My project is going rather slowly. We have now had two meetings to discuss what the goals of the group are and to get a feel for who will participate. I have not been able to have any activities for a lot of reasons, the most influential being that I just have not had adequate amount of time to do focus on this project. However, I am working with my church in planning an Easter egg hunt for the kids, where the kids search for more than just candy. I am also working on a community service event that involves gutting neighborhood homes. I have talked to some of the neighborhood citizens who are living in trailers on their front lawn and who have yet to have work done to their homes. They said that would welcome any help that we can offer. I think it is important for our youth to be involved with the rebuilding process of New Orleans. As they help the city rejuvenate, it can be an example of how anything can be made better with hard work and, sometimes, help from others.

In the beginning, I had really big plans for this group. And I still do. But approaching this task has been much, much harder that I had anticipated. I had a lot of things that I wanted to accomplish for this youth group. And I think that I can still achieve them, but just with better time and organization skills.

I researched this topic and I see firsthand how important organizations like this are for today’s youth. Diabetes and obesity is running rampant in nation, and it seems to be getting worse everyday. There is a great shortage of encouraging activities available for some of our youth, especially in urban cities like New Orleans. In order for students to be focused and to not fall into negative traps, things like this group are necessary.

I have implemented a tutoring night on Friday nights at the church in the meantime. It works out nicely because there is adult Bible study on Friday nights so parents just bring the children along. I have peers from Xavier and from other institutions around the city to help tutor, as well as teens from the church. This allows me to still have the children who are participating in the youth group to meet and be around each other every week, even if we do not have a weekend event. We tutor in math and English, though we have a few kids who need help with their science and social studies. This seems to be working out fine and I feel that this can be done, even if I weren’t there to lead it.

The role of the Deuteronomistic Historian was to look at events in the past and determine why they happened. If a king went against the code of laws from Deuteronomy, those events would have negative consequences. The Deuteronomistic Historian wished to show what went wrong so that future leaders would not make the same mistakes. Because the Deuteronomistic Historian wrote their opinions long after the kings were dead, no king would know how their actions would be seen by future historians.
(http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/nes275/studentproj/fall05/rmb43/)
Deuteronomistic historians would agree with a leader who has the same belief s as they do. Deuteronomistic historians worship God to their fullest extent and are monotheistic. These historians also obey the laws of Deuteronomy, including the Law of Centralization, so a deuteronomistic king would have to do the same. This particular law would be a problem today in our society. We live in a country built on democracy and the power of the people. Therefore, they would not agree with the abundance of religions in our country and would not agree with our President’s tolerance of that. The law of centralization means that the authority is taken away from the individual. The king would be the voice of civil authority but would not overrule other legislative and judicial powers. President Bush does work with the legislature and Supreme Court, so that criteria would be fulfilled. However, the Deuteronomistic historians might not agree with Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq since he did not necessarily go through all necessary channels before he made his decision.

David’s worst acts were committing murder and adultery, which are forbid by two of the Ten Commandments. He murdered the husband of Bathsheba, a woman who he had an affair with and impregnated. In order to cover his dastardly deed, he initially tried to get Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband to come home and lay with his wife, so that the baby would appear to be his. When Uriah did not do this, David secretly ordered that Uriah be sent to the front line of battle so he would be killed. David made Bathsheba his wife soon thereafter, and though he was forgiven, he was still punished for his crimes. First, the child conceived would die. David’s many children would always fight. This is especially hard on David because he loves all his children very much.

In biblical times, a prophet was not necessarily a fortune-teller or prognosticator. A prophet was a person who encountered the divine and was an intermediary between humanity and that deity. The Christian view of prophets, which is also a view prevalent today, is a person who speaks for God, in the name of God, and who carries God’s message to others. Biblical prophets were also advisers to kings on religious matters, as well as political and ethical issues. The overall message of the prophets derives from their call for a fundamental consideration of human values.

I think that the prophets relate to anyone’s project, if the goal of that project is to implement something positive and will make people’s lives better. I am trying to not necessarily spread goon news through words, but rather through my actions. And by being a positive role model for these children and providing them with encouraging activities, I am hoping to say that there are still things for kids to do that don’t involve drugs or violence.

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