Who is The Church and where are they in 2010?

Holy cow, it took me forever to decide what my topic for this analysis post would be. But alas, I found it just sitting there waiting for me on the trusty Fox News website. If you would like to read it in its entirety you can find it at

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/01/08/shuler-relevant-jesus-christian/

"Can the Church be Relevant in 2010" written by Reverend Bill Shuler addresses an issue that is on many Christians mind, where is our church. The term church refers to the christian people and their beliefs. Reverend Shuler is bringing light that the current American people are loosing their faith. He addresses how people are straying away from what Jesus would want and creating their own religion or beliefs. As apposed to following the Jesus and his teachings they are doing what ever makes them happy. These lost people do have hope though, they "desire authenticity" and "they have a justice streak". Reverend Shuler claims that these traits with guidance will redeem them.

Reverend Shuler uses many ideographs that are pertinent today. He uses phrases such as "global perspective", "armed with understanding", and "worldwide poverty". By using such phrases Shuler is not only speaking to christians but also non-christians. Touching on issues like overwhelming diseases and poverty creates universal unity in awareness of these issues. Most people no matter their beliefs can relate to the urgency and necessity to address these issues.

Shuler's use of universal diction that many can feel compassionate towards makes this article touching and important to all. Shuler does specifically call on christians to share their light and to focus on what Jesus was all about as apposed to what the world is all about. The relate-ability and no fluff stresses the importance of christian influence in the world today.

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

As I am "celebrating" Martin Luther King day and the day off school that we get because of it I thought to myself what's the whole history behind this day and its meaning. I knew that it celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, obviously but that's about as far as my knowledge went on this holiday.

The first thing that I learned that the holiday is recognized on Dr. King's birthday which was January 15. Also Martin Luther King day is a fairly new holiday to Arizona. We, as Arizonans, did not start recognizing the holiday until 1992. That is 6 years after the holiday went into federal effect. Because of this reluctance to recognized the holiday, the NFL actually relocated the site of the super bowl from Tempe, AZ to Pasadena, CA in 1991. There were many people that refused to recognize the holiday because some believed that it should be celebrated as a Human Rights day instead being named after a single leader. Finally in 2000 Utah becomes the last state to celebrate the holiday of Martin Luther King day but renames it Human Rights Day.

Now I do not know the extent of your history knowledge, but mine is limited. After i did my research on today's holiday I am pleased to let you all know that I am wiser because of this blog topic. As a student I usually just took advantage of this 3 day weekend to sleep in and hang out with friends but now I realize that I was alive when the holiday was created. Martin Luther King day is not an ancient celebration but a recent occurrence. Because of my newly discovered knowledge about this important man I will be sure to keep the thoughts of human rights and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with me throughout the day.

Who is Erica Rath

While reading over the other posts and pondering about how I can compose an intelligent answer to the prompt "who are you", I've come to the conclusion to be completely honest about my life, activities and views. After reading Eden's post, I'm not going to lie, I will not be able to top her passion or length of writing. But I do promise to do my best to convey my ideas.

First things first, I do not find an immense amount of joy in writing. Being that I have a science based major, the right side of my brain feels drastically smaller with each growing college day. Also, I am new to this whole blogging thing. I've seen the movie "Julie and Julia" but that is about where my knowledge of this other blog world ends. However, this new venture into the blog realm is sure to enlighten me.

Ok, back to who i am. I am a freshman in college. Pre-Pharmacy/Public health major. And a new fan of the Tucson restaurant chain Eegee's. If you haven't tried the famous lemon Eegee, I strongly advise you to give it a taste, it might change your life.

I come from a very small town(about 2500 people), called Pinetop. The town of Pinetop is usually associated with Sunrise Ski Resort or summer homes for the "valley people" a.k.a people from Phoenix, AZ. Before my college days, I lived in Pinetop all of the previous years. I went to Blue Ridge High School where I was a cheerleader, participated in student council, and an active member of Community Presbyterian Church. I also like every other kid in my school, spent every weekend of the winter/spring season snowboarding or skiing. I have 2 sisters that are twins. They are double the trouble because there are 2 of them and 1 of me making it hard for me to tease them or any of the other hazing that older siblings do because i fear that they will join forces against me. I also, like every other person in the world, have parents. My dad is a farrier(he puts shoes on horses). I spent many of my first years in cowgirl boots and wranglers(don't judge me) helping my dad with the horses. This early exposure to animals has developed into a great love of all living things(although I'm not a vegetarian). My mom is a Pharmacist and this is probably where I got my passion for the profession and thus my major choice.

And finally there is a someone special in my life. No, not a boyfriend. Her name is Fly. She is my dog. I love her! She is an 8 year old border collie and wow is she smart. Being that I live alone, having Fly is a blessing. I love to jog and she is the perfect partner for accompanying me.

I do not know if this answers the question of who I am, but it does tell you where I come from and maybe transitively what kind of person I am.

Best luck to all in your blogging adventures and the coming semester,

Erica