OK, nothing original here. I'm just posting an email to BJ that I sent to the wrong address, and my most recent essay, in that order.

Dear BonnieJean, 2-05-04
Hello, hello, hello! We were so thrilled to hear from you, both on the blogger and the pictures!! BTW, why didn't you just email us what you wrote on Samuel's comments or post it on your blogger? And did you send this from your yahoo account and the computer just didn't read the Chinese, or did you send this from the camp's address?
So glad to hear that you're finding time for exercise! Since being sick I haven't been able to run 15 minutes for my second segment, but I can still run 15 minutes straight when I'm fresh. So it ends up going run 15 minutes, catch my breath walking a lap or two, and then running 8-10 minutes. I sure need to start up the weights again.
How's Doxology? Are you finding much use for him in making your lesson plans? Are the other teachers who were having trouble with enough ideas getting to use yours? What are all the names of the kids on your team?
Karate went great Monday night! Mr.. Murray had us pair up and practice combinations up close without pads at first. He had a lot of variations. Hands only, kicks only (definitely an area of mine that needs work! I'm not very creative in my kick combinations. In fact, I have no kick combinations.), body shots only, toe-to-toe,... Then, he had us gear up and do some regular sparring. I had just gotten started on my first fight (Bethany Shann) when we had to break. Oh, and we took Michael Arnette with us. Mrs.. Arnette said she could only spare us one helper, but maybe Brandon can come next week.
You want to hear something maddening? This is from Peter James Lee, an Episcopalian (sp?) bishop who voted to appoint a gay bishop. "If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always chose heresy."
Had a great class! Studied Aristotle's ideas of ether, stars, and god. He's a little far-fetched. I wonder if even he understood what he wrote. Stars for example. He says there intellectual, not physical, eternal, and unchanging. Exactly how do you derive that from watching pin-points of light in the sky?
The first four books of The Republic have been verrrrrrrry interesting. His major flaws are:
1. Man is a product of his enviroment. If you educate everybody right, they'll behave properly.
2. It's ok to found an entire society on a 'Noble lie'. And BTW, how can you tell the difference between a noble lie and a bad lie?
3. He's out of touch with reality when he thinks that merely through education and lies that you can convince someone to live without freedom. Oh, you could some people, but not enough needed for a state. Eventually, people are going to start thinking and figure out that it might be nice to read unedited books and decide your own profession.
Oh, want to hear something else maddening? Neil Borst read an email from a guy on his show Tuesday. The gist of it was as follows. This fellow had been through four years of college with all sorts of honors and good grades, and then applied for several teaching jobs at schools in Atlanta. He only heard back from one. The principle emailed him telling him that his credentials were better suited to teaching at the collegiate level because his accomplishments might create "unrealistic expectations" for the students.
Let's see, what else? We got to go to chess Tuesday night. I played two games with Mr. Sawyer, and that was all because the second one was really long. I had him thinking, but he beat me just by a hair. I was quite pleased with that considering I haven't played in a while.
Isaac is almost done with the Little Bear story about him wishing, and then he wants to read Grasshopper. Have you gotten to use any of the kid's books you took?
I better get onto bed. Oh, I miss you so much, particularly when I'm getting into bed! Love you tons! Anna

Now the essay!

Only An Ancient Worldview? By Anna B. 1-29-04

Some people say that it is of little worth to study the thinking of ancient Classical Greek, except from a historical perspective of how it influenced the shaping of Western culture. Yet from studying the Greek culture I have seen many similarities between their beliefs and those of my contemporaries. We will examine in particular the beliefs of my contemporaries and ancient Grecians concerning the nature of the gods, mankind, and creation. Look at this from a perspective of genuine curiosity, bearing in mind that it has more influence than you might realize.

There is a popular book selling right now called the DaVinci Code. It is a typical murder mystery except for the motive of the murder. The victim was killed because he had figured out from clues left in DaVinci's paintings that Christ had an affair with Mary Magdalene. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest this, but it is the Greek's view of their gods.

The Ancient Greeks believed that Zeus overcame his father, Kronos an all-around bad guy, for the rule of Mt. Olympus. Reigning under Zeus are 11 other gods. There are other immortal Olympians (in the sense that Olympus is their legal residence, though sometimes not their mailing address) sea and wood nymphs, fates, furies, and sundry other creatures. The requirement for being an Olympian is rather loose, not requiring residence or a certain standard of behavior or power. Although this is never stated anywhere, I believe it is immortality and both parents being Olympians. The gods like humans, and will go to great lengths to honor, protect, and elevate their protégées among their peers. The gods often express sympathy in the fact that no matter how much they pour into a person they can't save them from death. At the same time, they can have great and long-lasting wrath at mortals they don't like. This is demonstrated particularly in the prequel to the Iliad. Paris choose Aphrodite as the fairest out of a group of Hera and Athena. Aphrodite is always looking out for Paris after that, and Hera and Athena are out to destroy him and his people. The gods among themselves are similar to a small town, with gossips, cliques, friends, and social luncheons. The only rules enforced on the gods that I can see are One, Zeus is in charge, and Two, Be nice. Although nice is an iffy word in that gods trick each other and humans, with the only concern being the victim's wrath (The Iliad, Book 14 and 22). All the gods play favorites, and if you're not a pet your prayer might be returned "unopened", so to speak (The Iliad, book six.) The gods have affairs with each other and mortals, and polygamy is no big deal. For that matter, neither is drunkenness or temper tantrums. They are all together very human, except in their size and power.

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think about Bill Clinton's presidency was his amazing popularity, in spite of his numerous scandals. His supporters declared that every American president had had affairs, that it was his private life, and he was really a great guy - so what's the big deal? On reflection I realize that his supporters all had the same lifestyle as him. They all had either had affairs or were shady with money in various degrees, and had elected someone like themselves. They were really justifying themselves, not Bill Clinton.

"But I am not to blame. Zeus and Fate and a nightmare Fury are, for putting savage Folly in my mind in the assembly that day...” One of the most interesting facets of the Iliad and Odyssey is that there are no villains. They all have faults, some more than others, but they are all portrayed and addressed as pretty decent guys. This surprised me when I started looking at the different faults. Agamemnon and Paris are women-stealers, Achilles is totally self-centered (except for his love of his father and Patroklos), and both he and Agamemnon kill unarmed enemies. Most interesting is the take on the different women Odysseus gets involved with in the Odyssey. Throughout the whole book he swears loyalty and love to Penelope, and worries that perhaps she might have other men, but he never shows any regret over going to bed with nymphs. The Greeks view of humanity is an attempt to downplay faults and justify them by fate or necessity, while at the same time glorifying some people to the point of super heroes. When all else fails say like Agamemnon, "Zeus stole my wits away."

The movie Willows in Winter portrays the river looking after an unconscious main character, and giving clues to the rescuers. Spirit Lake resident Harry Truman described Mt. Saint Helens as his friend, but was later killed when it erupted. A Colville Indian in Washington State told my dad that the coyote spirit has forbidden him to wear a coat. People are telling us more and more that nature and the earth are conscious.

The most unique thing about the ancient Greek's view of nature is that everything is animate. The sea is indwelled by Poseidon, there is a god of the wind, wood nymphs live in forests, and the moon raises cattle. These immortals can leave their abodes, but look after them and are offended by misuse of their "houses". In the Iliad, Book 22 the river Xanthos assaults Achilles, angry at how he has clogged his path with dead Trojans. In Book 20, the gods take the form of birds. You can never be sure what's conscious and intelligent and what's not.

The director and writers of the movie, Lord of the Rings, are discussing the moral themes of Tolkien's masterpiece. "I don't know whether evil exists... I think evil exists within people. I don't know whether it exists as a force outside of humanity." said Peter Jackson. Fran Walsh says the film is about "Our need to feel that there are universal values of good. Whether or not that's true in the real world, who can say?" I think this shows the great question hanging over this worldview embraced by both filmmakers, political figures, and dead Grecians. "Who can say what's good or evil?" Physcologists, Socrates, and farmers are searching on their own for the answers to questions like "What is justice?", "How should we love?", etc.. "Who can say?" The gods? They have problems, too. Humans? We can't seem to decide which one of us has the right standard. Mother nature? The phone line there is a little fuzzy, and we often get two stories. So they say, "Who really knows?"

Pray don't be afraid to post hard criticisms!