As of this week I am officially finished with my computer training course which was specifically geared toward teaching computer basics to seniors who might have difficulties understanding the intricacies of technology. Although this was a very frustrating six weeks, I am finally able to be of some use. I received many comments regarding my project and its progress so I’ll address some of those questions now. A very common concern was the fact that there will always be poverty in the world. Yes, I believe that is true and there will always be poverty in the world as long as there is a line dividing the oppressed and the oppressor. Whether or not poverty will continue to grow or not is not the issue I’m trying to address. My project is about trying to keep those who have been metaphorically left behind by technology, out of poverty. It isn’t hard to be on the border line of poverty as the gap between rich and poor continues to widen. When you’re riding that line it’s even harder to be over the age of 55 and not computer savvy. Our society is technology driven and those who can’t keep up aren’t being swept along; they’re being swept aside. I’m trying to teach those who want to learn more about technology vital skills that will be the difference between poverty and a promotion or pay raise. Another question many people asked me was what is Aging and Adult Services? Based out of San Bernardino California, Aging and Adult Services is a non-profit organization that specializes in working with seniors 55 plus for different aspects of their lives. For instance, they help with home placement for those who want the privacy of living alone but want the comfort of living near people their own age and the convenience of being shuttled to doctor’s appointments or to the grocery store. They also help with job placement for the growing number of seniors who are inadvertently being forced back into the workplace. This specific area or expertise also deals with teaching seniors about new technology and offers job-training programs. Aside from the services they provide, they also organize different fundraisers and fun events for seniors to participate in throughout the year. It’s a really great organization which is run through San Bernardino County but involves volunteers from all over California. I’m very proud of the progress that I’ve helped this organization achieve for the seniors in my community at home.
Source criticism, which is also known as “higher criticism”, uses the idea that the Bible’s texts are spread over various time periods and from many different sources. Those who use textual criticism examine the text for variations or inconsistencies that may point to more than one source that was used to write a book in the bible. Although many people believe Moses wrote the Torah, some source critics such as Julius Wellhausen have shown that the book was actually written over numerous centuries. This was discovered in the inconsistency of the language and some references to Yahweh. Many sections were written centuries apart, which is valid proof that Moses did not write all of the Torah. A method of source criticism is to categorize the various documents by source. They went as follows: Yahwistic, Exod, Redactor of Yahwistic and Exod, Priestly, Deuteronomic, the Deuteronomistic Historian, and Redactor of Deuteronomic documents, Priestly documents, and both Yahwistic and Exod documents.
Textual criticism studies the text for evidence of its authenticity. It is also referred to as “lower criticism” for the reason that they don’t try to determine who the source or the author is, but which is the original passage and which one had just been altered to sound better. Higher criticism separates documents by their source, while lower criticism categorizes the readings into manuscripts and textual witnesses. The main goal of textual criticism is to determine which is the original text? For instance the text in one manuscript may read “Krista, daughter of Craig Richardson from Rancho Cucamonga, walked the travel weary road daily to the educational institution, Los Osos High School, in her youth.” But another manuscript may say, “When Krista was young she walked to school everyday.” Although both passages have the same result, if we were using textual criticism the second passage would most likely be the original. Scholars use two rules for determining the original author. The first is that the shorter reading is more probable and the second is that the more difficult reading is more probable.
The story of Tobit is an interesting tale that appears to have no real moral. Tobit is married to a woman named Anna and together they have a son name Tobias. Life is good except the fact that Tobit secretly buries the dead in violation of the Assyrian king’s orders. One night while he was digging a grave he fell asleep with his eyes open and wakes up to find that the birds pooped in his eyes. This caused him to become blind and want to kill himself. At the same time a girl named Sarah prays to die because although she’s been married seven times she’s never had a wedding night. Every time she starts to have one the demon Asmodeus kills her groom. God hears their prayers and sends his angel Raphael to their aid. Tobit decides to postpone his death until after his son Tobias collects some money from a man in Media. Rafael goes with him and on their journey they catch a fish and eat all but the heart, liver and the gallbladder. When they get to Media, Tobias and Sarah fall in love and get married. On the wedding night they followed Rafael’s advice burned the fish heart and liver and the smoke caused the demon to flee to Egypt where Rafael captured him. Tobias and his wife then take the fish gallbladder and go home to Tobit and rub it in his eyes. Voila! He can see again and no longer wants to kill himself. And they lived happily ever after.
The Maccabees were considered heroic because Judah, who led the revolt, was a fierce fighter and a strong military strategist. Because of his skills he and his people won many victories, defeated the Greeks and were eventually able to retake Jerusalem.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 18th, 2007 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Week 11: Respond Again. 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.