RUNNING HEAD: CHURCH GIRL 1

Church Girl

Pamala Baber

University of Texas-El Paso

CHURCH GIRL 2

When I was a little girl growing up I constantly went to church every Sunday and bible

study every Wednesday. I dont think I have ever had a break from it. I didnt care for reading

much, and I most definitely never thought about reading a book just for fun. Only book I had

ever turned to was the bible. Not speaking on a spiritual level, but more on a person who just like

to know about history; I liked the bible primarily because all the stories it had to offer. I would

watch television shows and movies on all the different bible stories. Thats how interested It

became to me.

Like any other kid in elementary or junior high school, I read other books besides the

bible, but none never really stuck with me. When I got to high school reading was on a whole

different level. In high school I read books that where a lot more difficult. Reading became more

diverse with all the many poems, bibliographies, fiction, and non-fiction novels. It frustrated me

at times because I didnt understand the context of the books. It didnt seem to catch my attention

as much as reading about the bible studies did. At that point I never would have thought Id run

in to a book that Id find myself glued to.

As Im writing this narrative, Id like to say I planned on writing about an epic poem

called Dantes Inferno written by Dante Allgheri, but I found myself fonder of writing about the

bible and some of its stories. The bible stories Ive read throughout my life has impacted me in a

way that influenced many of the decisions I make today. I know talking about religion is very

diverse to talk about, but I can say honestly say that the bible stories within has been the only

book Ive ever cared for and wanted to read on my free time.
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Judges 16:17(NLT) Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. My hair has never been

cut, he confessed, for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved,

my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.

From my favorite bible story Samson and Delilah, Samson portrays a man who has been

given a great amount of strength by God through his hair and Delilah is the women from the

valley of Sorek that he ultimately falls in love with. In this story, there are many lessons that are

spiritually and non-spiritually applicable. Delilah never genuinely loved Sampson, she was

bribed by leaders of the philistines to get Sampson to share his secret of why he was so much

stronger than every other man. Samson became blinded by love, and took the gift god gave him

for granted. Samson knew that he wasnt to tell anyone about the gift and what made him so

strong. But He failed by revealing to Delilah that his strength was given to him through the locks

of his hair. Samson then lost his strength when Delilah went back to tell the Philistines his secret

and allowed them to shave his hair off during his sleep. The story ends when captivated by the

Philistines for many years, Samson regains most of his strength and takes down the whole

building killing himself and hundreds of Philistinians.

Moral of the story, non-spiritually speaking is that when you think back, it was Samsons

weakness for Delilah that ruined him. We all have certain weaknesses in life that causes us to

make horrible decisions, but we must be careful to whom we are sharing our secrets to. There

were many times in high school where girls would try to befriend me only just so they can find

out if the boy I always hung around was my actual boyfriend. Of course, at the time I didnt

know because I was so open minded to having new friends. Though, as soon as they did find out,

the whole school knew. So just like in the story of Samson and Delilah, I could conclude that not

everyone who comes off as nice and polite is trust worthy.

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Matthew 27:35-40(NLT) After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for

his clothes by throwing dice. Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. A sign was

fastened above Jesus head, announcing the charge against him. It read: This is Jesus, the King

of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. Look at you now! they

yelled at him. You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well

then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!

This may or may not touch you spiritually, but the crucifixion of Jesus Christ must be one

of the best stories throughout the whole bible. There so much background that follows this story

I wouldnt know where to begin. To keep it short and simple Jesus who is the son of God was

sent to heal and restore the lands (which he did), but in the long run he is hated by many and

trialed against to be crucified. Jesus was mocked, beaten and spit upon by those who were hated

by him. If anyone knows about the crucifixion, then you know Jesus suffered so much amount of

pain. Its a very emotional story when you go into detail and I can say for sure this was one of the

storys I spent so much time on and reread over and over. Spiritually god gave his only son to

save humanity from their sins. But looking at it regularly because I like to read the bible stories,

Jesus was such a pure man that blessed everyone. He healed the sick and led his followers to a

righteous path. In life, there are many people that are nothing but nice, generous, loving, and

caring but that doesnt mean people wont talk about you and persecute you for being the person

you are. I knew this because even myself experienced a time in high school where I was so nice

to a group of girls no matter how they felt towards me and in the end, they still talked about me

and spread rumors behind my back.

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These stories in the bible are just few out of many others that captivated me to reading the bible

on a daily. I loved reading bible stories, and watching movies about it just to follow up. Its like

reading the bible helps me understand more in life than I really can imagine. So, I guess you can

conclude that really, I like books that can tell a story about something historical and still teach a

life lesson to follow. Each story told a life lesson and it made me realize more about people and

how I should handle situations when they came my way. Reading Bible stories became a part of

me, the history and many lessons it taught me. Like Malcom X states in his biography Learning

to Read, It made such an impact upon me that it later became one of my favorite subjects when

I became a minister of Mr. Muhammads (1965, p. 123). It relates to how I feel solely because it

became so much a part of me that the daily bible stories I read, I applied to real life situations

every day. I dont think life in literature world would be the same if I hadnt grown up in the

church. I also dont think my life and the decisions Ive made would even be the same.
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References
X, M. (2014). Learning to read. In Writing about writing (2nd ed., pp. 119-126). St. martin's:

Bedford.