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 Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 10:55 pm
Honestly, I've never had the opportunity to see someone proselytizing in the street before. I've had people knock on the door before handing out pamphlets, but not shouting at me in the street.
Anywho, I'll start with number three. I don't really have a problem with using the bible to prove the existence of God. W/O going into too much detail, there's a whole list proofs that the bible is a fairly accurate historical document. People who have spent a lot more time researching than I, have concluded that there are ample amounts of other documentation for instances that are also recorded in the bible. Jesus himself has been documented by Roman historians, the star over bethlehem was witnessed by more than just three 'wise men', etc.
Granted, there are just as many people who have spent longer researching it and concluded that the bible is a huge fallacy, built on ignorant superstition and myth, but I'm not going in to that debate.
So, for me, if there's so much that stacks up, and the Bible says something along the lines of "Hey, there's this God, and, he loves you enough that he killed himself so you can have a relationship, etc." then part of me thinks that maybe these people know what they're talking about. That, and, the book was collected over thousands of years of history without any significant changes in the theme from book one to book 66, coupled with various prophecies being fulfilled, and you've got a very 'convincing' platform to stake your argument on.
On to Num. 2:
If, based on my previous answer I am to be of the mindset that the bible is accurate in it's claims, then when the Bible talks about this Jesus guy and his father who happens to be the creator of the universe referred to simply as 'God', and they claim to love me (to the point where one of them died for me) then I see no reason to disbelieve it. After all, the first 39 books are all leading up to this Jesus character, and then there are four or so books dedicated to recording his life (and death) with no significant differences, followed by another twenty-five or so that were written by other members of the faith instructing us in how we are supposed to live and conduct ourselves in our faith.
Now for Number one:
This is the clincher. If you believe, as I do, that the Bible is accurate, that Jesus meant what he said, that there is a 'hereafter', and that we will be judged each according to their works, then you have no choice but to believe that there is a hell, and that it is the eternal destination of those not joint heirs in the kingdom of God.
Luke 16:22-24 uses a parable to describe hell: "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'"
Revelation 19:20 talks about the fiery lake: "But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur."
So, yes, if you believe the bible, there is a hell, and it's not a place anyone should want to be.
But, the problem people run into is that, there are people that don't believe that hell actually exists. There are people that don't believe that anything about the christian religion is true, that any religion is true. There are people that are of other religions that believe theirs is the one true way, and the Bible is just a distraction from the path we are meant to walk. There are even some denominations that cling to the label of being "Christian" that don't believe in hell. After all, apart from some scratches of ink on a piece of paper recording the words of some guy that died as a criminal two thousand years ago, there isn't much concrete evidence to support the claim that there is a lake of fire that will hold the souls of all those people that choose to deny God's gift of eternal salvation. There is no way to know for sure if there's anything after death. There is only faith.
And, I'm okay with that. If I come to someone, and I share my belief, that person doesn't have to immediately believe what I say is truth. In fact, that very rarely ever happens. Does that mean I consider myself better than all those other people? No. Is there anything I can do, other than to share my beliefs and hope? No.
Now, these are my opinions. Mine may, and probably do, differ from yours, and I'm okay with that. I won't argue with you over whose is right and whose is wrong. You are free to believe what you want. It's in the bible, and it's in the Constitution. Please, since I'm respecting your right to believe what you want, respect mine to believe what I want.
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Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:26 am
Delilah had lately begun to regret setting up her e-mail to come to her phone. Everyone had always told her it was convenient but honestly, she now felt that she never got away from anything. As if texting was not bad enough now even her mother who struggled with text messaging could get a hold of her.
That would be why when she heard it go off this time, Delilah mentally let out a string of choice words summed on in 'Enough Mom'.
Yanking out her phone, her expression shifted when she saw the address. At first she was about to delete it as spam when her eyes caught a few choice words ranging from cameo to a man's name Jett. That was all she needed.
Picking up her tea, Delilah left the little coffee shop she had been working in and headed directly to what was quickly becoming her favorite store.
It wasn't half an hour from the time she received the e-mail until she pushed opened the door and looked around. "Hello? Anyone home?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 4:05 pm
"If you could call this place a home, then yes, I'm right here," the male piped up; he was visible (albeit less so than usual), slouched in a chair behind the desk and squinting at a laptop screen he'd been doing most of his cataloguing on. He finished typing something in, clicked on a few things and then saved the document before removing his hand from the mouse and quickly removing his glasses from his face. For whatever reason, he seemed disinterested in being seen with them on, so as he stood, he discretely tucked them into the drawer behind the desk.
Jett had recognized Delilah's voice so greeted then, with a smile, "Glad you could make it. I was hoping you'd show up." He might have been more professional had it been a frequent customer or someone older than him, though he felt like he could relax more around people his age. "We got a fairly large shipment in—at least in terms of cameos. Some of these pieces are gorgeous and I'd rather sell them to someone who would appreciate them. Thought of you, want to come take a look?" he asked, gesturing to the pieces he had laid out.
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Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 11:05 am
"Some people consider work more of a home than their house." Delilah smiled as she walked around an antique trunk that appeared to have traveled the world.
It took her a moment to make it from door to counter but when she did, the smile on her face said it was worth it. "Of course. Though honestly, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon. Figured I was going to get some monthly news letter rather than an invite to see new stock."
Her eyes followed Jett's movement and instantly landed on the the collection of cameos that had been unwrapped. With her eyes lighting up, Delilah's mouth parted slightly in a gasp. "Oh! Italian." She beamed picking up one that if she knew the depiction, had to be the muses. "Who ever supplies these for you has a good eye." She smiled flipping it over. It was then she noticed something on the back and her brows furrowed. "Jett, did you happen to see crack down the back on this one?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 5:41 pm
Cameos were not Jett's forte by any means, so he was impressed that she would have been able to identify anything so quickly. Even with most of the information on the pieces available he had yet to really learn anything about them. He leaned closer to examine the cameo even as he moved to reply to her, "We only get our merchandise from the best suppliers. We like our clients to be happy so we try to carry only the finest. Unfortunately, cracked does not quite equal our standards, so if that piece interests you I'll probably be able to give you a discount on it."
Which was both a good and bad way to start out a conversation; on one hand, a sale was a sale. On the other hand, a damaged product was never going to bring in as much money.
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Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:14 am
Delilah was not at all surprised that Jett would offer it to her on a discounted price. If it had been any other place, any other item, she would have scooped in at the chance. But because these were her collection, the item that she loved so dearly and kept such tender care of, Delilah honestly had to put it down. "I'll think about it. But honestly, don't blame your suppliers. They could have thought it was just a stress line from age. I would have as well if my nail hadn't caught it."
She spoke and glanced down the line. "So mind me asking what the process is now that you have them all in your store?" She picked up another with the typical female profile on it. A big seller but something she had quite a number of. "And how you go about setting a price? I see they appear to come unmarked."
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Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 3:41 pm
"Some of them are marked, I just haven't gotten to them yet. Save the easy ones for last." He shrugged; it wasn't anything impressive. "The rest I go through, catalogue. Check the current selling price though a few venues after I've identified them. Cameos," he admitted, "Are not my strong suit. Clocks, guns, blades, and furniture and knick-knacks from 1920s through fifties, I like. These," he shrugged, picking up one of the nearest cameos, "I should probably pay more attention to. I have estimated figures over here."
He picked up a notebook that had seen some obvious wear. "So they all mostly have a tentative price. How'd you get interested in cameos?" he asked, figuring all business was just a little boring. To him, they seemed more like a hobby for a little old woman (probably because he saw so many little old women come in to browse) so it always found the reasoning of younger members of society far more interesting.
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Posted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 7:14 pm
Made sense. The marked ones could just be noted and put away. Why do them first? Still, she had to wonder if that was just their supplier marking them or a wholesale price.
"Now you have mentioned things I know very little about. Guns and blades look good but I could not tell you a thing about them. Depending on the style, I might know the furniture but I lack the ability to tell you anything American made." She hated admitting it but Delilah knew very little about old American works. She loved the history that came with other parts of the world and focused on those.
Yet when he asked her, Delilah had to smile. "Same way as everyone else I guess. Saw one and fell in love. They hold a story in something the size of your figure nail to the size of your chest. Such skill all done by hand before modern times. It's lost now." She beamed back at him before pointing to the one he was holding. "Italian made with shell. It I am right that should be the Three Graces. And based on it's size, it should be around $400 - $500 dollars. Give or take what metal that is around its edges."
Motioning with her eyes towards his notebook, she seemed to ask for him to check her on that. She might have been off on the price but she knew the facts had to be right.
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Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 1:55 pm
Anyone willing to wear that sort of smile while making an estimate probably knew their stuff.
Jett didn't see much merit in opening his mouth for a blind guess, so he could only assume she was confident. He humored her (and himself, as he was rather curious to see how well she knew her stuff).
His eyes drifted to the notebook, and skimmed the text.
It took him only a few seconds before he laughed and shook his head. "You know your stuff. Eighteen carat gold, marked at four twenty five." Which was a fine price to ask anyone with their wallets full—and if this girl was as interested in cameos as she seemed, he couldn't help but try to pitch a sale. "The Three Graces. Is that something you'd be interested in owning? Not that you seem like your shy charm, beauty or creativity, but a little extra never hurt, right?"
Well. Never hurt anything but the wallet.
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Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:20 pm
Delilah gave Jett a half smile with eyes that said 'really' as the male worked to market the piece to her. While he was trying, she had to admit that it was something she had seen coming. "Sadly, I will have to pass on that one. I already have two at home. One replica and one set in bronze."
Leaning forward onto the counter, Delilah had to smiled looking towards the boxes yet to be unpacked. "So,turn abouts fair play. How did you get into all of this?" Leaning back onto her feet, she used her arms to motion to the layout of the store before making sure to catch his eye. "I mean a love of guns and blades does not make a younger man yearn to work in an place where most of them no longer function. Not to mention, how often do you get things in from the forties or fifties? Most of those seem to end up in thrift stores."
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:52 pm
Jett clucked his tongue, disappointed in the lack of a sale. He couldn't stay disheartened for long when the topic was turned to him. "Not often enough," he admitted, "But we have a pretty steady flow that comes in, even with people tossing them away. But, can't really blame them. It takes a good eye to know what's valuable and what's just garbage. As for me getting into the whole business…I suppose it just sort of happened."
He shrugged, seemingly trying to pinpoint just when he'd become fascinated by antiques. "My mother is probably the most directly responsible for me working here. She and Jacoby—that is, my boss, met a good few years ago. She helped him out with some legal issues, but in that time I was still pretty young so got dragged along. He always had such interesting stories. His house," Jett laughed, "Probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. He's got pieces from all over the world. And he knew about all of them. Loved to show them off, talk about them. So I just sort of grew up around all this old stuff. He's got another antique shop a city or two away that he's run for years, but this one's only a few years old. When he opened it up he offered me a position and," he shrugged. "I mean, I couldn't exactly refuse. I like this place. Things come in here that you can't find at museums. Plus, the people are always interesting."
Most of them were antiques, themselves.
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Posted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:35 pm
Delilah's eyes gave him a soft look to say he really shouldn't expect her to by just anything. The girl did not have an endless supply of cash to spend if she wanted to be able to still buy materials for clothes and little pet projects. Her parents got her the sewing machine. The rest was hers to buy.
Jealously slowly began to write itself on her face. "You, dear Jett, are lucky. I go along with my father to work and I get suck in CEO's waiting rooms. Let me tell you how bare those are." She signed thinking of how many walls with one large painting she had stared at growing up. The day she no longer had to be with a parent at all times was the best day of her life, in one point of view. "But to see all that history. It makes sense then why you would be in a place like this if it got into your blood that young. Think you will stay doing something like this long term?"
Kyuseisha no Hikari So I am horrible for being gone for so long...
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Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:18 pm
"Maybe," he answered honestly. "To be honest, this place feels like a home to me. I suppose a part of me wants to stay in the antiquing business. But then, there's the other part."
It was a little more difficult to explain, and while he was a confident person, he wasn't sure he could do it without sounding weak.
He continued, anyway; "I promised my mother I'd go out and be successful enough to make all her dreams come true. So maybe one day I'll be some big CEO. But my waiting room most certainly won't be bare. If you like history so much, have you ever considered applying for a job at a museum, or an antique shop? I figure the museum is always looking to get younger people involved, and most of the antique businesses are happy for the same reason. Jacoby's only half interested in my knowledge of antiquing. The real reason he keeps me around is probably because it takes me half the time to move and unload the shipments he gets in."
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Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 4:00 pm
Delilah's bright smile faltered at the corners as she listened to Jett speak about another half of his situation. It was honestly not something she expected to hear from the man who showed such a passion for this world. However it was back stronger than ever at the idea of him being used for his body.
Lifting her hand to her mouth, Delilah covered a soft chuckle. "You have a heart of gold, Jett. Not many people would plan to make their mother's dreams come true. She is a very lucky woman."
She might have been caught up in the moment or just not thinking but her hand dropped from her mouth and she reached towards him, softly squeezing his own hand. As soon as it touched, she drew it back and tapped it next to a few of the items on the counter. "You know, I had not thought about the museum. Though I do not think I would enjoy keeping small children under control." Her shoulders dropped and she looked towards the left with a sigh, rather annoyed. Lot brats. "But I am trying to do fashion."
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Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:53 pm
Jett wasn't sure if he should take offense to the chuckle, but he reminded himself that it was never appropriate to make snide comments—and the girl didn't seem to have meant anything maliciously. He withdrew his own hand in response to her contact, not because it made him uncomfortable but because he hadn't been expecting it. Hastily, as if to cover himself, he reached for a pack of gum and withdrew a stick, before unwrapping it and sliding it into his mouth. "Well, you know," he shrugged in response, "I grew up with just mom, so if I can spoil her, I will. So, we'll see where my path takes me."
He wasn't really going to bother feigning humility; Jett had great plans for his future, and he had total faith in his abilities. As much as he loved talking about himself, he had no issue allowing the conversation to turn to her. "Fashion sounds like a good industry to go into. What with all of it booming and all. If you've got an eye for that sort of thing, go for it. Maybe you can bring antique cameos back in style, yeah?" he asked, flashing a brief grin.
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