Promised Land - Renate: The Promised Land – what does it mean to you?

4.4.07

The Promised Land – what does it mean to you?

Yesterday I went for coffee with some friend and was posed this question.I was asked:with what do you associate this phrase

“The Promised Land”?

What does it mean to you?What reaction or emotion does it trigger within you?What word association does it bring up?

Good question.Never thought about it.For me it always meant the land that was promised by God to Abraham for him and its descendants – the tribes of Israel.

As I started to think about it, I realized that it has become a metaphor, a symbol, an image.

But of what? Of hope? Of Yearning? A place of refuge? Of resting?

A fascinating question - What do you think? What do you feel when posed with this question?. Do think about it and comment. Lets see what you come up with.

Renate

Artist, poet & the Author of

From the Promised Land to the Lucky Country

3 comments:

Joan Small, Natural Energy Boosters said...: Hi Renate,
An interesting question indeed. To me the Promised Land has biblical connotations, but in a metaphorical sense it means reaching the ultimate - the dreamed of safe place - the 'land of milk and honey'. I guess it's a bit like the Paradise we live in here on the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia. A place of abundance and beauty with a beautiful climate. This is my 'Promised Land
Joan Small www.theenergybook.com; 5 April 2007 at 7:37 pm
Tom said...: I think it is a promise of things to come.

Essentially I think the 'Promised Land,' means the promise of the Holy Spirit, which came in the New Testament. If we have the Holy Spirit in us, it is as if we are living with God, and God in us. The ultimate place to be, don't you think?
So when God made this promise, he was thinking ahead towards the New Covenant (New Testament), in which the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost.

So in other words the Promised Land really means the promise of the Holy Spirit for us.; 25 September 2008 at 10:43 pm
Anonymous said...: Dear Tom,
I find your comment most interesting as it puts a very different slant to this question. It only shows us that for each and every one of us - 'The Promised Land' signifies something different.
Thank you for this comment in the hope that more readers will give us an insight to their very personalized understanding of this question, just as you have done.
Renate; 26 September 2008 at 7:20 am

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Israel"s achievements

Having to be on alert at all times and in fighting mode, did not and does not stop the Israelis from living a ‘Normal life’ and achieving great things. The land that was desert and swamps full of illnesses like Malaria & Trachoma and more is today a modern green place, full of trees and flowers. Not only that but it is also a power place to many new inventions that benefit mankind every day. I am attaching a list I received sometime ago, which is NOT complete, to show you some of Israel’s achievements.

Here it is:

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's population, can lay additional claim to the following:

The cell phone and Voice mail technology was developed in Israel & AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology, Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.

The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel & Motorola has Motorola Israel.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita, as well as the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world & produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people - as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.

Israel designed the airline industry's most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats, and has the fourth largest Air Force in the world (after the U.S., Russia and China).

In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.
In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the
world, except the U.S. (3,500 – 4000 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 4,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world - apart from the Silicon Valley, U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada, it has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.
It is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U.S.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East.
The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

Her $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbours combined.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union).

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day - and saved three victims from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship - and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

It has more museums per capita than any other country, and has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

It is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

In Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U.S. hospitals, 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.

Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera, helps doctors diagnose heart's mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U.S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions, Israel places first in this category as well.

Israel produced 4 Nobel price winners in the last 4 years – 2 in Mathematics & 2 in Economics.

A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct - all
without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California's Mojave Desert.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.

Promised Land - Renate

4.4.07

The Promised Land – what does it mean to you?

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