In my World History Class, we are currently studying India, and more specifically Buddhism and Hinduism. Much of what I thought i knew about other religions is being challenged, and i have found myself wondering aloud if i will see Siddhartha Gautama, Muhammad, or even Mohandas Gandhi in Heaven. I have come to realize that there are many elements of truth in all religions, and that they probably evolved over time, along with christianity, from roughly the same belief system. This has me questioning how much the Christian religion has changed since Jesus’ original teachings. After thousands of years and thousands of different translations of the Bible, have we as Americans misinterpreted, over-produced, nationalized, consumerized, and westernized Jesus’ divine teachings until it resembles something different entirely? Have we been using our immense wealth and blessings to feed the hungry, free the oppressed, clothe the naked, and love the poor? Or are we using the cross as an excuse for our nationalism and as a token gain more wealth?

What Ive learned about Buddhism and its founder in the past weeks have arose the most questions for me. Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, has struck me as an incredibly wise man, and not a direct oposition to Jesus, as i had always thought. Siddhartha, who was born 400-500 years before Jesus’ time, preached that material possesions were not the ultimate goal in life, and that in order to be happy we must free ourselves from desire. He abandoned his life as a prince to travel the world in search of wisdom and enlightenement, and forbid his followers to worship him. It did not seem as if he was trying to start his own religion, and many people today consider Buddhism a lifestyle rather than a religion. Unfortunately, many sects of the Buddhist religion do worship Buddha, directly contradicting his teachings. Many Buddhists today also worship idols of Buddha. It is obvious from this that Buddhism has evolved greatly, so that it barely resembles what it once did. I find myself wondering if Siddhartha was given the gift of wisdom by God, but had his words twisted and culturally diffused into something it wasn’t supposed to be…

Hinduism also has many truths, but has evolved greatly. Hinduism stresses the importance of nonviolence, and respect for God’s creation, and it states that “God is one, but wise men know him by many names.” Hindu followers have changed this into worship of millions of gods and a segregated caste system that promotes racisim…

In addition, Islam directly addresses how distorted the major world religions have become, yet the five pillars of islam are traditions that were arguably never a part of God’s plan… 

And finally, Christianity evolved from Judaism, but Jews today follow much different traditions than they did thousands of years ago when moses was parting the red sea…

What i’m trying to get to through all of this is that we need to question how tolerant we are being of other religions, and whether or not we are following Jesus’ ORIGINAL teachings. When you boil them all down, the world’s religions differ only slightly, but they have been corrupted and distorted into something completely different than they once were. I beleive that Christianity is by far the least distorted, but perhaps i only believe that because thats what i was raised to know. I believe that God looks at your heart, not what denomination you are or who you voted for in last years election. What  I do know is that there is God out there who loves me, and he is a God of love, tolerance, compassion, and peace. I know that Jesus Christ is God, and that i should follow his teachings. I know that I will never truly know EXACTLY what God intended for our religion to be and i need to accept that wonder and mystery are an important parts of faith that set us appart from our all-knowing God. Nonetheless, I should continue to seek wisdom and truth in God’s word. I also know that we as Americans need to take a closer look at what the Christian faith has become. Are we really putting others above ourselves? Or are we like the Pharisees who take an arrogant pride in our religion? Are we giving back to God what he has so graciously given us? Or are we spending our blessings in pursuit of an American Dream? Are politicians using the Lord’s word to rule justly and fairly, and aid those in need? Or are they using his name in vain as an excuse for pride, discrimination of gays, warmongering, bloodshed, destruction of his earth, and worship of material possesions? Are we truly following God’s will? Or are we following a marketed, western-friendly, feel-good religion?