In this blog, I will Blog about readings we have done since week 6 that pertain to my project.
Like Father, Like Son…
The story of Jeremiah starts with him being born in Anathoth, which is a small village about 4 miles north of Jerusalem. His father, Hilkiah was a priest, and later Jeremiah would be one too. Jeremiah was appoint to priesthood by God “from the womb,” but Jeremiah was skeptical and resistance to becoming a priest; he give excuse as to why he doesn’t seem fit for the position. However, becomes convinced and becomes God’s prophet.
Then later, as the people of Jeremiah’s generation are claiming that their present problems were the result of their ancestor’s sins, Jeremiah the people that everyone is accountable for their own actions, and that children, though they may suffer from the effects of their parent’s sins, will not be judged for them. Then Jeremiah lives his life trying to convince the people of God’s messages, and he is kidnapped and taken to Egypt unwillingly, and he dies either of natural cause or he was stoned to death for his unpopular messages. Whatever the exact circumstances of his death, he serves as an example of how hard a job it is to be called as a prophet of God.
This story of Jeremiah’s life is related to my project because some of the issues that I have in my project is the fact that your life is somewhat determined from birth. Jeremiah was born into priesthood, his father was a priest, and he had no choice but to follow the ways that God set for him. He was born a prophet, as Jesus was, and he was set to be great and expected to do great things from birth. This is the opposite from the children that I want to reach though my mission to better the youth. In their cases, they are born into families of misfortune, where from birth they are expect and are likely to become just as their parents are, and remain of low-stature.
Then when the people come up with the belief that the present problems that they faced were the results of their ancestors’ sins, there is also a connection to my project and mission to better the youth. This is relevant because like the people of Jeremiah’s time, I would have to agree that we are all affected by the lives of our ancestors in one way or another. If a child is born into wealth, it is likely that they are going to be successful when they grow older. It’s like the way kings were born into kingship, where king’s offspring, sons in particular, were predestined to become king whether they were the rightful fit or not.
Many children of today, well actually, no child today, to my knowledge, has been blessed from birth as one of God’s prophets, maybe you can prove me wrong. But there are children who are born into a life where there chances and opportunities will be limited, by their parents and their parents, and so forth. My job is to reach these kids, and try to create these opportunities by providing them with guidance.

The Children’s Hour
By:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day’s occupations,
That is known as the Children’s Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O’er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 30th, 2005 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Project Progress, Week 12: Related Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.