Hi guys,
Just wanted to shout out: "Good Luck!" while you fast until tomorrow morning. Please be careful as well. To first time fasters: if you need to drink a little juice, please do. Love you all!
Love,
Lily
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Urgent Request!
A interesting, but exciting conversation with my best friend
I seem to just ATTRACT people with intellectual doubts about Christianity to my side. This is the 6th or 7th time! I seriously think this is a sign (lol) from God that I need to brush up on my Christian knowledge.But anyhooz, my best friend took a "Christian Tradition (or rather Christian History)" class at Dartmouth, and she came back really unsettled. How could I tell? Well like 5 minutes after I came to visit her (who I hadn't seen in 5 months), she exclaimed that she just took a religious class and asked me what I thought of Jesus destroying the temple (why did he do it? What's wrong with sacrifices?(there's plenty of it in the old testament)), that she didn't believe in the New Testament because the early gospels were spread by "oral tradition" (like "telephone" and we know how many errors that can cause!), that she couldn't understand why Christians got all anti-semitic (what's wrong with the Jews?), and that she liked the morals displayed in the old testament but she didn't believe in God.
Hm. I think this time I handled it better than all the previous times I had conversed with people who had intellectual doubts. I think mainly it was because I had prayed to God for opportunities like this to talk about Christianity with her, and when it happened today, I just felt humbled and gracious that God would give me this chance. Secondly, I love her so much =) And because of that, I was even less prone to arrogance or pride. Third, I was just happy that she TOOK the initiative to request an explanation to her doubts! Boy I'm proud of her. It would be worse if she had an indifferent attitude to this. And so I had no unstated expectations whatsoever.
I answered her questions to the best of my abilities. Now I got stumped at the part about the "oral tradition" and how that screws up some of the validity of the earliest manuscripts of the gospel. (especially when she brought up the "telephone" analogy) Now I definitely played telephone before and I know the results of that game. But how could I answer a question like that without bringing up the holy spirit? I even mentioned to her that there were more than 100,000 manuscripts (or even more...) found, and that MOST, if not all, of the manuscripts did not deviate from the truth of the gospel. I even said that the time frame between Jesus's ressurection and the earliest manuscript is TINY! (50 years was it?). But her argument was that "alot can happen during 50 years," and so I mentioned what I learned in Course 101 about the timeframes of other old manuscripts that we have determined to be "true" like Odyssey's Iliad that were MUCH MUCH BIGGER. Still she concluded: "because the gospel was initially spread through oral tradition, much of the gospel we have now could be erroneous, and so I do not believe in the New Testament."
Aish. My best friend also has a good friend in Dartmouth who's Jewish. She doesn't like the fact that Christians are so "anti-jew." Hm...wait a minute...what? My FDA supervisor is Jewish! And we get along like Grandpa and Granddaughter! Really! Okay, well here's the question: What are the differences between Judaism and Christianity? Was it just that they did not believe Christ was divine?
P.S And yes I will post up pictures of my hair hehe :p hahaha you'll be surprised when you see it!
Lily cut her hair....REALLY short
Hehe. I did exactly as the title said. =) I'll post up pictures...maybe :p
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Color Vision
COLOR VISION
Inspired to take the color vision test again after reading David's Blog, I took it and scored 0 again. But doubting the score, I took it again and scored the same. I guess it wasn't a fluke the first time around. Cool! I don't know why but this makes me really happy =) Also, congrats to DP for scoring a 3! That means you only missed one color switch! Sweet! That's a hefty improvement from last time. Photography does help!
Love,
Lily
Obama names June "LGBT Pride Month"
I just checked my FDA mailbox and received the shock of my life. The email title: "A Message from The President: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, 2009."
Here's the proclaimation the President wrote:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.
These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA
---
What do you guys think?
Here's the proclaimation the President wrote:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.
These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA
---
What do you guys think?
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