In the beginning...

This blog has been haunting me for almost two weeks. Like Adam hiding from God in the Garden of Eden I have hid from my blog. Like God to many of the characters in Genesis the blog has called out to me, "Amanda, where are your thoughts? Come, write them down on me now"...finally I reply, "Behold, here I am blog"...

I'm uncertain as to why it has been difficult to allow my thoughts to flow from my mind. Perhaps, it was equally as hard for God to gather himself enough to finally create the heavens and the earth. Nevertheless, here I am.


I feel as though I have made a solid attempt to read every word of Genesis thus far. I'll admit, I also listened to Genesis while driving to MSU from Three Forks everyday...I'm not sure if it helped, but it did help with the pronunciation of each characters name.  I can see how biblical historians keep their jobs.  There are far too many people and places to keep track of.  And, is it absolutely imperative to the literature that the reader understand how many children so-and-so had or didn't have?  I'm up for the challange, but I feel as though there are too many characters in this book...which brings me to ask what I have been thinking about since beginning Genesis; what do I make of this character called "God"?

Let me give you a little background noise on myself...I have my own personal understanding of who "God" is, but I'm asking in relation to the text and not any type of faith-like talk.  I grew up being sent to a Lutheran church, twice a week by my parents who I believe just wanted me out of their hair for a few extra hours on Wednesdays and Sundays.  I listened to the "word of the gospel according to so-and-so" and I became an active member in the church; lighting candles, reading verses, and passing out the tiny glasses that resemble miniature shot glasses to anyone that so dare to  publicaly confirm their views.  The church took me everywhere...movies, bowling, soup kitchens, and even to New Orleans and St. Louis where I met up with only 25,000 other youth who were suppose to have the same foundations that I did...or was suppose to have learned.  Don't get me wrong, I have many fond memories of Trinity Lutheran and the places it took me and the lessons I learned.  But, even then I always wondered who this character, "God" was...So, speaking only from a literary perspective, who is He?

David Plotz seems to have an idea, but like we have discussed in class, is it too sophomoric?  Upon attempting to read every word in Genesis I have learned about as much of God as Plotz has.  Perhaps I am grasping for knowledge that is not particularly important to what I am to be studying...However, I enjoy getting to know my characters and doing a little investigating to do so.  But this characted who calls himself God has done a little more than befuddle me.  Hmmm...I'll keep reading and see what I can drum up.


On another note...


I can't stop listening to "Miserere" and all of it's astounding beauty. If reading the bible sounded like this in my head I wouldn't be able to put it down. After Tuesday's class I happily anticipated my boyfriend's daily question of, "what did you learn at school today?" Instead of answering him I popped open my laptop and quickly searched youtube for a copy of the glorious "Miserere" in hopes that he too could hear the spectacular sound and feel the breathtaking emotion of the vocals. I do believe that when I have reached the peak of a mountain and look around this is the music that plays through my mind and into my heart.  Perhaps, Psalm 51 has done the same for the creator of this music masterpeice and for all of those who sing it.