What follows here are my answers to Melanie’s questions from her weekly challenge SHARE YOUR WORLD. 

Some of the questions are really intense and required some deep thinking on my part. I like that! When you have finished reading my responses please check out Melanie’s site to see how her other contributors answered.

1. Can we ever experience anything objectively?  Why or why not?  (Now for the people who may not understand that idea, this is what objective means (definition wise):  Something that is not influenced by personal feelings or opinions).                                                                                                                                                                                       What a great question! One of the reasons I think we need Scriptures as people is because Scriptures give us an opportunity to experience objective reality. There is absolute truth, but apart from it being revealed by a higher source than my own experience that objective reality becomes obscured behind my subjective experiences and feelings. Reality becomes only what I know of it, and I know what I know of reality is definitely not all their is of that powerful thing.
2. Do humans have a soul? Do animals have a soul?                                                                                                                                                                                                                      If by soul you mean: mind will and emotions, then I believe all living beings have souls.  We know this is true because animals definitely think. They also definitely decide things and they also feel things. I can make my dogs happy or sad or scared for sure. So animals and humans share in commonality in that they have a soul like that. Where I believe we are different is in the aspect of the Spirit or (nephesh soul according to Genesis 1), which is the connector between us and the Divine. I do not believe that animals have that. 
3. Why are people told to respect the dead? (example: “Don’t speak ill of the dead”)                                                                                                                                                              I actually was never taught that and I do not know why that seems to be a tradition among some people. While I do not think it is good to speak ill of people in general I do not think that speaking ill of the dead is any worse than speaking ill of the living. I do fail at both of these things sometimes.
4. Without using the names of specific people, discuss “the ideal” President or other world leader.  Saying ‘anyone who is the exact opposite of a certain orange skinned creature’ is cheating.  While (to me) that’s a true statement, there’s more depth to the question than to reduce it to one sentence.   
   

   Rock of ages

                                                                              

   A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

   2The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

   the Spirit of counsel and of might,

   the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

   3and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

   He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,

   or decide by what he hears with his ears;

   4but with righteousness he will judge the needy,

   with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

   He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;

   with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

   5Righteousness will be his belt

   and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

   6The wolf will live with the lamb,

   the leopard will lie down with the goat,

   the calf and the lion and the yearling ^a together;

   and a little child will lead them.

   7The cow will feed with the bear,

   their young will lie down together,

   and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

   8The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

   and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

   9They will neither harm nor destroy

   on all my holy mountain,

   for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

   as the waters cover the sea.

   10In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, ^b from Elam, from Babylonia, ^c from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

   12He will raise a banner for the nations

   and gather the exiles of Israel;

   he will assemble the scattered people of Judah Isaiah 11

   I believe He is coming folks!

    

5. Share your gratitude!  Stories, images or thoughts all welcome.

       I am so thankful that my job has allowed me to work more from home. God orchestrated this change just in time as my mother has moved into a new phase of her disease that requires a much closer eye. Being home right now is absolutely essential. I am so grateful to my Pastor and our church board for allowing me this flexibility.