Finished "The History" by Herodotus

I didn't finish the whole book, only the three pieces that were listed this time from my Great Books reading list; namely, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope.

I love reading Herodotus. Remember the movie 300? It's like reading the book, one battle after another and what this king said, or what that city tried to do. It's exciting.

Mardonius, one of Xerxes generals, says, "It were a monstrous thing if, after conquering and enslaving the Sacae, the Indians, the Ethiopians, the Asserians, and many other mighty nations, not for any wrong that they had done us, but only to increase our empire, we should then allow the Greeks, who have done us such wanton injury, to escape our vengeance. What is it that we fear in them? - not surly their numbers? - not the greatness of their wealth? We know the manner of their battle - we know how weak their power is; already have we subdued their children who dwell in our country, the Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians."

The Persians were a warring people. According to the Greeks they were barbarians. They were pretty stinkin' fierce from what Herodotus writes. I'd like to read more about them from their own perspective and see how these same battles were portrayed differently. I've read before that if the Persians had taken over Greece (more than they did), things would be a lot different today. Most of our western heritage stems from Greece but if the Persians had won, maybe that history would be different. I know that they got pretty far in "conquering the world" and that they did some pretty heavy damage to Greece and Athens, but what was the turning point? What happened that made the Persians leave the area?

Finished "1 Chronicles"

"So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse." 10:13-14

This was my only note from this book. It's come up a couple times in my life, recently because I watch "The Long Island Medium" on tv and I love her character. She's professes to believe in the God of the Bible and she seems to be a kind and loving person. The things she tells people seem legitimate and helpful. But the Bible is clear on the point of mediums.

The truth I see is that she is real. She does speak to the dead (in a way), but God clearly doesn't want us to do that. God wants us to come to Him for guidance. Speaking with a medium or a spiritualist is asking for trouble. It's a way for Satan to creep in with his demons to drive us away from God's light.

Here's my take. When we die, we "sleep" until the end of times when God reconciles all. He lives outside of what we think of as time, Einstein's time. Once we die, we are also outside of that time so there is no way for a medium to talk to us and tell our loved ones what we are thinking about. But Satan takes that love we have for our dead and gone and twists it. He has the ability to use our thoughts and confuse us. His goal is to keep us from God.

Sometimes when we consult a medium, we get positive feedback, something we think we can use to make us happy but it won't work for long. God wants us to go to Him and take comfort there.

Finished "The Right-Brain Business Plan"

I've been thinking a lot about starting my own business the past year but I wasn't sure where to start, or that I could even really do it. My friend recommended this book and it looked interesting. I thought I'd get it and read it and then pass it along. After reading it, I'm still not sure if I want to start a business but not because I don't think I could plan it. This book has some great ideas and ways to implement business plans without stifling your creative side. I think my problem is that my creative side needs help! I just can't imagine anything I could make a business with.