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The idea of the Free Spirit is may be a relatively new concept in the contemporary Christianity
The idea of the ‘Free Spirit’ is may be a relatively new concept in the contemporary Christianity. However, this movement has existed for almost a millennium has it was started in the. In the 13th and 14th century, these movements were even more common than maybe they are now. During this period, there was great turmoil in Europe and many people considered this the beginning of the end of the world. This created a fertile ground for any gospel solution that would offer a better promise to man’s spirituality in bid to save the soul or rather have eternal life. Consequently, the Free spirit movements started and spread across Europe. In general, these groups had alternative gospel from that reached by the dominant church then, the Roman Catholic, as they conflicted with their teachings.
One of the most studied people who were influential at this time was Marguerite Porete. Most of her writings were condemned and destroyed by the catholic Inquisitors on account of heresy. She was then burnt at stake in 1310 for failure to confess and recant her information in one of the books, ‘The Mirror of the Simple Annihilated Souls’ in which he posited different levels of man’s relationship with God (Porete, 1993, 25). This book forms the basis of my thesis, which is, to describe the strategies advocated by Porete for relating with God. To do this, I will analyze the seven stages of mystical itinerary as found in her book and expound on the peculiar nature of these stages.
Porete described seven stages that were critical in one’s ascent to God. The first six stages were achievable by terrestrial man while the last one could only be attained by the everlasting soul after man’s demise and separation of his soul to ascent to eternal life. This last stage, therefore, cannot be described by a living human being because its state is only known by those who have already died (Porete, 1993, 27). What then is peculiar to these states as described?
In the first stage, the soul is touched by grace. At this stage, the soul wills to follow every command and strives to please God. This is the stage where most Christians begin. This stage opens the soul to the second stage where the soul develops such a love for God that irrespective of the command the soul does it. In this stage, the soul leaves self in the annihilation of the nature. The soul, therefore, can do anything that God commands.
The third stage involves the soul’s complete detachment from her delights in the pursuit of perfection. This leads to deliberate acts to do works of goodness. In this state, Porete writes
“the Soul … renounces those works in which she has this delight and puts to death the will that had its life from this”. (Critchley, 2006, 145)
This is the beginning of suffering in bid to annihilate the soul and create a greater space for God to take control. She says,
“One must crush oneself, hacking and hewing away at oneself to widen the place in which Love will want to be.” (Critchley, 2006, 145)
This stage gives room for the next stage where, the soul is completely consumed in an ecstasy of love from God. The soul thus is fully separated from herself to the delight of the love from God.
In the fifth stage, the soul sees herself separated from God by an abyss. The love that was there is gone and the free will of the souls is no more. At this stage, the soul sees God has the origin of everything and self as origin of nothing. This creates a paradox because this abyss cannot be filled to help the soul unify with God. The soul seeks to annihilate herself so she can be unified with God (Porete, 1993, 27). In the sixth stage, the soul finds rest in understanding the gap created in the fifth stage cannot be filled by any act of will. It is, therefore, for the Lover (God) to come and fill this abyss. God thus sees himself in this soul. This is the ultimo point where the Soul ascents to the creator.
These stages provide porete’s description of her ascent to God. The seventh stage is only experienced after rejoining with the creator
In conclusion, Porete description provides Christians with a dilemma of what ought to be done to please God. It remains a subject of discussion among the Christian circles as this separation deems the authority, political or religious worthless as man is under direct control of God.
Works cited
Porete, Marguerite. The mirror of simple souls. Paulist Press, 1993.
Critchley, Simon. “Mystical Anarchism1.” Critical Horizons 10.2 (2009): 272-306.
History Of IKEA And Its SWOT Analysis
History Of IKEA And Its SWOT Analysis
Executive Summary
IKEA is a Sweden based company that is involved in the production of home appliances, furniture that is ready to assemble, electronic appliances amongst other products. IKEA is regarded as one of the biggest furniture retailers in the world. IKEA was founded in 1943 by one Ingvar Kamprad. Apart from Latin America and Africa, IKEA has stores throughout the world (Moon & Harvard Business School, 2004). IKEA is an acronym derived from the initials of the founder’s name (I &K), the farm that Kamprad grew up in Elmtaryd (E) and his hometown Agunnaryd (A).
Over the years, IKEA has been able to come up with a number of new products. The products vary with their functions (Dahlvig, 2012). Products may be furniture as mentioned above, kitchen appliances or even children’s toys. This means that there is a target audience for whatever new product is unveiled to the market. For example if a new toy is launched, obviously it would be meant for the kids, if a TV set is launched then it means it will be for the whole family and the trend will continue. The newest product that IKEA is launching is a new barbecue grill.
Barbeque grills have been in existence for some time and IKEA has not lagged behind in making the available. Barbeque grills are kitchen appliances that have been traditionally reserved for the men but IKEA makes it models user friendly so that anyone who is interested might be able to use them (Lewis, 2008). The new barbeque grill that IKEA wants to launch is known as the Bgrill 2013. The Bgrill 2013 is the latest barbeque grill that IKEA will produce and it will be a gas fueled grilled. The option of it being a gas fuelled grill is that IKEA has strict environmental policies and if compared to charcoal fuelled grills, gas is better. The target audience for this kind of grill will be the men, since men are the majority users of grills.
Project Description
Having established that IKEA is coming up with a new barbeque grill, it is important to know how the new product will be marketed. The grill will be referred to as the Bgrill 2013 and will mostly target the men. The reason for IKEA targeting the men is that, from analyzed purchasing trends, the men are the ones who purchase the grills. Another reason that the men are the targeted audience for the Bgrill 2013 is that, the societal norm puts men as those who do most of the grilling compared to any other gender/age group (Lewis, 2008).
There are several ways that the marketing strategy will take place. The most predominant strategy will be advertising. The advertising will use platforms such as TV, radio and newspaper/magazines. The reason these platforms will be used is that men (the main target audience) have access to them. This will allow the men to know about the Bgrill 2013 if it is advertised on them. Billboards will also be another appropriate way to advertise the Bgrill 2013. Billboards are effective since they are conspicuous to everyone inclusive of the target audience. The other marketing strategy will be door-to-door marketing. As it has been established, grills can be considered as kitchen appliance and for kitchen appliances one of the best ways to market them is to visit potential customers at their homes. This will enable the potential customers to have a personalized experience when being convinced to purchase the Bgrill 2013 (Dahlvig, 2012). The main reason that IKEA decide to come up with the Bgrill 2013 project is that the grill can realize immense profit if utilized well.
The Bgrill 2013 is a grill that can be used throughout the different seasons of the year. This makes it convenient for everybody thus making it an attractive commodity for potential consumers.
Consumer Analysis
SWOT
In any project that is undertaken, it is important to undertake a consumer analysis to effectively determine how a new product can break into the market. One of the ways to undertake the consumer analysis is by the use of SWOT. SWOT refers to strength, weakness, opportunity and threats. This form of analysis will effectively allow a precise consumer analysis for Bgrill 2013.
The strength of the Bgrill 2013 is that it is a modernized barbeque grill. The Bgrill is a gas fuelled barbeque grill that is safe and easy to use. It is a common fact that charcoal is not one of the best fuels to use especially with children around. Charcoal is known to cause carbon monoxide related accidents that may be fatal. The Bgrill 2013 is safe considering its piped system, which ensures the safe use of gas. The grilling space is another strength that the Bgrill 2013 has. The number of food products that can be grilled at the same is high making it efficient.
The weakness that Bgrill is that it is bulky. In order to have a large grilling space, the Bgrill has to be large. However with time, consumers need smaller and portable commodities. This means that the Bgrill is at a disadvantage compared to other smaller types of grills. For the opportunity aspect of SWOT, the Bgrill can utilize the fact that most grills do not have the capacity that it has when it comes to grilling space. The Bgrill can use that as advantage to capture the consumers who prefer a larger grilling space.
With this in mind, IKEA can create other types of grills that have large grilling space. This will enable IKEA to capitalize on an untapped market. The grills will not have to be exactly like the Bgrill 2013 but can borrow its concept in their manufacture of future grills.
The threat that the Bgrill 2013 has is the copycat products that can arise from other grill manufacturers. Being a unique design, it can be easily copied. If the Bgrill is copied by other grill makers, there is the threat of losing profits. The loss of profit will come in the form of consumers buying fakes instead of the original Bgrill.
Market Mix
Market mix is another consumer analysis tool that can be used to determine how Bgrill 2013 can fair on in the market. Market mix is based on the 4 P’s. The 4 P’s are place, promotion, price and product. The place looks at where the Bgrill 2013 will be marketed, the promotion looks at how the Bgrill 2013 will be promoted to the targeted consumers. The price and product looks at how the price of the of the Bgrill 2013 will fair on with the current needs of the consumers and the product looks at the aspect of why the consumers should use Bgrill 2013 and not any other grill.
The promotion as mentioned before will be based majorly on advertisement. Therefore the market will be stores where the advertisements can be seen or other scenarios be heard. The advertisements will be also be on the media platforms such as TV, radio and print meaning that they will be accessible from literally everywhere be it homes, workplace or any other place. The place that the Bgrill will be promoted will be of course IKEA stores and the retail stores that work with IKEA.
I had mentioned that the Bgrill would get some audience if it is marketed from house to house since it is a home appliance. Home appliances have adequate when marketed at home (Moon & Harvard Business School, 2004).
The price of the Bgrill 2013 will be essential to attract potential customers. Being a new product with unique features the price will be slightly higher as compared to other grillers in the market. The feature of having a larger grilling space is another factor that will make it a more expensive compared to the rest of the grillers. However, it should be noted that the price range of the Bgrill 2013 will not be more than 50% of the actual market price of grillers (Lewis, 2008). The large grilling space of the Bgrill 2013 is what makes it unique. This will in turn attract consumers into buying it. In the current market, there is no griller that has the space that the Bgrill has, meaning that it has an eager group of potential customers.
References
Dahlvig, A. (2012). The IKEA edge: Building global growth and social good at the world’s most
iconic home store. New York: McGraw-Hill
Lewis, E. (2008). Great IKEA!: A brand for all the people. London: Marshall Cavendish
Business.
Moon, Y., & Harvard Business School. (2004). IKEA invades America. Boston, MA: Harvard
Business School.
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The idea of God in the Old Testament
The idea of God in the Old Testament
One idea of God in the Old Testament is that he is a wrathful being, a vengeful being with very little forgiveness in Him. Take, for instance, the first murder. Cain murders Abel and God does not forgive him, or show mercy on him, but brands him and sends him off into the world for all to see and know that he was a killer. Next, is the flood? God sees man as evil in all he does and thinks, and therefore plans to kill man and all living beings, save those that he put with Noah, the one mortal to be in favor with God.
In the first murder, Cain was a tiller of the ground and Abel, his brother, was a keeper of sheep. There came a time when Cain did bear the fruits of the earth and his Brother Abel did the same from the sheep, they both brought their offerings before God, and God favored Abel’s offering over Cain’s. This made Cain full of anger and his face darkened. God said to Cain “Why are you angry and downcast? If you are doing right, surely you ought to hold your head high! But if you are doing right, Sin is crouching at the door hungry to get you. You can still master him” (Genesis 4:6-7). This is an obvious reprimand by God to Cain. He might have well said you must do better to gain my approval. There were no words of encouragement; there was no comforting, just cold hard rejection. Cain was obviously upset at God and directed his anger at his younger brother Abel. “Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out’; and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and Killed him” (Genesis 4:8). God did hear the blood of Abel crying up to him from the ground and questioned Cain on where Abel was, Cain said he was not his brother’s keeper, and God did grow very angry for he knew what Cain had done. God then cursed Cain from the Earth, and branded him for all to know what Cain was, and that no man was to kill Cain for he was, in a sense, protected by God so he could suffer his punishment.
In the story of the flood, God is looking upon the Earth and is seeing man for what he is; evil in all he says and does, and this grieves God who made man on this Earth. “God saw that the human wickedness was great on earth and that human hearts contrived nothing but wicked schemes all day long” (Genesis6:5). It is then that he also realizes that the earth itself has been corrupted by man, and God decides to send a flood to destroy his creation, man. God does, however, favor one man, Noah, and tells him the build an arc and collect two of every living thing on the earth, so that he may re-populate the earth when all is said and done. This could be viewed as forgiveness, and maybe mercy, however, God is still destroying almost the entirety of Man. Is it not true that God gave man free will, to do what he chooses? Yet when man makes a few bad decisions, God wants to wipe him out.
Another idea of God can be that he is like a parent. This makes God seem so approachable, not just some Supreme Being that cannot be spoken to. God is not just seen as a father in the Bible, but also one is encouraged to think of God as a mother. ”You forgot the Rock who fathered you, the God who made you, you no longer remember” (Deuteronomy 32:18).
God is the one that created humans. A child’s parents bring him/her into being, but God must be recognized as the author and source of one’s existence. It is seen throughout the Bible that God loves humans because they are his children. There is a natural bond of affection between God and his children because he is the one that created them. His compassion towards his people is that of a mother towards her child. This is probably the most personal model of God; one often turns to God for spiritual advice as he/she would turn to their father or mother for advice on daily life. God is the parent of humans, God is the creator, the one that brings things into existence.
When one thinks of God, they think of a loving compassionate God, and throughout the Old Testament God is shown to be just that. A God who loves his people is one way we see him as a loving God. He loves his people simply because he was the one whom created them and out of this creation he loves them. His “unconditional love” or “friendship love” is the love that would be seen in a friendship. Friends usually love in unconditional ways because it is seen as self-sacrificing love that comes from wanting the best for another person. This is the kind of love that one loves to receive.
There are four characteristics of God that come out of the love. The first characteristic is that of patience. Unlike humans, God has the ability to be patient in all situations. He patiently waits on his children to turn back to him. One usually notices or needs God’s patience when he/she is acting in a bad way. Another characteristic is God’s faithfulness towards mankind. Everyone knows that God is faithful. God is always faithful to the promises he makes. One usually notices God’s faithfulness when things around him/her aren’t going so well. It often takes times of struggle to realize how faithful God really is. The next characteristic is mercy. One usually notices mercy when he/she messes up. Kindness is what one wants and is what one notices about God when others are mean to him/her. God calls each person to have mercy on others, just as he has mercy on his children. The last characteristic is that of Grace. This is the undeserved love and salvation God gives to his people. Grace is seen as a gift of God. These characteristics are those one loves and wishes to receive. Many times these characteristics show themselves when one is in desperate help and can’t go on. God is always there showing to the world that he really cares and really loves each human being.
On the other hand there are three characteristics of God that may not appear to be that big of a deal, but they are vital in order to our understanding. The first of these is jealousy. The first mentioning of this is found in Exodus 20:5: “You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the LORD am your God, am a jealous God and I punish a parent’s fault in your children, the grandchildren, and the great grandchildren among those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Jealousy appears in different contexts: God’s people’s unfaithfulness to him and those in which he is defending his people from other nations. Because God is a jealous God, he will shower love on his people. Jealousy is clearly related to a concept of ownership, and the longing to be involved in a loving relationship. The next attribute is that of anger. “Vengeance is mine, I will pay them back, for the time when they make a false step. For the day of their ruin is close, doom is rushing towards them, for he will see to t that their power fails. (Deuteronomy 32:35). This anger of God is His reaction against human sin. Anger runs in every single person. There is no getting around that, because to have a God that lets people walk over him is a cowardly God. By him showing anger, he instills the sense of fear in the backs of every person’s minds.
The fact that God is personal is what makes all these characteristics as powerful as they are. God’s personal ness is what gives the framework for the characteristics to be talked about. A person leads to a transformation of another person in a way that a principle does not.
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