Parable Draft 1

The parable starts with a rich nobleman who decides to go on a journey, and only the extremely wealthy went on journeys. There are also three servants that the nobleman entrusts with some of his wealth, and his servants, aren’t like today’s stereotypical servants, but like a board of trustees. One was entrusted with five "talents," let's call him Five, another entrusted with two "talents," we'll call him Two, and the last with one "talent," he'll be called One. In first Palestine a “talent” was considered a ridiculous amount of money, such as one billion dollars, and to trust his servants with a total amount of eight “talents,” especially one person with five “talents” of his own shows how much money he really has. Five and Two invested their share and were able to double their starting amounts, while buried his "talent" because he was not as willing to invest as Five and Two. When the nobleman arrived from his journey he saw what Five and Two were able to bring back to him and gave them praise, but when One gave him back the original "talent" he was given the noble punished him because the noble felt that One was lazy and that he was trying to make a statement. In the Parable of the Talents I found the deeper meaning to be that, if one were to stand up, and make a statement toward an oppressor one will need the support of any others. To enact change it is fine for one to think of the idea, but it is essential to have many fight for that idea because if one were to stand up to their oppressor alone they would easily get squashed, but en masse they will be much stronger, because as it is know there really is strength in numbers. Herzog said himself that, “When one acts alone, one dies alone,” this relates to Jesus’ teaching in this parable, especially in first century Palestine because to the rich servants were expendable, as we saw in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, and their lives held no value to their masters . This parable shows a classic class struggle between the upper and lower class, and as always the upper class has a great advantage over the lower class, in both financial and public support, and that is why the lower class can’t fight alone and need the help of higher class citizens, but for the higher class to help they must know where the lower are coming from, such as the Samaritan in the first parable we learned about, or it would take just one upperclassman to lend a hand to get others to, and that is a rare situation. This parable demands that if we want to change something, even for the good, that we can’t do it alone and that help is necessary, especially when the situation involves a rich man and his money. The purpose of this parable was to show how acting irrationally and hastily can get one punished or even killed.

Parable Draft 1

The parable starts with a rich nobleman who decides to go on a journey, and only the extremely wealthy went on journeys. There are also three servants that the nobleman entrusts with some of his wealth, and his servants, aren’t like today’s stereotypical servants, but like a board of trustees. One was entrusted with five "talents," let's call him Five, another entrusted with two "talents," we'll call him Two, and the last with one "talent," he'll be called One. In first Palestine a “talent” was considered a ridiculous amount of money, such as one billion dollars, and to trust his servants with a total amount of eight “talents,” especially one person with five “talents” of his own shows how much money he really has. Five and Two invested their share and were able to double their starting amounts, while buried his "talent" because he was not as willing to invest as Five and Two. When the nobleman arrived from his journey he saw what Five and Two were able to bring back to him and gave them praise, but when One gave him back the original "talent" he was given the noble punished him because the noble felt that One was lazy and that he was trying to make a statement. In the Parable of the Talents I found the deeper meaning to be that, if one were to stand up, and make a statement toward an oppressor one will need the support of any others. To enact change it is fine for one to think of the idea, but it is essential to have many fight for that idea because if one were to stand up to their oppressor alone they would easily get squashed, but en masse they will be much stronger, because as it is know there really is strength in numbers. Herzog said himself that, “When one acts alone, one dies alone,” this relates to Jesus’ teaching in this parable, especially in first century Palestine because to the rich servants were expendable, as we saw in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants, and their lives held no value to their masters . This parable shows a classic class struggle between the upper and lower class, and as always the upper class has a great advantage over the lower class, in both financial and public support, and that is why the lower class can’t fight alone and need the help of higher class citizens, but for the higher class to help they must know where the lower are coming from, such as the Samaritan in the first parable we learned about, or it would take just one upperclassman to lend a hand to get others to, and that is a rare situation. This parable demands that if we want to change something, even for the good, that we can’t do it alone and that help is necessary, especially when the situation involves a rich man and his money. The purpose of this parable was to show how acting irrationally and hastily can get one punished or even killed.

"Essential Q&A"

Q: What gave the servant the audacity to stand up and make a statement toward his master?

A: The factors that caused the servant to stand up and resist his master were that with his method he would not lose any of the money. The answer Jesus gives is that if one wants to change something in the world he needs the help of many. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. was one man who wanted to change America, and succeeded, but with the help of many people behind him. This parable shows that there is strength in numbers and that while one can make a difference, it takes many to make it permanent.

Parable Documentation

1. Identify characters and details.

The parable starts with a rich nobleman who decides to go on a journey, and only the extremely wealthy went on journeys. There are also three servants that the nobleman entrusts with some of his wealth. One was entrusted with five "talents," let's call him 5, another entrusted with two "talents," we'll call him 2, and the last with one "talent," he'll be called 1. 5 and 2 invested their share and were able to double their starting amounts, while buried his "talent" because he was not as willing to invest as 5 and 2. When the nobleman arrived from his journey he saw what 5 and 2 were able to bring back to him and gave them praise, but when 1 gave him back the original "talent" he was given the noble punished him because the noble felt that 1 was lazy and that he was trying to make a statement.

2. Who is the main character and why?

We believe that 1 is the main character because he is the most dynamic character and the gravity of all the conflict in this parable. His actions reveal all of the corruption and the oppression in the parable.

3. Understand story in the context of 1st century Palestine from broad to narrow.

The story is set in a household type environment where the noble is the homeowner, and he has his inner-circle made of his closest subjects, called his servant, not because they serve him, but to show that they receive their wealth from the noble. The servants are trusted enough to handle the noble's money, and they are expected to make a 100% profit, and whatever is more they skim off the top, just enough to make a lot, but not to make the noble conspicuous. Their investments mainly consist of foreclosing on farmers and peasants, and they do this instead of investing in the rich because the rich won't take from the rich.

Palestinians would find this parable a vivid description of the exploiation of the surplus labor value at the heart of the class conflict in Palestine, Jesus' audience would have felt the sting of the fate of the rash subordinate who had the audacity to "tell off" his master

4. What is the central conflict?

The central conflict in this parable is 1 not investing his share and making a statement to the king about his exploitation and exposes the raw section of corruption and how the wealthy gain their wealth. The problem with this statement is that he is only one man in a land of many against him.

the inordinate greed and moral corruption of particular individuals is where the conflict is also centralized around and the system that supports it.

5. What is the moral of the story.

The moral of this story is if you're going to fight the power make sure that you have someone there to back you up, because if you go balls out alone, and you just gave big middle finger to the noble and screwed over the peasants, you're pretty much shafted on either end. One cannot possibly change such a corrupt system by themselves, one will always need support in fighting a battle this large, and strength usually comes in numbers.

it is fighting a pervasive capitalist ethos that blunts or denies the existence of significant structural divisions in society, it is trying to eliminate this concept of classes as contending forces in a common field of ever shifting action seeking to secure its vital interests with one class always having the upper hand.

6. Find a ground breaking question who's answer will unlock the entire parable.

What gave 1 the courage and drive to make the statement he did?

7. Find its trancending quality, then transfer it to the modern day.

To Be Continued...

Herzog

The chapter by Herzog showed an in-depth view about the issues of financial oppression in the parables. Herzog also gives a working version of Jesus' parable used in Matthew's text. He mentions the distribution of walth in the book of Luke by saying that wealth is distributed so unevenly that only those on the top actually see money. He also talks about homes in the ancient world and how they are microcosoms of cities in the way that they worked. He also mentions household beauracracies because everyone plays their specific roles to make the home work. Herzog talks about the business side of the parables and how they work and how the money is distributed to those on the top of the pyramid. He also mentions the reckoning and how they are different in Luke and Matthew. He also states that once one knows that one is wrong and will pay a price they should stop rather than dig themselves deeper. Also he says "When one acts alone, one dies alone," which is true and applies to the parable of the talents.

Our Reading Interpretation Guide

1. Identify characters and understand details.

2. Main character and why?

3. Understand story in the context of 1st century Palestine from broad to narrow.

4. What is the central conflict?

5. What is the moral of the story

6. Find a ground breaking question who's answer will unlock the entire parable.

7. Find its trancending quality, then transfer it to the modern day/

DP: Parable Interpretation

- Who is the parable about? [Remember it may be the most unexpected person.]

- What is the central conflict in the parable?

- Where, when, and how did the problem occur?

- Why did the problem occur in the first place? [Think 1st century Palestine...]

- Figuring the above ask yourself a question; the answer should make everything clear.

- Now try to come up with a feasible answer to this question that others can easily understand.

- Where can one see this conflict happening today?

DP 3: 5,6,7

5. The reason no one tried to help during the Countrywide situation was that there are simply too many cases. If the company were to see the humanity in every situation there would be many more situations than employees, and without customer service doing well the company would shut down. I don't think anything could be done in this case because if something had been done that situation would have more treatment than another case, destroying the equality in all cases. We have different moral responses whether we're in the system or not because we're all human and it's in our nature to react to situations.

6. About authority, this shows that anyone, nice or man will abuse their authority. About conformity this shows if given a role one will instantly conform to that role and play it out. About power, just like authority it will be abused. The things about systems that makes people become bad is the power behind them, no one knows how to control the power and it consumes them.

7. Rachel Barge co-founded the The Green Initative fund at UC Berkeley which would take $2 million over 10 year to create sustainable projects on the campus and help conserve energy. She was able to work against the self-interested system to do a common good because she knew what needed to be done. She knew if she didn't take care of this world no one would and without a world no one would live.

DP 3: Systems

Most systems that are supposed to be beneficial become self-serving because the head of the system does not know how to control the power. Once a person becomes the head of a system they think their intentions are pure will eventually become corrupted because, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Take former Philippine president Joseph Estrada for example, he was a man of the people and his slogan was, "Estrada for the poor," but when he became the president that quickly turned around, he became power hungry and he had a thirst for money, thus adding to the corruption in the Philippines, but he was impeached in 2001, 3 years after his election. There are many examples of power taking over the minds of the well-doers through out history, like in the French Revolution where Robespierre, also a man of the people, wanted to overthrow the king, then became worse than the king himself. From the words of Mr. Snyder quoting The Who, "Out with the old boss, in with the new boss, same as the old boss."

With in these "systems" power is usually centralized in one person. This condensed power allows other groups within the "system" to be casted out if these groups do not share the interests of the one in power. These outcasted groups become the oppressed of the "system". This will eventually corrupt the "system" because the one in power will control all of the power, with no checks and balances because all other opposition was previously casted out. This can make the nice guy go bad.

DP 3: Unmerciful Servant

1: I feel that the story is more about the king beacuse he forgave the servant once, but when the servant did not return that mercy to his fellow servant the first servant that was forgiven by the king ended up bbeing thrown in jail with his debt reinstated. Since the king had the servant thrown into jail i feel that he became hypocritical and became just like the servant he detested.

2. The king decides to forgive the debt because he does not want to be a cruel king. He knows that if the servant cannot pay that his debt will be passed down through the generations and that his family will always suffer. The king wanted to be merciful and rule with love rather than fear because that leads to revolt.

3. The servant decides not to follow the king's example because he is not as merciful as the king. Because the king forgave him, does not mean that he has to forgive those who are in debt to him. The servant is an aveage human being, and humans, by nature, are greedy.

4. If the Kingdom of God is like this parable we learn that it is a place of mercy. If one does not know mercy they will be rejected from the kingdom and tortured until they learn the meaning of mercy.

DP 2: Summaries

Section 3:
In section 3 it is stated that the Jews campaigned against the British two ways: diplomaticallay and the other through an illegal immigration effort. With time the campaigns against the British became very violent with shots being fired. By the end of 1946 the British pulled out of Palestine and turned the conflict over to the UN. The UN wanted to resurrect the plan of partitioning the land, but Palestinians refused to discuss the partition.

Section 4:
In 1967 the angry Palestinians launched geurilla attacks on Israel from Lebanon and Jordan. Before striking Egypt Isreal had to prove to President Lyndon Johnson that all diplomatic efforts had been exhausted. The strike happened on June 5, 1967 and killed one third of Egypts fighter pilots. On the third day of fighting Isreal seized Jerusalem. After the Six Day War was when the real struggle over the land began.

Section 5:
The Arabs struck the Israelis on Yom Kippur, one of their holy days, and took them very much by surprise. After being shaken the Israelis fought back much harder and did not give up their territories. The Yom Kippur War ended with the Israelis on top and the US gaining a central negotiating role in this conflict. Israel continued its control on the West Bank while warring with the PLO.

Section 6:
A traffic accident where an Israeli army truck hit a Palestinian van, killing four workers sparked more violence between the two parties. The next day Palestinian regugees threw stones at Israeli guads, ans the guards fired back killing a teenage boy. Israelis, presenting alternatives to the PLO allowed Islamists to run their own mosques and schools etc. The Olso agreement seemed like a solution but it would only last six years.

Section 7:
Olso did not succeed because of many reasons, one being the assassination of the Israeli prime minister and the Hamas suicide bombings. The new prime minister slowed the Jewish withdrawl and inreased the Jewish occupation in West Bank. Clinton held a negtiation at Camp David in 2000, but it failed and the second Intifada broke out afterward.

DP 2: Wicked Tenants as a Metaphor

If this parable were a metaphor, this metaphor would be explaining the situation that Jesus was in then and there, and since he used the parable against them Jesus would be like the vineyard, the crowds like the tenants, the guards like the servants, and the king like the landowner. Jesus could be seen as the vineyard because He is what is being disputed over, and like the grapes being what the tenants need to live; his words are what the crowd needs to live. The crowd would be like the tenants because they are defending Jesus, who is like their vineyard, giving them his words, enriching their lives, and knowing that if their vineyard would go away they would die, so they defend it with their lives because without it they have nothing to live for. The guards are like the servant because they are just hired hands that do whatever their employers tell them to, even if it is to exploit the poor. Finally the king is like the landowner because he can afford to live very far off from where the vineyard (Jesus) is and squash the problem using hired hands because he feels like the people respect him enough just to listen to his servants.

DP 2: Letter to Senator

Regarding: EDUCATION FOR ALL ACT 2007 (S. 1259 / H.R. 2092)
GLOBAL CHILD SURVIVAL ACT (S. 1418 / H.R. 2266)
JUBILEE ACT FOR RESPONSIBLE LENDING AND EXPANDED DEBT CANCELATION(HR 2634)

Dear Senators,

My name is Tristan Medina and I am writing to you concerned with the amount of foreign aid that the US giving to other countries, according to the 2003 publication of RealAid 80% of all the aid that the US gives is phantom aid, never reaching it's intended recipients. Also, our country is only giving .07% of it's GNP to the Millennium Project instead of the agreed upon .7% od the GNP. This is why I am concerned because if we did give the correct amount to these Millennium Projects the three bill stated above would have never needed to be written, and Congress would not have to waste time debating over them. Two of the Millennium projects are to have all children in school, and to reduce child mortality. So please hear me out and try to bring forth a foreign aid reform and have the US fully support the UN Millennium Project goals, and since we are a world super power other coumtries are most likely to follow suit.

Thank you,

Tristan Medina

DP 2: The Mustard Weed

The mustard seed is more like a weed, something that no farmer wants, but once received no farmer can get rid of. The mustard plant is agressive, quick to spread, and deadly to other plants, also once it is in there is no use of trying to get it out. Why Jesus would use this to explain the Kingdom of God, one may want to know, but Jesus used this as an example if the Kingdom of God because the mustard seed is like the Kingdom of God, it is also aggressive, and quick to spread, and it will be forever in what it has been planted in.

Executive Summary on Africa

When it comes to donation did you know that not all of the money you give to the cause will reach those who need it, actually only one-third of all donor money ends up being used correctly. Phantom aid is a portion of donor money that is either "skimmed off the top" by those handling the money, or is poorly spent, like overpriced assistance, thus most of it never reaching its intended recipients. Some excess expenditures that contribute to phantom aid are: transaction costs, administrative costs, technical assistance, etc. One of the bigger players in the phantom aid problem is the United States because of their lack of focus on the poverty subject due to other political reasons, like the War on Terror, also 86% of US foreign ends up being foreign aid, and there are solutions to the phantom aid problem. These solutions can be: clearer policies regarding aid, a UN run international forums where the progression of aid can be viewed, and a re-prioritizing of spending.

With our money and resources, as a class we can do a few things tohelp end the problem of phantom aid. A few options are: writing letters hassling congress to spend aid money better to help end phantom aid, we can find a legitimate organization to donate money to that will make sure all of our money becomes real aid, and we can open more eyes to the problem of phantom aid because if more people see the problem, more would want to help end it. If we were to choose one of these recommendations we would be able to help put an end to phantom aid because if people see what is happening the government would be pressured into doing something to end phantom aid.

DP 2: What Should We Do?

As a class I believe that we should do a few things: first we have to believe in the Millenium Project and that it will be successful, second we can write to our government leaders about international aid reform, and third we need to open more eyes to seeing compassion, not just in our class. The reason I suggest the trust in the Millenium Project is that things tend to be more successful when trusted, and that if all trust in the Millenium Project there will be more faith in it, thus more people willing to contribute to this cause. The suggestion of writing to our government can put more pressure on them to get their act together and hopefully stop the issue of phantom aid and the worry of people skimming off the top, also us being California and pressuring our government into an international aid reform, other states should follow suit. The reason I suggest opening more eyes to seeing compassionately is that we live in a cold country where everyone is only worried about themselves, but if we can open eyes there will be more people that see the problem of poverty in Africa, and if more people can see the problem thhere will be more people willing to solve it.

Portfolio 2: Singer on Poverty

How far should we go to help others?

What do we owe as indivduals?

Do we have an obligation to help complete strangers, and if we do how much should we give out?

Is not doing good considered doing bad?

Why should those distant from me matter as much as those near and dear to me?

Who should we give help to first?

Why don't some humans feel obligated to help another human?

Does class come into play when helping others?

Who really needs more help, the poor or the rich?

Was the beaten man in the Samaritan parable the one who actually needed the help?

Portfolio 2: Good Samaritan Interpritation

Jesus' criticism and solution to the lawyer's question of how to gain eternal life was to tell the lawyer to be a good neighbor. After hearing that the lawyer asks the question of who is his neighbor, and Jesus tells him the parable of the Good Samaritan and then flips the question and asks the lawyer what does it mean to be a good neighbor, meaning what does it mean to be human? This was the solution to the lawyer's question; to have life one must be a good neighbor, that meaning to be a real human being. To be a real human being means to have the ability to see those who are suffering, not necessarily helping them, but just being able to see them, just as the Samaritan saw the beaten man on the road.

Portfolio 1: John the Baptist

The things that John the Baptist says and does to fore shadow the teachings of Jesus are his sermons to crowds of many, his baptisms of many, and the fact that he is preaching God's word out to the masses. John also states specifically that, "But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." John was talking about the coming of Jesus. Based on this part of John the Baptist's story I believe that Jesus' words will be very strong, as John's are like when he called the people a brood of vipers. Also, I believe that Jesus will teach about generosity because in John's sermon he specifically said that the man with two tunics should give one to the man with no tunics. John's sermon also gives foreshadowing to Jesus' lessons about fairness by telling the tax collectors not to take more than the required taxes, also John told the soldiers to stop extorting money, and to be happy with their pay. With Jesus growing up in a family with John the Baptist as a cousin and Mary as his mother Jesus will most likely grow up to preach the word of God, and to love everyone around him.

Portfolio 1: Jesus as a Refugee

I believe the way that Jesus' being a refugee has shaped him to be the way he was is that since he grew up in a hostile environment, also being an outsider, he was taught by his parents to grow up as a kind, loving person, especially to his enemies. The way it has shaped his conciousness was that if he kept going down the path of hatred it would never end, and if he was to be nice and love his enemies, they would see a different perspective on life and the madness would be put to an end. He knew that his mission was to help the world become a better place and he knew that the only way it would happen was to love, and spread the word of God, so he did. Jesus, growing up in a hostile environment, was an outcast and an outsider, so he knew what it felt to be part of the down trotten, and with that knowledge he associated with these types of people, like the lepers, the beggars, and the homeless. He did this to show that these people, the lowest in society, were worthy enough to have the company of the son of God, also this was to show that Jesus was as much of an ordinary man as he was a divine being. Jesus' being a regugee helped him to realize that he must be the loving one and the spreader of God's word because if he didn't no one else would have, or the other person wouldn't have been as influencial. This is because since birth Jesus has been hunted down and has had enemies, and because of that his words carry heavy strength.

Portfolio : Who's your momma?

I feel that Mary is a special woman because she was the one chosen by God to father Jesus. She seems very humble and very calm. Also she was a lower-class member of society chosen over any queen to be the bearer of God's child. She always semms to have an angelic grace in every protrail of her, but she seems very sad.

As a person to believe in such strong predictions Mary seems like a very down-trotten, maybe even desperate person, but if she believes so strongly it giver her the hopes that she will stay alive to lead a good life. Reading these passages Mary seems like a lower class peasant type woman. There are many ways that her commmunity that could have seen her pragnancy, one would be that they were all grateful that the Messiah was coming, another could be that the community could have seen Mary as a sinner by being pregnant before she was married, and lastly the community could have been jealous that such a low class woman would be favored by God.

I believe that God chose Mary because she was from the lower class of society because the lower class, if given such a gift, will take care of it and be truly greatful, also will be humble about it. But if given to a higher class this will be abused and not be appreciated as much. God knew that given to Mary Jesus would be in good hands, and be taught valuable lessons because of who his mother is. Jesus would know to be humble, loving, and most of all be forgiving. I believe God chose Mary to mother Jesus because she was naturally the right choice.

A Family of Freedom Fighters

Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, and was the object of King David's affection. Her story starts with David taking a walk on the roof of his palace, when he saw Bathsheba bathing, after that he was instantly obsessed with her. Later King David slept with Bathsheba and concieved a child with him. Fearing an accusation of adultery David called Uriah back from war to see his wife, and possibly to sleep with her so Uriah would believe that the child was his and not David's. Uriah refused to sleep with his wife because he did not want to vioate the Israelitish rule of the warrion in active service, so he planned to stay with the palace troops. Desperately, David gave an ordrer to his general, Joab, to abandon Uriah in battle to he hands of the enemy to be killed because if Uriah were killed David would be free to take Bathsheba as his own wife. According to Samuel's account, this action was displeasing to the Lord, who then sent the prophet Nathan to reprove the king. The king quickly apologized and repented, but as a result of his heinous action David's first child with Bathsheba died. They soon had another and named him Solomon.

Bathsheba was included in the family tree of Jesus to show that Jesus was the descendant of real people and not people given a false picture of saintliness, just because they're in the Bible. The story of Bathsheba shows that she was a real person because of her sins, but a normal person can lead up to great things, like her helping get to the birth of Jesus Christ himself. Without the act of cheating on her husband with David, Solomon would have never been born and become the next king, and then Solomon would have never reproduced, thus stopping the family tree and Jesus never being born. Bathsheba could have been seen as promiscuous for her actions, but they were necessary for her to stay alive in that society, because if a woman was not pregnant what were they worth in this time period. I feel that Bathsheba was included in the family tree because she was a real woman, and helped ensure the birth of Jesus, although he was a sinner she was a part of helping Jesus, the man who would take away our sins, to be born.

Note, sources were: wikipedia.org, jewishencyclopedia.com, and the library hard copy

Portfolio 1: What I Think I Can Achieve

In this class, like always i will strive for the A, but i think i may get a B because i may not be able to fully understand the full meaning of the parable until a day or two later when we're past it.

I, Tristan Jaé Medina, declare that I will try my hardest and apply myself to this class to reach for an A, and to be happy with my best.

Portfolio 1: Who is Jesus Really?

When I think of Jesus I think of stories of being a good person, then the Golden Rule suddenly pops into my head, also I think of his teachings being very repetitive in a non-repetitive way, like, many stories with one meaning. When it comes to Jesus I consider myself a follower of his lessons, but not of him. I believe in his lessons and how they apply to life, but I, myself, do not believe in his existense, I can believe that he lived, but not at all in the Resurrection. I feel this way because I am too logical, and probably too realistic of a thinker to believe that someone can die and magically come back to life. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in God, but just not in Jesus. I also believe his teachings are of great importance, but do not necessarily need to be told coming from Jesus himself. These teaching are beneficial coming from anyone in the world, and can be understood universally, but including Jesus' name in there lessons cause most of the world, who do not believe in Jesus, not to witness these lessons. With the conclusion of my blog I just as this question, "Why do we put such a high premium on Jesus' Name?"

Portfolio 1:Why We Tell Stories

The one story I keep hearing around my family is from my mother and it is about how she has had a very exciting childhood and about how she used those experiences as a growing tool, and how i can use them today. One story she would especially tell me was about her accidents as a little kid, and how she always had angels watching her as she grew up. There were many times where she would be doing crazy things, like climbing trees, where she would fall out of a branch about fifteen feet high, and walk away without anything but a scratch. She would keep telling me little stories like this at random times during the day and magically turn them into deep life changing lessons that I can apply to everyday life. Life that tree story, when she was done with the story she said that expectations are like climbing a tree set them high enough to where they are a challenge, but not too high, so if you fall you won't get too hurt. My family tells stories to help me become more mature, even if the stories are rediculous.