Y Not I

I found this quite interesting. I have a tag cloud on my page over on the right hand side column of the site, which as I tag my posts based upon the subjects of the post, the words more often tagged become bigger and ones less often tagged are smaller. Here is someone using Wordle who tag clouded the entire Brit Hadashah. Very interesting to see the words used the most often in each book. Does it give an idea as to the theme or concept that runs through the book. I will need to look at them further. What do you think?

Being a Messianic Jew who values the Torah and whole of Scripture and not just certain parts I wanted to start getting clouds of the Torah and the rest of the Old Testament.

Here is Genesis:

Exodus:

Leviticus:

Numbers:

and Deuteronomy:

I used the King James Version for all my clouds. Pretty interesting stuff.

B”H

I was going through some sites and links that I had been sent from friends and as is the way of the web, one link leads to one site to another to another and sometimes you come to a place that is totally different from where you started. This happened this morning and it opened up an understanding for me of the massive popularity of Barack Obama, and especially those that bestow upon him a kind of Messiahship. I have often wondered where that came from, why is it that people are fainting just hearing him speak and some of the talk is so high and lofty and outright spiritual when speaking about Obama. It is not that they like his policies, but much higher than that, that he is a “Lightworker” with a capital ‘L’. Check this out:

Many spiritually advanced people I know (not coweringly religious, mind you, but deeply spiritual) identify Obama as a Lightworker, that rare kind of attuned being who has the ability to lead us not merely to new foreign policies or health care plans or whatnot, but who can actually help usher in a new way of being on the planet, of relating and connecting and engaging with this bizarre earthly experiment. These kinds of people actually help us evolve. They are philosophers and peacemakers of a very high order, and they speak not just to reason or emotion, but to the soul.

And:

Dismiss it all you like, but I’ve heard from far too many enormously smart, wise, spiritually attuned people who’ve been intuitively blown away by Obama’s presence - not speeches, not policies, but sheer presence

So why do people have this love for Barack Obama that goes beyond just liking his policies or campaign promises? That his “sheer presence” can blow away “enormously smart” people? Well, I was watch a YouTube video with parts from a PBS special about the Weather Underground and came upon one small section that had a clip from an Obama event. The words hit me in a way and gave me the answer as to why so many are so infatuated with the presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate. He said:

then you and I together, we will remake this country and we will remake the world.”

You can see the quote in it’s whole here and compared to former President Reagan by the Washington Post. I found the comparison based on this quote and one listed by Reagan to be a bad comparison as Reagan’s words were a summation of his Presidency according to him, not a promise for a future. If what you do changes the world, that is far different that promising to change the world. I personally see very little similarity between Reagan and Obama. You can view the quote being spoken below.

So what does this quote reveal to me? Well, my Rabbi has often said that we are His (God’s) creation. He is the creator, we are the creation. He goes on to say that if we could be gods, creators ourselves, we would, and he points out that we all do desire this in some way. If we could we would choose to become gods ourselves and make creation what we think it should be. And that is what Obama is promising; that his supporters and those that vote for him can change the country, can change the world. That they can become gods. Quite a bold promise!

Well, now I can see why people are so enamored with him, after all promising godhood is a powerful promise. Whether he would be able to keep that promise, of course, is another question, one that I will leave for others.

B”H

Crying New York Yankee co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner had this quote after a Yankee pitcher got hurt running the bases:

“My only message is simple,” Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. “The National League needs to join the 21st century. They need to grow up and join the 21st century.”

A pitcher hitting and running the bases is old fashioned and antiquated is the message he seems to be trying to get across. By why stop ay just a designated hitter for the pitcher. Chien-Ming Wang got hurt running the bases. The major leagues are full of slow lumbering hitters. Maybe we should have a designated runner. Get some track star to stand to the side and moment the ball is he, this person can sprint on down the line to first base, most likely in a scant few seconds. Why should fans be forced to see Frank Thomas, Brian McCann, David Ortiz and others “clog up the bases.” Replace them with a designated runner.

While we are at it Hank, why have a player who is a great hitter, but a terrible fielder out on the field. Why not an offensive unit and a defensive unit, like football? Then you have nine designated hitters. Think of the runs, think of the battle. Now, that is 21st century thinking.

I, for one can do without the DH and without interleague play. Let athletes be athletes. The best will rise and will do so by excelling at more than one function of the game.