EXILE: Reading Response

I think it is interesting how at the very beginning of the chapter, Armstrong writes about Yahweh deserting the city and describes the destruction as  "an act of de-creation, like the flood that overwhelmed the world at the time of Noah." It is here apparent to me again how she views most people to understand and believe the story of Noah and the flood. Growing up in a Christian faith, this story was one of my favorites, but I wouldn't ever give it a literal meaning. I don't think that the earth was actually covered in water while Noah and the animals waited it out on a boat. I guess however if you look at it more like a parable the exile of the Jewish people in Jerusalem could have been a de-creation,  taking them back instead of pulling them forward. I'm sure that when once returned to their city, they felt as though they had to recreate their former home, similarly to how the Bible teaches us that Noah and the animals had to restart in their home. I can't imagine being taken from a place, a home, and then returning after so much destruction and ruin. Then again, sometimes it is refreshing to have a new start.

In this same paragraph she speaks on how the destruction of the temple and the city, was similar to the end of the world. It's such a cool concept to me that everyone has a different concept of what the world is. Is it just a geographic map? Is it your family and friends? Your faith and your background? When people talk about the end of "the world", it's all up to interpretation. My world and your world could be very different places, and while something could happen that could be the end of your world, could be the beginning of my world. Yeah, I know that's getting pretty deep. But, I feel like the more I learn about this situation, the more I realize there is not so much of a solution to the problem, because there is so many different angles that the problems could be viewed as.

I liked Karen's writing a tad more than I did in the beginning  I felt myself trying to open up and learn from her interpretations and compare them with my own. I respect her for bouncing out of her comfort zone and taking a dab at writing this book.