thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
be alone. However - unlike popular belief, especially in Christian circles in which there is always a high expectation for wedding bells - he never encouraged this to be anyone's ultimate goal. In fact, he has some quite hard things to say about family in Luke 9.When one man looks out Jesus and says "I will follow you wherever you go", Jesus doesn't use euphemisms. He doesn't act like a life of service is a walk in the park, all love and butterflies. "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." And so those who serve him may come to this too. Following this, when two people want to respectively bury a parent and another to say goodbye to their family, Jesus gives two very blunt answers: Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. and No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. I do not believe in any way that Jesus is saying family is a bad thing, but these verses establish very clearly that God is to be above it in one's list of priorities.But then what is to be done with this need humans have for a home and a family? The desire for marriage, so haunting to many people? Is it to be left and ignored? Personally, I do not think this feeling exists by chance or coincidence."If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."- C.S.LewisAs Easter approaches, sermons and studies surrounding, analysing and picking apart details of the last supper and crucifixion increase in Christian circles. But this week I learnt one thing about the last supper that surprisingly helped me to understand a great deal about human nature.In the passover meal, there was always a cup of wine set aside and close to the door, the Cup of salvation which was set aside as a sign that the Messiah was coming. In the last supper, this was the cup that Jesus took and offered as a covenant to his disciples. Thing is, offering this was not unusual in Jewish tradition - we only call this 'covenant' a particular name: Marriage.When a man asked a woman to marry him, the families would be gathered for a meal, the man would pour out the wine and offer it as his covenant with her. The woman could, in theory, accept the proposal by drinking from the cup, or reject by not drinking. They would then go back to their hometowns, and the woman would now be called by the man's name - because she had been promised to him. The couple would not see each other for several months as the groom-to-be built a house - or in the translation we use in the Bible, 'mansion' - behind his parents' house. Communication would be made by the best man
between the bride-to-be and groom-to-be, until the groom's father approved of the house and said the bride was to be brought, and thus they would be married.What this means is that 2,000 years ago - when Jesus offered the cup to his followers, he was proposing to them, and after raising in the third day went to 'prepare a place' for us (John 14.3). In fact, that whole passage is remarkably consistent with the Jewish traditions!"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Fathers house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."This is consistent with multiple other passages in the Bible in which God refers to his people as his bride, such as Hosea, Ezekiel, Revelation.You might ask - what does this have to do with the whole rest of the text? Well, what this means is that if we have this desire and longing for family, for togetherness and, ultimately, for a home it makes sense that we would and that it would be so strong such that it would overrule many other important things. The sad part, however, is that we seek to satisfy it only in the short term aspect of marriage on earth and through building a home with material possessions. These become our securities, and we at some point may believe it is the sole purpose this feeling was there in the first place.In one thing the little old ladies in church asking you if you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, or someone saying you have to get married - in a strange and unexpected way, they are right that we were all made for the stability of marriage and of a home, and if you are a Christian and have accepted Christ's covenant you are technically engaged (This definition definitely has potential to make Sunday dinner with the family interesting).But this is what threw me off from all my concepts of such things. My idea, as I mentioned, was that I had to be 'self sufficient, responsible for myself, independent emotionally, etc etc". But, with Christ, this makes absolutely no sense. Often the metaphor used in the Bible to describe his Bride and Beloved is that of an adulteress, a prostitute, unfaithful. She is far from perfect, has a past of lies, deceit and unfaithfulness. She most definitely does not have it all together. And yet, he is proposing this covenant. A very costly covenant, in fact - that would cost him his life. But this is the measure of his love. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15.13)This is not a conditional offer - that Christ will only love you if you become emotionally independent, self sufficient, etc etc. In
fact, we are encouraged to bring everything - even, and especially, our brokeness to him, and he mends us, heals us, and by wearing his name, and his purity we are able to be dressed in white. Not by our achievements or hard work - but by his grace.God sees us as we are, loves us as we are, and accepts us as we are. But by his grace, he does not leave us as we are.-Timothy Keller This made me think of so many brides-to-be that I know, friends and relatives, spending hours of effort, money and decision making preparing for their weddings. And I stopped to think of this covenant with Christ, and I wondered - what if we spent this much time and effort, and had preparation as high on our list of priorities to meet Christ on that day? How would our lives be different?In light of this extraordinary love, and this covenant, I realised that ultimately, I may or may not have a place to rest my head in the next few years. Perhaps I might have it easy for now and have a vague illusion of security and stability by having a home - or I will continue to be challenged in this sense, and God may continue to push me to realise that my home is not, in fact, on earth. But one thing I do know that keeps me going is that, weather my heart is full or empty, torn or whole, ashamed or proud, there will always be somewhere to rest it: the certainty of an unconditional and irrevocable love. Regardless of houses, families, careers, this will still stand. And, well, that's a pretty darn good thought to carry into the quarter-centuries to come.
I would not generally consider myself to be a particularly compassionate person. For many years this has been a struggle of mine, and many times my prayer has been that God would give me his eyes for people, to teach me to be more understanding and loving, because this never came naturally to me. Along the years, this has been worked in my heart and slowly certain groups started to get my attention, and so my concern and prayers began to extend to matters beyond those close to my micro universe.One day I remember particularly struck me was when a missionary working in Japan was talking about his work there, and started describing his trips in other countries in Asia. One place he stayed in to work for some time was a Christian home were girls rescued from sex trafficking were kept - many times they were sold by their own families. Some of them, as young as eleven or twelve. For some reason, this gave me a dreadful feeling of sadness, frustration and, well, rage with the world, that this could be done - something I can only classify as being 'compassion'. Since then, victims of sex trafficking have been close to my heart and prayers.According to the International labor organisation, as many as 4.5 million people are victims of forced sexual exploitation in work - this is equivalent to the entire population of Ireland - the majority of which (over 98%, according to certain statistics) are women and girls. These statistics alone are already disheartening. However, yesterday as I listened to the lyrics in multiple popular pop songs, I realised that these numbers are just a natural consequence to an issue that runs far deeper and much more subtly than human trafficking.Coming from a cultural context that is very concerned with aesthetics, the constant pressure women are under to always look in a particular way is overwhelming. The image portrayed in the media in Brazil is that of unanimously thin women with hair dyed and styled, make up and fashionable clothing, apart from the constant use of high heels. Cosmetic procedures have very high numbers (as I described in a previous post); the amount of money Brazilian women spend on hair and nails (approximately 20 million) surpasses that which is spent on education (approximately 18 million). Girls grow up being told by media and families that their sole purpose in life is to be married, and to be a mom. Essentially, we are told we must be desirable to hopefully be 'picked' by someone, and so - only when attached to a man - will we have value.And so, as I thought about this culture which, certainly is not unique to Brazil, and as I thought of the lyrics of songs which make women into sexual objects, erroneously calling 'love' that which is actually lust, I realised that those in trafficking are not only the ones being beaten and forced to work for pimps.Our minds are suffering violence daily by the lies that our context tells us. We are told
we are not good enough, that our phenotype must fit absurd standards - and it is our fault if we do not. Treatments to lose weight, diets that decay the body, many times culminating in eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. The chains holding us in this dark hatred towards our bodies are not around our hands and we have no shackles on our ankles - but the chains are those of the mind, as we are brainwashed to believe that our function in society is to look beautiful (whatever that means). We then proceed to spending money, time and health - cosmetic surgeries have multiple risks, apart from the dangers in the use of cosmetics, ranging from paraphormaldehyde (normally used for preserving cadavers and tissue), which is used in treatments to straighten hair, up to lipsticks containing lead for the colour to last longer, which is toxic.This abuse is disguised daily in the advertisements of products of needs created by companies that state you must look in a particular way. It is also in the companies that hire women because of how they look, and state they should loose weight, or wear more make up, or be dressed in a particular weight to please the clients. It is in the soul crushing words of friends and family that say that a woman has no inherent value as a human being while she does not get a husband - and it is entirely her fault if she has not. It is concealed in the quiet words of insult coming from spouses, partners or boyfriends saying the women are ageing (and thus should dye hair/do surgery/change their bodies), or saying they should look a particular way for them, and blackmail emotionally to get what they want because these women already are emotionally vulnerable.What this does, it constructs a system in which women and girls cease to love themselves. They live solely to please others and many times subject themselves to abusive situations with abusive partners because they were never taught to be 'loved' in another way - as I heard once, "We only accept the love we feel good enough for".Capitalism feeds off of low self esteem, because it is easier to create needs for those who are unhappy and feel insufficient - that are trying to fit a particular image - than it is to create needs for those who feel loved and content looking another way entirely. And so it breaks the mind to the extend this oppressive context becomes normal. Ultimately, we are enslaved by ideas that break us and bind us in a culture of death, competition and hatred that has no mercy towards those who look or think differently.In seeking value or even fame and power women willingly become slaves to such ideals that diminish themselves and others. The music industry, the film industry mostly have a sexual approach of the image of the woman - they must look sexually attractive, and many times sing lyrics that make them no less than an object. This culture has
become embedded to such an extent, that it has been generally accepted as normal. Physical chains are no longer necessary, because our sense of value has been decayed to the extent it has become a choice. Rather than our bodies being trafficked to be sold, our minds have been kidnapped, bound and sold for the benefit of the industry.One of such industries is the pornographic. In a study done in the US, it has been found that 66% of young men and 18% of young women see pornography at least once a week. In a survey done with college students, 93% of boys and 62% of girls said they were exposed to pornography before they turned 18 and in a study made with 50 of the top movies in the industry, up to 88% of scenes in porn films have sexual aggression, and 49% contain verbal aggression. What this means, is that from a young age and, many times, into adulthood both women and men are exposed to and have regular exposure to the notion that this is the normal way that relationships function, and so men are taught this is the way to treat a woman and women are taught this is the way to be treated.Pornography is known to be as addicting as any drug. The neurological circuitry activated is the same one as with other addictions such as drug and food addiction, and as such, it too has been found to desensitise the brain to dopamine (a neurotransmitter related to pleasure and happiness, preventing the person from feeling such things), and has also been found to make the brain shrink. Also, studies have found that men who pay for sex and/or watch porn tend to be considerably more aggressive towards women and to objectify them more.These industries that break people, ultimately result in broken relationships and the ideas slipped in by media translate into acts of hate by diminishing the inherent value of a human being. The expressions of hate escalate to the extent that relationships become verbally and physically abusive - 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. Let me put this into perspective: out of every 10 women you meet, between 3 and 4 of these have suffered abuse, and many times this ends in death: 38% of murders of women are committed by partners. Apart from this, the surviving victims suffer from multiple psychological and physical issues such as anxiety and depression (2.6 times more likely than other people) and alcohol abuse (2.3 times more likely).The point that I am trying to get across is how simple and small things in culture - starting with telling a girl her value is in the man she gets, and she should look in a particular way - are only small signalling factors to issues that spread far and wide - to porn, domestic violence and culminates in sex trafficking - creating a culture of death to which many of us may be contributing without even being aware of
this.Many times it is easy to say that we disagree with many things in our culture - perhaps even be upset by abuse, human trafficking or even other issues not mentioned here, such as destruction of the environment, or slave labor. But we cannot simply shrug and say 'it was them': we too are part of mankind, and we too are accounted guilty. We cannot wash our hands when we too are perpetrators - even if on different scales. The person that abuses verbally a woman, the person who consumes porn, the other that buys a sex slave and the pimp are all links in the chain that contribute, ultimately, to death - of the mind and the body.The changes can only arise in the culture surrounding us by living in a counter-culture that is an entirely different direction: we too are humans and we too are responsible for the wrong and the pain inflicted by humanity. And, once convicted, it is our responsibility to analyse and diagnose the actual changes in conduct, in the way we see and treat each other, that must be done to break the link in the chain we might be part of. Otherwise we are accomplices of hatred, abuse and murder."Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of Gods mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Godthis is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what Gods will ishis good, pleasing and perfect will."- Romans 12.1-2 (NIV)(The sources for the data presented are here, here, here and here)
O problema nao e o muito amar(Ou o assim dizer)O problema e logo se declararSem nem mesmo conhecerO amor tem sim um alto custoEm vez de so adjetivar o sujeitoAnalisa: qual e o seu defeito?Qual o seu conjugar do verbo ser?Cuidado se o sujeito e oculto:Afinal, ninguem (alem do preterito) e perfeito.Pode ser um sujeito sinceroOu como simples classificadoQuica nem mesmo valha o esmeroE nenhum verbo foi conjugado.Mas as vezes a sintaxe tem concordanciaO tempo conjuga um novo amar pelo sujeitoAmizade e transitiva, pede algo mais!O sujeito recebe maior relevancia:Mesmo sabendo contar os defeitos...Ao sujeito simples, adiciona-se um apostoO oposto de desistir, algo novo entao se fazE dois sujeitos simples tornam-se um so sujeito composto I have been trying to write something perhaps related to my thoughts during the time of Advent and Christmas, but nothing has really come out onto paper as I hoped it would. Words did not flow, or seemed exceedingly theoretical. Therefore, I decided to write about an experience I am going through at the moment.Currently I am in the process of packing my entire life into 2 suitcases. I have moved (sort of) before, but it involved multiple trips, cases, furniture, pictures, papers... But this time, I do not have that luxury.This has been a very disillusioning experience - in the sense of the freeing of illusion - because the more I look at all the material things gathered over the past 23 years, the more I realise no one person in the world can use all this. I look at wardrobes overflowing with things, and I think of refugees that leave home with only a backpack, or people who lost everything in floods, fires and hurricanes. I think of all the clothes of brands that, later after purchasing them, were found to have a great deal of illegal slave work in making the garments. I think of all the underpaid people in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brazil that are a part of the process to make everything - from fabric, to sewing, to boxing, to transporting, to selling until it comes beautifully made, wrapped and hung in my wardrobe. A beautiful piece that hides suffering and costs freedom and lives of many. It frustrates me and saddens me that at some point I started believing the lies of a materialistic society that there is no such thing as "enough". We are told by our context to live in a logic of lack - we are constantly focusing on that which we do not yet have, what we are not - rather than a logic of thankfulness for what we do have. We become petty, shallow and pathetic people that already cannot carry what we have, and are yet chasing the bone industries through for us to make them profit. A machine that works in a sick, greedy setting that makes few grow and profit with a cost of things much more valuable than money: freedom, life, dignity.A painful realisation, is that this is not temporary or unique to our society. Greed has taken many forms over history
and has destroyed many people. Perhaps it is because with more money and belongings we feel safer - we believe we are achieving some form of meaning in our earthly lives (only to then find out in our dying beds that no money in the world can make us immortal). Perhaps we believe that having much means that we are being blessed, and therefore all is right with our soul. Or maybe we think our value as human beings is directly proportional to how much we own. I do not know a reason for it, but what I do know is any form of such justifications are blatant lies.Firstly, ownership is a plainly foolish belief. As C.S.Lewis puts in Screwtape Letters, claims of "mine" sound equally absurd in Haven or in Hell; we will eventually find out who our time, our bodies, our efforts, our things belong to - if they belong to God or to Satan. Secondly, what we are are stewards of that which is given into our care - this means that pure temporary stewardship of money is not wrong any more than having a particular skill, intelligence, talent or ability - but we are accountable for how these are used, and what we believe them to be. If we believe they are ours by right or that our overall value is improved by having such gifts, then we are proud - and thus are not serving God with them. Also, if living in that logic we become self centred and selfish - we serve our idols and ourselves, instead of God.In Matthew 19.16-22 and Mark 10.17-31, we can see two different accounts of Jesus having a dialogue with someone with many possessions but that sought out his Teacher to find eternal life - he studied, he learnt the commandments, and sought to learn more from Jesus. However, when told to sell all he had, give money to the poor, and follow Jesus, he couldn't. This passage puzzles me. Did he see more meaning in possessions than eternal life? Did he not really believe in Jesus? I don't know his heart. But what I do know is that in my much milder calling of "put your possessions only into 2 cases and follow me" seems like child's play! But still, at many times, I see something and am reluctant to give it away - either because I know how many months of allowance I had to save up to get it, or because of remembering who gave it, multiple reasons flood into my brain at the moment. But I have mostly found that rather than reasons, they are excuses. Because, if I were to think honestly - are there not many other people that need these things much more than I do? Is it not better for that coat to heat someone in the cold winter, or those shoes to protect someone's feet from all sorts of wounds or infections? But it is easier to ignore this harsh realityThe truth is, for a true follower of Christ this should