Chapter 13 do homework for faith

The office in the archmage's workplace is no different from his home office, messy and full of things.Paper, letters, keepsakes, plus a sense of humor.There was a note on the door detailing the blessings of contentment, some fun posters, and even a fake parking sign that read: □□□ grab my parking spot Carefully break your leg As soon as we sat down, I cleared my throat.My questions are very simple, and they are all things that must be known in order to write a decent memorial service. Why did you choose this line? this line? religion. oh. Have you been inspired by destiny? I wouldn't say that.No.

Is there no vision?a dream?Has God never come to you in some form or form? I think you read too much. Um.Only the Bible. He smiled: I am not in that book. I mean no disrespect.It's just that I always feel that rabbis, priests, pastors, all the priests, really, live on a level between earth and heaven.God is above, we are below, and they are in between. This statement is very suitable to look at the Archmage, at least when I was younger, he was not only intimidating, with a flawless reputation, but also an outstanding preacher.Sometimes he speaks impassionedly, sometimes with a sense of humor, sometimes roars angrily, and sometimes whispers softly, Obert.Lewis preaches like a star pitcher's fastball or Pavarotti's aria.That's the reason people come to church; we all know it and I think deep down he knows it too.I believe that some church congregations run away before the sermon begins.But our congregation will not run away.Everyone looked at their watches and quickened their pace, lest they might not be able to hear what the archmage said if they were late.

Why?I guess it's because he doesn't look at preaching in a traditional way.I learned one thing later: he was formally trained by the academy to start from A, advance to B, and present analysis and evidence. But after trying two or three times in front of others, he decided to give up that method.The audience can't hear it.They get bored.You can see it on their faces. So he started from the first chapter of "Genesis", disassembled the content into the simplest concepts, and then combined these concepts with daily life.He asked questions and let others ask questions.A new style of preaching was born.

Years of experience have turned these sermons into gripping performances.The timing of his speech is like a magician, from one climax to the next, interspersed with golden verses from the Bible, Frank.Sinatra's songs, jokes from variety shows, plus Hebrew's unique expressions, and even invite the audience to participate from time to time (anyone volunteer to be on stage?).He is versatile.Once, he pulled out a small bench and read aloud from Dr. Seuss' children's book, Yertle the Turtle.Once, he sang "Those Were the Days".He once brought a pumpkin and a piece of wood, and split them open with a knife, to show that things that grow quickly are usually more perishable than things that take time to grow.

He may be quoting words from Newsweek, Time, the Saturday Evening Post, the Snoopy comics, Shakespeare's plays, or the television series Matlock.He would sing in English, Hebrew, Italian, or imitate an Irish accent; he would sing pop songs, folk songs, ancient songs.The sermons of the Archmage taught me more about the power of language than any book I have ever read.You glance around the church and see that everyone is paying attention; even if he is blaming them, everyone is paying attention.Seriously, you take a breath when he starts to preach, and you don't breathe out until he's finished.He is just that good.

Because of that, and because he was in this business, I wondered if he was divinely called.I remember the prophetic stories of Moses and the burning bush; Elijah and the still voice, Balaam and the donkey, Job and the tornado, and so on.In my opinion, those who preach the holy words must receive the revelation from heaven. It doesn't necessarily work that way.said the Archmage. So what attracted you? I want to be a teacher. Religious teacher? history teacher. Teach history in normal schools? in general school. But you went to seminary. I'll try it out. try it? The first time, I failed.

You are kidding. I'm not joking.Dean of the seminary Louis.Finkelstein took me aside and said: Orr, you have a lot of knowledge, but we don't think you have the qualifications to be a good and inspiring rabbi. What about you? what can I do?I just left. This is really beyond my expectation.About Obert.You can say a lot about this man, Louis, but you say he's not qualified enough to enlighten or lead a parish?unimaginable.Perhaps the seminary director thought he was too tame, or too shy.Whatever the reason, the failure was a serious blow. He spent the summer working as a counselor at a summer camp in Port Jervis, New York.One student was particularly difficult.Every time the other kids gathered in one place, that kid always went somewhere else.Asked everyone to sit down, he always resisted to stand.

The boy's name was Phineas.Al spent most of the summer vacation encouraging him, listening to him with patience and smiling.Orr understands the pain of adolescence.He himself was a pudgy teenager in a closed religious environment; he had few friends; he never really dated girls. Phineas found genuine sympathy in this counselor.Summer camp is over and the kid has changed. A few weeks later, Orr got a call from Phineas' father inviting him to dinner.It turned out that the other party was the outstanding Jewish scholar Max.Curdusin is also the leader of the conservative movement ③.At the dinner table that night, he said: Al, I can't thank you enough.You send back a kid with a makeover.You gave me back a young man.

Al smiles. You are very good with people, especially children. Orr said, thank you. Have you considered going to seminary? Al nearly spits out the food in his mouth. I tried.He said: No success. Curdusin thought for a while, then he said: Try again. With the help of Curdusin, Oberth.Louis' second attempt turned out better than the first.He excelled and was ordained to the priesthood. Soon, he took a bus to New Jersey to interview for the first and only missionary job in his life.After more than fifty years, he is still working. no angels?I asked.No burning bush? Only buses.said the Archmage, grinning.

I write down my thoughts in my notes.The most inspiring person I know realized his own potential by helping a child develop his potential. Before leaving his office, I put the yellow notebook away.Having met a few times, I now know that he believes in God, that he speaks to God, that he works for God seemingly by accident, and that he is good with children.This is a start. We go to the hall.I looked around at the building that I usually visit only once a year. It feels so good to be home, right?said the Archmage. I shrugged.This is no longer my home. Can these stories, I ask, be included in my, you know, my liturgy?

He stroked his chin. When the time comes, he said: I think you will know what to say. ②Elijah and the small voice, see the nineteenth chapter of "1 Kings" in the Bible. King Ahab of Israel acted against Jehovah and killed God's prophet. Elijah was cornered and hid in a cave. Jehovah ordered him to come out and stand on a mountain, and then pass before him.First, there was a strong wind, followed by an earthquake, and after the earthquake, there was a great fire. The Lord did not appear, but finally he turned into a small voice and spoke to Elijah. Balaam and the donkey, see Chapter 22 of the Bible "Numbers".After leaving Egypt, the Israelites came to the east bank of the Jordan River.The local people were afraid of the power of the Israelites, so they paid a lot of money to hire Balaam to curse them in an attempt to drive them away.The angel of the LORD stopped Balaam on the road, but only the donkey that Balaam was riding on saw the messenger, so he did not obey the command.Balaam beat the donkey for this.The LORD let the donkey speak, told Balaam the truth, and opened Balaam's eyes so that he could see the angel of the LORD. Job and the tornado, see the Bible "Job".Job was an upright man who feared God. Unexpectedly, disasters fell from heaven, such as fire, wind, and robbery, which caused him to lose all his property, all his children died, and he developed malignant sores all over his body.Everyone thought he had done something bad to get this retribution.He despaired of life, but the Lord guided him in the whirlwind. ③The movement called Conservative movement is not as conservative as it sounds.This Judaic cultural movement started at the end of the nineteenth century, with the purpose of preserving tradition, advocating inclusiveness, and seeking a middle line between basic teachings and comprehensive modernization.