• Jul. 9, 2007
The Spartans.
Today in our schoolwork I read about the Spartans. I find them a most barbaric bunch of people. Let me list a couple of their practices:
-if a baby wasn't perfect, he was left to starve on the ground
-babies were bathed in wine (which made most babies sick), and if it made them sick, they were killed
-the Spartans were not allowed out of Sparta
-the Spartans didn't use coins, like the rest of ancient Greece did at the time; they used iron bars, for the few who had any. Mostly, Spartan kings didn't allow the use of money so the people would keep their focus on training.
-Sparta wasn't really a city- more like a military training center for the boys. Military training started around the age of 7, and boys 12 and older were officially men, and the training routines became more difficult. The boys wore no clothes during training, like the rest of Greece at the time, but girls wore no clothes during training either, which shocked the rest of Greece. Women were forced to train in discus and distance running, so they would become fit women who could successfully bear children without dying. This was all the kings of Sparta thought of the women; they were child-bearers, and nothing more.
-at the age of 25, Spartan men tried to find a "mess" to live in (similar to a modern day fraternity, from what I understand). To decide who was accepted and who wasn't, the men took a piece of bread and threw it into a pot. If the bread flattened itself, the man who threw it was not accepted, and deemed a social outcast whom no one was to talk to, or even look at. The men actually lived in their messes, and wives were a thing everyone had, but were kept secret. Wives and husbands did not live together, and only met together in the secret of the night. The husbands did not interact with their children, but to train them.
This week, we didn't have any Bible reading assigned [we do Tapestry of Grace unit studies], I picked to read 1st Corinthians, and this verse stuck out at me:
I Corinthians 12-15
Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials-gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgement day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
Also, the part in I Corinthians concerning how two Christians shouldn't get into lawsuits with one another- they're setting an example for the rest of the world.
Yesterday my parents went out on a date and my cousins who live with us to visit their father, and we got unlimited computer time [normally we only get time on Fridays and Saturdays after dinner]. I played Age of Empires, and finally reached a title of "Noble". My brother says the next level is the highest, which is "Lord". I didn't play anything else- after that I read "Thorn in My Heart" by Liz Curtis Higgs. It's a biblical history/fiction story based on Jacob+Leah+Rachel's whole thing, and I really enjoyed it. I've read the first three books in the series. The one I just mentioned, "Fair is the Rose", and "Whence Came A Prince". My mom ran up to the library this morning while we were during school, and she got the next book, "Grace in Thine Eyes".
Well, I'm off to read that book now. =]
Comments
• Jul. 10, 2007
Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
We do TOG as well, and I am very encouraged to read the thoughts of a young lady who does them.