"Primum non nocere."
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Happy Days
Jennifer and Mckinlee came over tonight and the family celebrated Jessica's 28th birthday together. Jessica is holding Mckinlee who is 15 days old today.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Jesse and I watched little 6 day old Mckinlee last night for awhile. I had put on the new Muppet movie because I didn't want to hear political commentary shows in the background while spending time with her. The movie reminded me of the claims that I heard on FOX "Noise" that the Muppet movie is communistic and anti-capitalistic - gotta watch out for those muppets, trying to corrupt the country, one movie at a time!
Voices
Every day I am reminded that there is so much goodness in the world. The key way I am reminded is through other people - their kindness, compassion, their intelligence that is able to see beyond one little corner of the world, their world. Seeing this gives me so much hope. The important thing is for these people (myself included) to be heard, and not let the louder, uglier, more minor in number voices drown out all the other voices, or intimidate the other voices into silence. I've never had much confidence in expressing a dissenting opinion, but I am learning in my old age! This issue of equality is more important than my comfort level.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Check out website Faith in America
Okay, I've edited the last two posts, hopefully less typos and a bit more coherent. I have terrible insomnia these days, but my sleep aid induces terrible spelling and run on sentences along with falling asleep.
Check out the website Faith in America - really, really good info. If we keep talking (respectfully) without backing down one of 2 things will happen, we'll piss people off and they won't talk to with us, or some, we can engage in a dialogue where we agree to respect and listen to each others differing views and we might actually learn something.
Check out the website Faith in America - really, really good info. If we keep talking (respectfully) without backing down one of 2 things will happen, we'll piss people off and they won't talk to with us, or some, we can engage in a dialogue where we agree to respect and listen to each others differing views and we might actually learn something.
Hmmmm - what shall we choose to be extremists about next?
The religious right at one point were going after keeping blacks away from schools and colleges, and to keep interracial marriage illegal (read historical article below) History shows that they needed some more issues and and one man tentatively suggested abortion, after religious leaders (excluding catholics) had previously said positive things about it. Although the bible speaks very plainly in Malachi about divorce (God hates divorce) curiously divorce wasn't a hot topic for the men who met (no woman present) as they are usually the ones seeking divorces and benefit by not being so financially accountable (time to upgrade to a younger hotter wife or girlfriend), and now the big hot topic - discriminating against and demarginalizing gays. Because life is not fully lived unless you're foaming at the mouth yelling and crazed about something. Logic does not prevail in which that you might read, study, talk to people of the gblt community and have respectful, mutual exchanges of information and ideas. Giving up your right to "be right" - from God's mouth to your ear, you're right, everyone else is wrong, even if a bunch of people got a totally different message from their Abba Father. The history I read speaks for itself. After all, I don't have to marry my rapist anymore, I don't have to have sex with my father to have children, I don't have to be married to a husband with multiple wives (all taken from the bible), so why on earth shoud it be a requirement for me to think ill and treat a population with disdain and disrespectfully just because some unloving, judgmental christians aren't cool with homosexuality? I'm not buying what they (religious right) are selling. (I'm not cool with their sins of self-righteousness and judgementalism and yet, I totally accept their right to be like that.) And from recent conversations, I can tell a lot of other people of different ages, backgrounds, religions and politics, aren't buying it either. In 10 years, it will be a mark of shame that this was ever an issue. Love people - we have that choice!! There are more out there like us that we know. Let's stop being silenced by the loud, and the arrogant! Even in our own quiet way, lets shine, let's not be silent anymore and avoid the subject. I want to to say I am a proud straight ally. I will vote for referendem 74 this November proudly. It is my hope that everyone can know the friendship, mutual love, committment and admiration that my husband and I share with each other, whether the couple is opposite genders, or the same gender. I wish that kind of caring and love for everyone. May it come to pass is my prayer, sooner rather than later.
Evangelical: Religious Right Has Distorted the Faith
Linda Wertheimer
NPR Morning Edition
June 23, 2006
President Bush and the Republican Party find strong support among evangelical voters. But in his new book, Thy Kingdom Come, author Randall Balmer says that allegiance is misplaced.
“I don’t find much that I recognize as Christian” in the religious right, says Balmer, a professor of religion at Barnard College, Columbia University and contributing editor to Christianity Today.
He says blind allegiance to the Republican Party has distorted the faith of politically active evangelicals, leading them to misguided positions on issues such as abortion and homosexuality.
“They have taken something that is lovely and redemptive and turned it into something that is ugly and retributive,” Balmer says.
He argues that modern evangelicals have abandoned the spirit of their movement, which was founded in 19th-century activism on issues that helped those on the fringes of society: abolition, women’s suffrage and universal education.
“I don’t find any correlation in the agenda of the religious right today,” Balmer says.
Book Excerpt: ‘Thy Kingdom Come’
by Randall Balmer
In the 1980s, in order to solidify their shift from divorce to abortion, the Religious Right constructed an abortion myth, one accepted by most Americans as true. Simply put, the abortion myth is this: Leaders of the Religious Right would have us believe that their movement began in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Politically conservative evangelical leaders were so morally outraged by the ruling that they instantly shed their apolitical stupor in order to mobilize politically in defense of the sanctity of life. Most of these leaders did so reluctantly and at great personal sacrifice, risking the obloquy of their congregants and the contempt of liberals and “secular humanists,” who were trying their best to ruin America. But these selfless, courageous leaders of the Religious Right, inspired by the opponents of slavery in the nineteenth century, trudged dutifully into battle in order to defend those innocent unborn children, newly endangered by the Supreme Court’s misguided Roe decision.
It’s a compelling story, no question about it. Except for one thing: It isn’t true.
Although various Roman Catholic groups denounced the ruling, and Christianity Today complained that the Roe decision “runs counter to the moral teachings of Christianity through the ages but also to the moral sense of the American people,” the vast majority of evangelical leaders said virtually nothing about it; many of those who did comment actually applauded the decision. W. Barry Garrett of Baptist Press wrote, “Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court abortion decision.” Indeed, even before the Roe decision, the messengers (delegates) to the 1971 Southern Baptist Convention gathering in St. Louis, Missouri, adopted a resolution that stated, “we call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.” W.A. Criswell, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, expressed his satisfaction with the Roe v. Wade ruling. “I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person,” the redoubtable fundamentalist declared, “and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed.”
The Religious Right’s self-portrayal as mobilizing in response to the Roe decision was so pervasive among evangelicals that few questioned it. But my attendance at an unusual gathering in Washington, D.C., finally alerted me to the abortion myth. In November 1990, for reasons that I still don’t entirely understand, I was invited to attend a conference in Washington sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Religious Right organization (though I didn’t realize it at the time). I soon found myself in a conference room with a couple of dozen people, including Ralph Reed, then head of the Christian Coalition; Carl F. H. Henry, an evangelical theologian; Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family; Donald Wildmon, head of the American Family Association; Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention; and Edward G. Dobson, pastor of an evangelical church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and formerly one of Jerry Falwell’s acolytes at Moral Majority. Paul M. Weyrich, a longtime conservative activist, head of what is now called the Free Congress Foundation, and one of the architects of the Religious Right in the late 1970s, was also there.
In the course of one of the sessions, Weyrich tried to make a point to his Religious Right brethren (no women attended the conference, as I recall). Let’s remember, he said animatedly, that the Religious Right did not come together in response to the Roe decision. No, Weyrich insisted, what got us going as a political movement was the attempt on the part of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to rescind the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University because of its racially discriminatory policies.
Bob Jones University was one target of a broader attempt by the federal government to enforce the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Several agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, had sought to penalize schools for failure to abide by antisegregation provisions. A court case in 1972, Green v. Connally, produced a ruling that any institution that practiced segregation was not, by definition, a charitable institution and, therefore, no longer qualified for tax-exempt standing.
The IRS sought to revoke the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University in 1975 because the school’s regulations forbade interracial dating; African Americans, in fact, had been denied admission altogether until 1971, and it took another four years before unmarried African Americans were allowed to enroll. The university filed suit to retain its tax-exempt status, although that suit would not reach the Supreme Court until 1983 (at which time, the Reagan administration argued in favor of Bob Jones University).
Initially, I found Weyrich’s admission jarring. He declared, in effect, that the origins of the Religious Right lay in Green v. Connally rather than Roe v. Wade. I quickly concluded, however, that his story made a great deal of sense. When I was growing up within the evangelical subculture, there was an unmistakably defensive cast to evangelicalism. I recall many presidents of colleges or Bible institutes coming through our churches to recruit students and to raise money. One of their recurrent themes was,We don’t accept federal money, so the government can’t tell us how to run our shop—whom to hire or fire or what kind of rules to live by. The IRS attempt to deny tax-exempt status to segregated private schools, then, represented an assault on the evangelical subculture, something that raised an alarm among many evangelical leaders, who mobilized against it.
For his part, Weyrich saw the evangelical discontent over the Bob Jones case as the opening he was looking for to start a new conservative movement using evangelicals as foot soldiers. Although both the Green decision of 1972 and the IRS action against Bob Jones University in 1975 predated Jimmy Carter’s presidency, Weyrich succeeded in blaming Carter for efforts to revoke the taxexempt status of segregated Christian schools. He recruited James Dobson and Jerry Falwell to the cause, the latter of whom complained, “In some states it’s easier to open a massage parlor than to open a Christian school.”
Weyrich, whose conservative activism dates at least as far back as the Barry Goldwater campaign in 1964, had been trying for years to energize evangelical voters over school prayer, abortion, or the proposed equal rights amendment to the Constitution. “I was trying to get those people interested in those issues and I utterly failed,” he recalled in an interview in the early 1990s. “What changed their mind was Jimmy Carter’s intervention against the Christian schools, trying to deny them tax-exempt status on the basis of so-called de facto segregation.”
During the meeting in Washington, D.C., Weyrich went on to characterize the leaders of the Religious Right as reluctant to take up the abortion cause even close to a decade after the Roe ruling. “I had discussions with all the leading lights of the movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s, post Roe v. Wade,” he said, “and they were all arguing that that decision was one more reason why Christians had to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.”
“What caused the movement to surface,” Weyrich reiterated,” was the federal government’s moves against Christian schools.” The IRS threat against segregated schools, he said, “enraged the Christian community.” That, not abortion, according to Weyrich, was what galvanized politically conservative evangelicals into the Religious Right and goaded them into action. “It was not the other things,” he said.
Ed Dobson, Falwell’s erstwhile associate, corroborated Weyrich’s account during the ensuing discussion. “The Religious New Right did not start because of a concern about abortion,” Dobson said. “I sat in the non-smoke-filled back room with the Moral Majority, and I frankly do not remember abortion ever being mentioned as a reason why we ought to do something.”
During the following break in the conference proceedings, I cornered Weyrich to make sure I had heard him correctly. He was adamant that, yes, the 1975 action by the IRS against Bob Jones University was responsible for the genesis of the Religious Right in the late 1970s. What about abortion? After mobilizing to defend Bob Jones University and its racially discriminatory policies, Weyrich said, these evangelical leaders held a conference call to discuss strategy. He recalled that someone suggested that they had the makings of a broader political movement—something that Weyrich had been pushing for all along—and asked what other issues they might address. Several callers made suggestions, and then, according to Weyrich, a voice on the end of one of the lines said, “How about abortion?” And that is how abortion was cobbled into the political agenda of the Religious Right.
The makings of a broader political movement—something that Weyrich had been pushing for all along—and asked what other issues they might address. Several callers made suggestions, and then, according to Weyrich, a voice on the end of one of the lines said, “How about abortion?” And that is how abortion was cobbled into the political agenda of the Religious Right.
Falwell and others who eventually became leaders of the Religious Right, in fact, explicitly condemned the civil rights movement. “Believing the Bible as I do,” Falwell proclaimed in 1965, “I would find it impossible to stop preaching the pure saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and begin doing anything else—including fighting Communism, or participating in civil-rights reforms.” This makes all the more outrageous the occasional attempts by leaders of the Religious Right to portray themselves as the “new abolitionists” in an effort to link their campaign against abortion to the nineteenth century crusade against slavery.
Excerpted from Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America Copyright © 2006 by Randall Balmer.
NPR Morning Edition
June 23, 2006
President Bush and the Republican Party find strong support among evangelical voters. But in his new book, Thy Kingdom Come, author Randall Balmer says that allegiance is misplaced.
“I don’t find much that I recognize as Christian” in the religious right, says Balmer, a professor of religion at Barnard College, Columbia University and contributing editor to Christianity Today.
He says blind allegiance to the Republican Party has distorted the faith of politically active evangelicals, leading them to misguided positions on issues such as abortion and homosexuality.
“They have taken something that is lovely and redemptive and turned it into something that is ugly and retributive,” Balmer says.
He argues that modern evangelicals have abandoned the spirit of their movement, which was founded in 19th-century activism on issues that helped those on the fringes of society: abolition, women’s suffrage and universal education.
“I don’t find any correlation in the agenda of the religious right today,” Balmer says.
Book Excerpt: ‘Thy Kingdom Come’
by Randall Balmer
In the 1980s, in order to solidify their shift from divorce to abortion, the Religious Right constructed an abortion myth, one accepted by most Americans as true. Simply put, the abortion myth is this: Leaders of the Religious Right would have us believe that their movement began in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Politically conservative evangelical leaders were so morally outraged by the ruling that they instantly shed their apolitical stupor in order to mobilize politically in defense of the sanctity of life. Most of these leaders did so reluctantly and at great personal sacrifice, risking the obloquy of their congregants and the contempt of liberals and “secular humanists,” who were trying their best to ruin America. But these selfless, courageous leaders of the Religious Right, inspired by the opponents of slavery in the nineteenth century, trudged dutifully into battle in order to defend those innocent unborn children, newly endangered by the Supreme Court’s misguided Roe decision.
It’s a compelling story, no question about it. Except for one thing: It isn’t true.
Although various Roman Catholic groups denounced the ruling, and Christianity Today complained that the Roe decision “runs counter to the moral teachings of Christianity through the ages but also to the moral sense of the American people,” the vast majority of evangelical leaders said virtually nothing about it; many of those who did comment actually applauded the decision. W. Barry Garrett of Baptist Press wrote, “Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court abortion decision.” Indeed, even before the Roe decision, the messengers (delegates) to the 1971 Southern Baptist Convention gathering in St. Louis, Missouri, adopted a resolution that stated, “we call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.” W.A. Criswell, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, expressed his satisfaction with the Roe v. Wade ruling. “I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person,” the redoubtable fundamentalist declared, “and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed.”
The Religious Right’s self-portrayal as mobilizing in response to the Roe decision was so pervasive among evangelicals that few questioned it. But my attendance at an unusual gathering in Washington, D.C., finally alerted me to the abortion myth. In November 1990, for reasons that I still don’t entirely understand, I was invited to attend a conference in Washington sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Religious Right organization (though I didn’t realize it at the time). I soon found myself in a conference room with a couple of dozen people, including Ralph Reed, then head of the Christian Coalition; Carl F. H. Henry, an evangelical theologian; Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family; Donald Wildmon, head of the American Family Association; Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention; and Edward G. Dobson, pastor of an evangelical church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and formerly one of Jerry Falwell’s acolytes at Moral Majority. Paul M. Weyrich, a longtime conservative activist, head of what is now called the Free Congress Foundation, and one of the architects of the Religious Right in the late 1970s, was also there.
In the course of one of the sessions, Weyrich tried to make a point to his Religious Right brethren (no women attended the conference, as I recall). Let’s remember, he said animatedly, that the Religious Right did not come together in response to the Roe decision. No, Weyrich insisted, what got us going as a political movement was the attempt on the part of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to rescind the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University because of its racially discriminatory policies.
Bob Jones University was one target of a broader attempt by the federal government to enforce the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Several agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, had sought to penalize schools for failure to abide by antisegregation provisions. A court case in 1972, Green v. Connally, produced a ruling that any institution that practiced segregation was not, by definition, a charitable institution and, therefore, no longer qualified for tax-exempt standing.
The IRS sought to revoke the tax-exempt status of Bob Jones University in 1975 because the school’s regulations forbade interracial dating; African Americans, in fact, had been denied admission altogether until 1971, and it took another four years before unmarried African Americans were allowed to enroll. The university filed suit to retain its tax-exempt status, although that suit would not reach the Supreme Court until 1983 (at which time, the Reagan administration argued in favor of Bob Jones University).
Initially, I found Weyrich’s admission jarring. He declared, in effect, that the origins of the Religious Right lay in Green v. Connally rather than Roe v. Wade. I quickly concluded, however, that his story made a great deal of sense. When I was growing up within the evangelical subculture, there was an unmistakably defensive cast to evangelicalism. I recall many presidents of colleges or Bible institutes coming through our churches to recruit students and to raise money. One of their recurrent themes was,We don’t accept federal money, so the government can’t tell us how to run our shop—whom to hire or fire or what kind of rules to live by. The IRS attempt to deny tax-exempt status to segregated private schools, then, represented an assault on the evangelical subculture, something that raised an alarm among many evangelical leaders, who mobilized against it.
For his part, Weyrich saw the evangelical discontent over the Bob Jones case as the opening he was looking for to start a new conservative movement using evangelicals as foot soldiers. Although both the Green decision of 1972 and the IRS action against Bob Jones University in 1975 predated Jimmy Carter’s presidency, Weyrich succeeded in blaming Carter for efforts to revoke the taxexempt status of segregated Christian schools. He recruited James Dobson and Jerry Falwell to the cause, the latter of whom complained, “In some states it’s easier to open a massage parlor than to open a Christian school.”
Weyrich, whose conservative activism dates at least as far back as the Barry Goldwater campaign in 1964, had been trying for years to energize evangelical voters over school prayer, abortion, or the proposed equal rights amendment to the Constitution. “I was trying to get those people interested in those issues and I utterly failed,” he recalled in an interview in the early 1990s. “What changed their mind was Jimmy Carter’s intervention against the Christian schools, trying to deny them tax-exempt status on the basis of so-called de facto segregation.”
During the meeting in Washington, D.C., Weyrich went on to characterize the leaders of the Religious Right as reluctant to take up the abortion cause even close to a decade after the Roe ruling. “I had discussions with all the leading lights of the movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s, post Roe v. Wade,” he said, “and they were all arguing that that decision was one more reason why Christians had to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.”
“What caused the movement to surface,” Weyrich reiterated,” was the federal government’s moves against Christian schools.” The IRS threat against segregated schools, he said, “enraged the Christian community.” That, not abortion, according to Weyrich, was what galvanized politically conservative evangelicals into the Religious Right and goaded them into action. “It was not the other things,” he said.
Ed Dobson, Falwell’s erstwhile associate, corroborated Weyrich’s account during the ensuing discussion. “The Religious New Right did not start because of a concern about abortion,” Dobson said. “I sat in the non-smoke-filled back room with the Moral Majority, and I frankly do not remember abortion ever being mentioned as a reason why we ought to do something.”
During the following break in the conference proceedings, I cornered Weyrich to make sure I had heard him correctly. He was adamant that, yes, the 1975 action by the IRS against Bob Jones University was responsible for the genesis of the Religious Right in the late 1970s. What about abortion? After mobilizing to defend Bob Jones University and its racially discriminatory policies, Weyrich said, these evangelical leaders held a conference call to discuss strategy. He recalled that someone suggested that they had the makings of a broader political movement—something that Weyrich had been pushing for all along—and asked what other issues they might address. Several callers made suggestions, and then, according to Weyrich, a voice on the end of one of the lines said, “How about abortion?” And that is how abortion was cobbled into the political agenda of the Religious Right.
The makings of a broader political movement—something that Weyrich had been pushing for all along—and asked what other issues they might address. Several callers made suggestions, and then, according to Weyrich, a voice on the end of one of the lines said, “How about abortion?” And that is how abortion was cobbled into the political agenda of the Religious Right.
Falwell and others who eventually became leaders of the Religious Right, in fact, explicitly condemned the civil rights movement. “Believing the Bible as I do,” Falwell proclaimed in 1965, “I would find it impossible to stop preaching the pure saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and begin doing anything else—including fighting Communism, or participating in civil-rights reforms.” This makes all the more outrageous the occasional attempts by leaders of the Religious Right to portray themselves as the “new abolitionists” in an effort to link their campaign against abortion to the nineteenth century crusade against slavery.
Excerpted from Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America Copyright © 2006 by Randall Balmer.
Happiness is a choice
Reading some info by Dr. Martin Seligman (author of Learned Optimism, and Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification) today and ran across this and loved it! Had to share.
From Diener and Biswas-Diener, Happiness, pp. 16-17
(Chapter 2: Two Principles of Psychological Wealth)
Caveat Emptor: Bad Stuff Happens … Even to Princesses
Take a moment and recall the classic story of Cinderella. Remember how she was cruelly mistreated by her stepsisters and their wicked mother? Do you recall how they made her slave away at the daily household chores? Remember how the dress she labored so hard over was torn to shreds in a fit of jealousy, and her hopes of going to the royal ball lay in tatters? Of course, you probably best remember the happy ending of the fairy tale: Cinderella’s magical godmother arrives in the nick of time, whisks her away to the dance, and engineers a quick infatuation, with the result that the beloved protagonist marries the charming prince. But is that the end of the story, or just the beginning?
It is interesting to consider what happened to Cinderella next, after she was betrothed and took up residence in Charming Castle. For people who believe that happiness is a matter of favorable circumstances, the story of Cinderella turns out to be a slam dunk. With a Hollywood-handsome husband, a royal title, all the riches she could want, and soldiers to guard her from the paparazzi, how could our belle of the ball not be happy? But for folks who are inclined to think of happiness as a process, the matter of Cinderella’s emotional fate is far from clear. Did Cinderella’s husband treat her well, or was he a philanderer in later life? Did she find some meaningful pastime to keep her occupied on the palace grounds? Were her children spoiled brats? Did she harbor resentment about her upbringing, or try to get revenge on her stepsisters? Did she grow bored with royal balls and court intrigue, or did she organize a dance program for the poor kids in her kingdom? Happiness, as we have said, is a process, not a destination. Just as Cinderella’s life did not end with her royal wedding, your emotional bliss is not complete once you have obtained some important goal. Life goes on, and even those great circumstances you achieve will not ensure you lasting happiness. For one thing, bad things can happen even to beautiful young princesses. But even if Cinderella’s life encountered few bumps on the fairyland road, she might have grown bored with the wonderful circumstances surrounding her, and needed new aims and activities to add zest to her life.
In the end, Cinderella’s quality of life was probably dictated less by her favorable circumstances and more by how she construed them. Hardships are an inevitable part of life, and having psychological wealth does not mean there are never any risks or losses. Of course there are. Happiness is not the complete absence of tough times, because that would be unrealistic. But, as we shall see later in this chapter and later in this book, negative emotions have a place in psychological wealth, and subjective interpretation plays an important role in happiness.
-Diener and Biswas-Diener, Happiness, pp. 16-17
(Chapter 2: Two Principles of Psychological Wealth)
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Mckinlee's 3 day old feet - first pedi
There's really nothing quite so sweet as tiny little baby feet.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
mckinlee sue
A long hoped for and much anticipated little someone tiptoed into my heart very late Tuesday night and has nestled right in just like she has always been there. Miss Mckinlee Sue - so nice to finally meet you!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
another "gem" from Richard Land
"Disney owns ABC-TV, ESPN, A&E and Miramax films which produced “Pulp Fiction” with John Travolta which glorifies blatant cocaine use and race-mixing" ~Richard Land
I have never watched Pulp Fiction, because I don't handle violent movies well in general (bad dreams), but seriously - "glorifies race-mixing?" How can anyone who says they love God be filled with so much hate?
If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
~1 John 4:20
1 John 4:16b-21
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
I have never watched Pulp Fiction, because I don't handle violent movies well in general (bad dreams), but seriously - "glorifies race-mixing?" How can anyone who says they love God be filled with so much hate?
If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
~1 John 4:20
1 John 4:16b-21
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Unbelievable! EVERYONE has the civic right and duty to vote!
Trayvon Martin Case Used for Politics By President Obama, According to Richard Land
(RNS) A top Southern Baptist official has accused President Obama and black civil rights activists of using the Trayvon Martin shooting to foment racial strife and boost the president's re-election chances.
"Rather than holding rallies on these issues, the civil rights leadership focuses on racially polarizing cases to generate media attention and to mobilize black voter turnout," Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the denomination's top public policy official, said on his radio program on Saturday (March 31).
"This is being done to try to gin up the black vote for an African-American president who is in deep, deep, deep trouble for re-election and who knows that he cannot win re-election without getting the 95 percent of blacks who voted for him in 2008 to come back out and show they are going to vote for him again."
Land's remarks were first reported Monday (April 2) by the Associated Baptist Press.
Martin is the 17-year-old African-American youth who was shot to death in February by a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Fla.
Martin was unarmed and was walking back to his father's house with a bag of candy and an iced tea when he was confronted by George Zimmerman, who was patrolling the gated community where Martin was staying. What transpired next is a matter of dispute, but Zimmerman shot Martin once in the chest and killed him. Zimmerman was not arrested or charged, and because his father is white and his mother is Hispanic the growing controversy over the case has become racially supercharged.
Obama himself weighed in on the case, saying that as a parent he was pained by the shooting and adding: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."
"The president's aides claimed he was showing compassion for the victim's family," Land said. "In reality he poured gasoline on the racialist fires."
Some activists and pundits have tried to broaden the focus in this case beyond race to include issues of gun control and Florida's "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law, which has been cited on Zimmerman's behalf.
But the racial aspect of the Trayvon Martin case remains the central flashpoint in the debates. NBC on Tuesday apologized for a "Today" show segment that broadcast an edited version of Zimmerman's conversation with a police dispatcher moments before the shooting to make it sound as though Zimmerman was prejudiced against Martin because the teen was black.
There have also been criticisms of predominantly white churches for not speaking out more quickly on behalf of Trayvon Martin and his family, though some groups -- including the National Council of Churches and the group Churches Uniting in Christ -- have subsequently weighed in with expressions of concern. Evangelist Franklin Graham also spoke out after a recent meeting with leaders of the NAACP.
"I had to admit I didn't know much about the cold killing of an unarmed teenager in Florida last month," Graham wrote this week in The Huffington Post. "It will likely take more time and information to determine if there was a racial injustice that Feb. 26 night, but it takes no time to conclude there was an injustice, one that snuffed out the earthly life of Trayvon after 17 short years."
By contrast, Land's remarks seemed to represent an escalation of the rhetoric by a religious leader.
In his radio show, Land described activists Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as "racial ambulance chasers" who, along with fringe groups like the Black Panthers, are fomenting a "mob mentality" that is akin to what the Ku Klux Klan used to do to blacks in the South.
"This situation is getting out of hand," Land said. "There is going to be violence. When there is violence it's going to be Jesse Jackson's fault. It's going to be Al Sharpton's fault. It's going to be Louis Farrakhan's fault, and to a certain degree it's going to be President Obama's fault."
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Thursday, April 5, 2012
Freedom is subjective.
Freedom is subjective to most people, really. In Old Testament times a prayer many prayed daily was "Thank you God for not making me a gentile, a slave or a woman."
Some take pride in what they are not:
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector." Luke 18:11
Although Proverbs 30:12 states:
"Those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth."
In the New Testament we find these verses:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28
"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." Colossians 3:11
I suggest
Until we are all free, no one is free. When one is oppressed, we are all oppressed. Protecting the status quo (for whatever motives) is a trap and a prison. It's time to put away the hate of the past, and progress. Stop hating everything and everyone that is different and open our eyes to the possibilities. Then, we can move toward a freedom that embraces everyone.
Some take pride in what they are not:
"The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector." Luke 18:11
Although Proverbs 30:12 states:
"Those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth."
In the New Testament we find these verses:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28
"Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all." Colossians 3:11
I suggest
Until we are all free, no one is free. When one is oppressed, we are all oppressed. Protecting the status quo (for whatever motives) is a trap and a prison. It's time to put away the hate of the past, and progress. Stop hating everything and everyone that is different and open our eyes to the possibilities. Then, we can move toward a freedom that embraces everyone.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
We are all connected. If we have an enemy, let it be Apathy.
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." ~Bishop Desmond Tutu
No man is an island,
No man stands alone.
Each man's joy is joy to me,
Each man's grief is my own.
We need one another,
So I will defend
Each man as my brother
Each man as my friend.
“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me.” ~Martin Niemoller
No man is an island,
No man stands alone.
Each man's joy is joy to me,
Each man's grief is my own.
We need one another,
So I will defend
Each man as my brother
Each man as my friend.
“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me.” ~Martin Niemoller
Monday, April 2, 2012
Everything Is A Miracle
~by Albert Einstein
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people; first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy.
A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.
A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Only a life lived for others is worth living.
~Albert Einstein
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on
"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on."
~Carl Sandburg
Friday, March 30, 2012
It's a new day!
It's a new day today! I plan to focus on only what I want to grow - good things! I am leaving the negative feelings (anger, resentment, hurt) behind. I get to choose what I pay attention to! I choose love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Pedestals should only be used for vases, ceramic cats and other decorative items
This may seem a silly thing to talk about....but I miss facebook. The connection with people I love and like and want to stay in touch with. I plan to join again in the summer and I will be more selective, It never occurred to me that when I posted things that there were those who patrolled and judged. So, about that photo at Emerald Downs last May? Not that I need to do any explaining. I was there for a 25th birthday party one of my daughter's friends hosted - "The Jentucky Derby." It's kind of weird how I have avoided certain places and activities for over 20 years, and now if I want to, I could go to a buffet at a casino (I have never been and heard some have really good ones). I could go to a nightclub for a drink and to dance with my hubby if I wanted to. There have always been certain things that I just didn't do, although it didn't bother me at all if and when others did. I realize in retrospect that I was placed on a pedestal (by certain people) that I didn't ask to be put on and never wanted to be on. I thought that I was accepted just for being me. Being honest, upon self-evaluation, I have to ask did I perpetuate the dread pedestal perception by the constraints in my own mind on whether certain things were "proper" or not for me to do? Did I really think that wearing pants or jeans on Sundays because I worked with the kids was setting me apart as someone who is not ruled by a bunch of "oughts," "musts" and "shoulds?" One good, kind person who happens to be a pastor's wife can be "taken out" by one person who began gossiping and slandering to others because she didn't like finding out that the "pastor's wife" supports marriage equality. Terrible accusations have been made about me, and worst of all, of my husband, who didn't even know about this woman's e-mails and comments to me until a month after it happened. I love to visit and talk, but I don't go running to the nearest person to fill up their ear with some juicy tidbit that gets juicier with every retelling. And just to illustrate - this same person always wanted to tell me in any conversation I had with her about how the people who call her at work to schedule self-improvement and reconstructive procedures are so sad and pathetic (she's a scheduler at a plastic surgeon's office). I would change the subject. There's nothing wrong with wanting to feel good about yourself and if a little (or a lot) of aesthetic assistance increases your confidence (and you can afford it), it is no one else's business, certainly not the schedulers. That reminds me - I need to find out the name of the docs she works for so I never go there. Okay, I guess you can tell - in the stages of grief and loss, I'm hitting a bit of an angry patch. As we know, anger is not a primary emotion, so there's probably some hurt undergirding it. I've got to just plow through this, feel the feelings, process and move on. I will get through this. And maybe after I do, I will go have a seafood buffet (or should I say "see-food" buffet) at the Muckleshoot casino, or somewhere like that, and then go to a nice nightclub and have a pretty, girly drink and dance with my hubby.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Dare To Believe
You can't be all things to all people.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.
So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you.*
Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you'll be a most vital mortal.
Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.
So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you.*
Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you'll be a most vital mortal.
Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
God's Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us. He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:7-12 (NIV)
Monday, March 26, 2012
Let there be peace on earth
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father, brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
With every breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Too Blessed to be Stressed!
"He that is a friend loves at all times: and a brother is proved in distress."
~Proverbs 17:17
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Prodigal (or Lost) Son
I love the verse that while he (the prodigal son) was a long way off, his father saw him. His father had been scanning the horizon looking for him for some time. His father has probably been praying for him and hoping for his safe return. Filled with compassion for his son, he ran to him. The father did not know what the son was going to say ahead of time. He could've been coming to hit him up for more money. Still, the father ran to him filled with compassion. He threw his arms around his son and he kissed him. Son still had not said sorry, forgive me, or anything yet. This is the love that the father has for his son. This is the love that God has for us, his children. We are receivers of this great love from Him that we have done nothing to deserve. Surely, we can strive to imitate the role model of our Heavenly Father's love for us as we show love to others. It is not an easy thing, however with continued practice and with asking Him for help, it can be done.
Luke 15:11-32
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Lost Son 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Luke 15:11-32
New International Version (NIV)
The Parable of the Lost Son 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
Friday, March 23, 2012
"Owies" and Healing
"Owies" are kind of amazing. I've always had a sweet tooth. When I was a child, on occasion, I would gather up all the (glass) pop bottles and walk to the store to return them for the deposit money and buy candy. I was on my way to do this and carrying a big brown grocery bag full of bottles in my arms, didn't see the break and rise in the pavement below me. I tripped and fell forward, breaking some of the bottles. A piece of glass punctured the back of my lower right arm. I looked at the damages, left the mess of bottles on the ground, put pressure on the injury on my arm and walked back home to clean it up and care for it. It was a mess and stitches were comtemplated, however we had just moved and my family didn't have medical insurance coverage yet, so butterfly bandages (like steri-strips) were applied to the injury. It looked pretty awful for a week or so, and then was red and irritated looking for quite awhile, and then bit by bit, the scar faded and now is not even noticeable, unless I really look for it. Healing is a miracle when I think about it. Not just physical healing, but also emotional healing. When an injury or trauma occurs, it is so fresh and painful, constantly reminding of its' presence in the consciousness. Given time and any appropriate treatment, the healing begins, and there may come a day when the experience, although very painful at the time, is a faded scar and memory. And the wonder of resiliency and healing.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Grace
"Grace is something you can never get but only be given. The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you. I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”
~from the book Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner
~from the book Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Love is....
Love is patient
Love is kind
Love does not envy
Love does not boast
Love is not proud
Love is not rude
Love always trusts
Love always hopes
Love never fails
-from 1 Corinthians, chapter 13
Love is kind
Love does not envy
Love does not boast
Love is not proud
Love is not rude
Love always trusts
Love always hopes
Love never fails
-from 1 Corinthians, chapter 13
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Happy Saint Patrick's Day
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
-Irish Blessing
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
-Irish Blessing
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
On Being Stuck
The woman brought to Jesus who had been caught in adultery would be stoned as per the custom of the day. She was stuck in her fate. The men who brought her to Jesus were stuck in following the law of those times that she should be stoned to death. Jesus thoughtfully paused for a few minutes before answering what was to be done about her (after the men reminded him of the law of Moses and questioned him several times) Jesus said "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. Again, Jesus waited quietly, and one by one the men went away until Jesus was the only one left with the woman. He asked her "Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you." She said, "No one, sir." Jesus declared, "Then neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin." She, who had been stuck in her fate, was free to go. The men who were stuck in judgment and in the law of Moses were free to go. We are all free in Christ. With His help, each person can choose not to continue to be stuck in the habit of judging and condemning others. Jesus' thoughts on the subject are very clear as evidenced by the story above, which is found in John 8: 1-11.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
thoughts regarding sanctity
sanc·ti·ty (sngkt-t)
1. Holiness of life or disposition; saintliness.
2. The quality or condition of being considered sacred; inviolability.
3. Something considered sacred.
Sanctity is a lovely word and a lovely ideal. Were that it may be so....as we know, it isn't. Christian marriages have as high divorce rate as non-Christians. Christians also fall prey to (or actively seek and engage in) those other less than sanctified behaviors that non-Christians do. The follies of human beings - make for very good tele-dramas, but not so good real life events. Plenty of fodder though for that bored small number of folks to have plenty to talk about, or even the not so bored that just delight in carrying their tales from one ear to the next. Sanctity is a lovely ideal, definitely something to strive for in an individual, quiet way. As something to demand from others, and act affronted if they don't share your passion for the definition of sanctity in as how it relates to you and your marriage - that tends to bring out very unsanctified behavior from those who are shouting accusatory and ugly things at the other, less "sanctified" (in their eyes) people, and that just defiles everyone, doesn't it? Maybe a revisit to the Golden Rule would be in order here.
1. Holiness of life or disposition; saintliness.
2. The quality or condition of being considered sacred; inviolability.
3. Something considered sacred.
Sanctity is a lovely word and a lovely ideal. Were that it may be so....as we know, it isn't. Christian marriages have as high divorce rate as non-Christians. Christians also fall prey to (or actively seek and engage in) those other less than sanctified behaviors that non-Christians do. The follies of human beings - make for very good tele-dramas, but not so good real life events. Plenty of fodder though for that bored small number of folks to have plenty to talk about, or even the not so bored that just delight in carrying their tales from one ear to the next. Sanctity is a lovely ideal, definitely something to strive for in an individual, quiet way. As something to demand from others, and act affronted if they don't share your passion for the definition of sanctity in as how it relates to you and your marriage - that tends to bring out very unsanctified behavior from those who are shouting accusatory and ugly things at the other, less "sanctified" (in their eyes) people, and that just defiles everyone, doesn't it? Maybe a revisit to the Golden Rule would be in order here.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Thoughts from James 4:11-12
The Bible has a lot to say about the subjects of gossiping, slandering and judging. More than it says about a few other issues that seem to be the hot issues these days that cause so much division.
In James 4:11-12, "Brothers (and sisters), do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"
And what is this law that is spoken of in these verses? Jesus summarized the law as love for God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40), and Paul said that love demonstrated toward a neighbor would fully satisfy the law (Romans 13:6-10). When we fail to love, we are actually breaking God's law.
In James 4:11-12, "Brothers (and sisters), do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"
And what is this law that is spoken of in these verses? Jesus summarized the law as love for God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40), and Paul said that love demonstrated toward a neighbor would fully satisfy the law (Romans 13:6-10). When we fail to love, we are actually breaking God's law.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
where you're at
I have some expressions - my family calls them "sue-isms." One of my favorites is "Where you're at is where you're at until you're not there anymore." I love this saying because it reminds me just as I am growing and changing, others are too. Maybe some get stuck (sometimes forever) in the same place, however this saying still reminds me to give myself, and others - grace, because where you're at is where you're at...until you're not there anymore.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
the Christian "prescription" to gayness
I recently felt just a tiny fraction of the animosity and backlash that gay people feel constantly. In late Jan, someone from my church realized from a comment on my facebook that I am not against marriage equality. It took about five weeks for this woman to work her destructive forces behind the scenes, which culminated in my husband resigning Feb. 26th from his pastorate of twelve years. He was also accused of faulty theology, universalism, a social gospel and being deceptive in coming to minister at that church in 2000. I have only formed the opinion that I am for marriage equality in the past year, after thinking about it the previous 3 years. In 2000, I did not think anything at all about gay people, their rights, or lack of. I didn't even know any gay people, at least I didn't know it if anyone was. I felt bad for the heartache my husband went through, and I realize how much he loves me because he would not ask me to change my view to please him or anyone. He accepts me and loves me just because I'm me.
I've thought a lot about this topic recently and have come to the conclusion that some people who claim to be the good and right Christians (and therefore the authority on every theological subject and able to discern the Bible perfectly and act as God's mouthpiece on every topic, like modern-day prophets, sharing their wisdom and light with the rest of us poor saps who do not possess this miraculous insight) basically have four prescriptions for the person who claims to be gay and a Christian.
1.) Marry someone of the opposite gender, pretend to be straight, and raise a family, and hope that if your partner ever realizes something is amiss, that they are willing to stay with you and keep up the charade for your lifetimes.
2.) Be celibate. Today, and for the rest of your life.
3.) Give in to your "unnatural" desires and be in an intimate relationship with your soul mate, your companion, the light of your life (and live your life as best as you can in this hostile world) and know that the fiery pit of hell and eternal damnation awaits you both.
4.) Or, kill yourself and be done with it. Just do it - put those who judge you out of their misery.
I don't know what others think, but I think these are terrible and unacceptable options. I wouldn't wish them on someone who I didn't like, let alone my friends. So add me to your naughty (er, I mean your "prayer" list) and gossip behind my back (er, I mean share your "loving concern" with your other "GCB's").
I truly feel sorry for the GCB's. To miss out on all the love and joy of wonder of life, of accepting people just as they are, of being real, and having real friends. I'll take my life any day, with the struggles of being real, of being true to myself, of learning and growing and changing - over the dark, sad little boxes where you have put yourselves, and try to shove anyone else who will let you - into, everyday.
I am a proud straight ally, and yes, I am also a Christian.
I've thought a lot about this topic recently and have come to the conclusion that some people who claim to be the good and right Christians (and therefore the authority on every theological subject and able to discern the Bible perfectly and act as God's mouthpiece on every topic, like modern-day prophets, sharing their wisdom and light with the rest of us poor saps who do not possess this miraculous insight) basically have four prescriptions for the person who claims to be gay and a Christian.
1.) Marry someone of the opposite gender, pretend to be straight, and raise a family, and hope that if your partner ever realizes something is amiss, that they are willing to stay with you and keep up the charade for your lifetimes.
2.) Be celibate. Today, and for the rest of your life.
3.) Give in to your "unnatural" desires and be in an intimate relationship with your soul mate, your companion, the light of your life (and live your life as best as you can in this hostile world) and know that the fiery pit of hell and eternal damnation awaits you both.
4.) Or, kill yourself and be done with it. Just do it - put those who judge you out of their misery.
I don't know what others think, but I think these are terrible and unacceptable options. I wouldn't wish them on someone who I didn't like, let alone my friends. So add me to your naughty (er, I mean your "prayer" list) and gossip behind my back (er, I mean share your "loving concern" with your other "GCB's").
I truly feel sorry for the GCB's. To miss out on all the love and joy of wonder of life, of accepting people just as they are, of being real, and having real friends. I'll take my life any day, with the struggles of being real, of being true to myself, of learning and growing and changing - over the dark, sad little boxes where you have put yourselves, and try to shove anyone else who will let you - into, everyday.
I am a proud straight ally, and yes, I am also a Christian.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
My meditations for today
" Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." ~Ephesians 4:32
"Breathe in, Breathe out, Move on." ~my friend Debbie H.
"Breathe in, Breathe out, Move on." ~my friend Debbie H.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
My prayer for today
My prayer for today:
"May I be the yardstick of compassion, not the microscope of blame."
"May I be the yardstick of compassion, not the microscope of blame."
Monday, March 5, 2012
The 7 Deadly Sins
This list is remarkable not only because of what is listed, but also because of what is not listed:
A proud look.
A lying tongue.
Hands that shed innocent blood.
A heart that devises wicked plots.
Feet that are swift to run into mischief.
A deceitful witness that uttereth lies.
Him that soweth discord among brethren.
-from the book of Proverbs
A proud look.
A lying tongue.
Hands that shed innocent blood.
A heart that devises wicked plots.
Feet that are swift to run into mischief.
A deceitful witness that uttereth lies.
Him that soweth discord among brethren.
-from the book of Proverbs
In the past week, I left a place that I loved in and cared for the past twelve years. I will not return there, yet it remains with me. I will no longer be there, and yet whispers of me will remain "I have loved. I have cared." When the little ones in the preschool room say "In this room we care for our friends." "God planned for me to grow." "We always use the handrail on the stairs." "God gave me helping hands." "We take turns." "We share." In the brightly hung curtains, the thoughtfully chosen books, puzzles and toys, I whisper "I care about you, I love you." From the children playing "shepherd" and taking their 'candy cane' shepherd rod to rescue the one little sheep that had strayed. From the organized, thoughtful supply room to the extra serving bowls and platters, extra punch bowls, colorful tablecloths and the high chair in the fellowship hall, the cd players, the microwaves, and refrigerators in the S.S. rooms, all whisper of my care, in my behind the scenes way. The imprints on my heart from conversations and shared experiences with parents, and with other members I had the privilege to know and to love are memories I cherish. You shared your hearts with me and I with you and I will always remember you. <3
Sunday, March 4, 2012
My heart is the home I carry with me
When you move a lot, you learn about leaving. It is more familiar than staying put. I have not moved much the last 3 decades of life, however the first two decades I lived at 69 addresses (not an exxageration). I learned that my heart is the home I carry with me. I don't live alone there, though at times I may feel like I do. I met Jesus when I was 13 years old. The journey since may not always be smooth, however I have not walked alone since that day in the summer of 1973, the most amazing experience and important decision in my life.
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Posted: 04/ 4/2012 5:31 pm Updated: 04/ 4/2012 5:32 pmBy David Gibson, Religion News Service