The Sermon on the Mount is arguably the prominent teaching of Jesus. After reading the Sermon intently, it is surprising how much Jesus expects of us, but this also shows how much faith He has in us. After filling out the questionnaire, I was disappointed to discover that nearly all of my responses were neither moral nor Christ-like. I would imagine that nearly all of my classmates experienced a similar disappointment after reviewing their questionnaire. I imagine this because Jesus' teachings are very difficult to live up to, and they are meant to be difficult so that we show our commitment and faith in resisting the powerful temptation to do what is convenient. True morality comes from a deliberate turning away from what is appealing for what is right.
1. I want to remember the time that we spent contemplating the morality of Marwan, the Iraqi suicide bomber. I thought it would be very easy to answer questions about Marwan's conscience and morality since I assumed Jesus spelt out all the stipulations in black and white, but the fact that Marwan followed the Muslim moral code moved the situation into a gray area. This exercise taught me to think about a situation more and taking cultural influences into account before judging it. I do not want to forget about this when faced with my next dilemma.