Hello all! How has everyone been? I have been doing good, though a bit sick today. Before I do my weekly religious discussion thingy, I want to talk about some stuff I have been doing. Japanese 101 is a class I have thoroughly been enjoying, and Chem 106 is surprisingly enjoyable. Also my time has been full of video games, homework, and Dungeons and Dragons (a new hobby of mine). Just recently I have picked up my first set of dice (black and orange wispy design). Dungeons and Dragons is a very fun past time, and having finished my campaign, I look to be part of 3 soon (one I am in, one I will be in, and a later Call of Cthulhu). In my current campaign, I am a great Walrus-man with absolute awesomeness, a bad Russian accent, a fatherly attitude to many, and a adoptive daughter that is a pink puffball (another player) that barfs up ponies at will. Fine times. As you can see, DnD is a chaotic experience for all. But nonetheless, I find it a great way to interconnect with people, even if I am massively socially awkward and have problems maintaining a conversation past "how are you? I am good". For those debating whether to try DnD, if you can find a friend group who plays, its a wonderful experience of adventure, and a lot of misadventure.
Time for religious stuff. Today I would like to talk about something discussed in my New Testament class that I felt was intriguing. The chapter in question is Acts 10, and really its the whole chapter. Before when I read it, I didn't feel anything particularly interesting about the chapter, but I was quickly proven wrong in the class discussion we had. My professor started by talking about how things were going for Peter before everything happened. It can basically be summed up with Peter and the church believing that they needed to teach the Jews, and how God wanted them to teach the Gentiles, and also for them to realize that the law of Moses was fulfilled. So in chapter ten, God does this in a peculiar way. He first sends an angel to Cornelius, a Roman, and tells him the equivalent of "Hey, you should send some people to Peter, I am going to tell him to do stuff and he needs to start with you" and Cornelius being okay with that and sending some people. Peter then is sent a vision of foods he should eat (which are not kosher by the way). Peter acts repulsed and receives the vision two more times, prays a bit, then houses the men sent by Cornelius (it also at the time isn't kosher to welcome in, eat with, and lodge Gentiles). Whats I overlooked about this story that is so important is the nature by which God managed to change Peter's actions. Before this story Peter would not have housed those men because it wasn't kosher and he felt his work was with the Jews. But God, knowing this, sent a vision to Peter to try and tell him that the law of Moses was null, and that it didn't matter to him whether his believers were Jewish or not, but also that he needed his apostles to teach the Gentiles as much as he needed them for the Jews. Thrice God sent Peter the same vision, where in Peter's eyes being offered foods such as shellfish (which the Jews had not eaten for 1500 years about) was appalling on a cultural level. Yet God was patient and waited for Peter to understand and realize what God was saying, that God wanted Peter to not focus on the Law of Moses or the Jews, but on those who would be otherwise alienated by the Law of Moses. That's what I find most amazing about this, that God has such unparalleled patience.
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