Friday, February 29, 2008

What if...

I muddle along with my lack of standing on many spiritual issues. I happen to think that homosexual sex is sinful behavior, but I don't think that people who practice this sin are any more sinful than people who indulge in gluttony, materialism, heterosexual sex outside of marriage, or pride. So I enjoy the company of homosexual friends and relatives and hope they enjoy my company.

I also have friends who have had abortions.
But I would not participate in helping a friend have an abortion.

So what if my cousin invites me to a wedding? Or my ex-husband? I want to celebrate my friends' joys but not behaviors I count as sin.

As is often the case, I can't find a "policy". I need to rely on prayer for guidance, once again, as always, ....

Sunday, February 24, 2008

church shopping


I'm officially church shopping. Today I went to Melesa's church. I like that everyone is lively and there seems to be a good diversity. I like that the pastor doesn't give us the same old same old (with a few exceptions noted below). I really like that they have cell groups and they grab newcomers and assign them a cell. I like that they have missionary connections to Haiti and one member speaks Haitian-Creole.
I did not like the music. Sure I expected praise chorus stuff, but it hurt my ears. I didn't like that abortion and homosexuality were mentioned as sins, (same old sins) but neither gluttony nor idolatry was.
The jury is still out on the theology. Is it "prosperity" gospel? Can't quite tell. The sermon was on Isaiah 54 and it left me a little confused. He said it was a promise, not a prophesy. I am unconvinced. The altar call was effective although during the meeting after the service to meet the newcomers, a woman who was "with" a guy who declared for Christ sort of muttered that she might be interested in salvation and whammo, she got assigned to a cell group and there was prayer and praise.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Thoughtlessness


I haven't had a lot in my brain lately. I'm only writing to prove I haven't abandoned my blog. I've read a lot of other blogs and have been appreciative of the thoughts which are torrents compared to my driblets. Since the chapter this week has been about Solitude (and silence), and because I usually have too much chatter in my head, I rather welcome this emptiness of head.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Simplicity

As I crawl through Foster's Celebration of Discipline I'm thinking about simplicity. Yesterday I was substitute teaching sixth grade students and had the chance to think about driving at or under the speed limit.
I didn't tell them my first reason - it's a spiritual excercise to combat two of my character defects. When I obey the law I am letting go of being defiant and arrogant. I do NOT know better than the law makers and I comply with what they would have me do. I didn't tell the kids this because it's personal and more than that, complicated.
My second reason is that it saves petroleum. My mileage is quite good. It was 40 mpg last time I took a long trip. I'd like to do my bit to conserve non-renewable resources and to give my country a little less reason to rationalize war. This I discussed with the kids. I showed them the math.
Another thing that came up with the kids was to respond to "it gets us there faster" with "WHY?" I'd like to bring up the question because it seems we all hurry without any reason.
I found myself doing an Eddie Izzard mime of driving along with the wind in my hair. The kids were in stitches (and I'm pretty sure they've never seen Eddie Izzard.) They probably think I'm just loony. I like to think they think I'm cool. It's possible they just think I'm foolish, but as long as I act like I think they think I'm cool, they suspect I may really be cool.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Ooh I'm in the game!

Here is the game. It's like tag.

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
Find Page 123.
Find the first 5 sentences.
Post the next 3 sentences.
Tag 5 people.

Here's my sentences:

None of the neighbors would interfere. Why she did not know for certain. Perhaps out of respect for her grey hair. - Rohinton Mistry, Tales from Firozsha Baag

Now for the hard part. Who to tag? Who reads my blog that hasn't been tagged?

Miss Daisy Anne
ShaneBertou.com
Got fruit?
¿Yhate?
Matt Stone

I may have to cheat and point some of these folks my way.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Why go to church?

I can't stand to see myself blogging about it over and over, so I'll refer you to PistolPete's  excellent comments on it for today. (I did rant at length in his comment section.)

ground hog day



One of my favorite holidays is ground hog day. It's a day without any obligations - no presents, no cards, no sentiments. I also remember a particularly good drunkalog where the speaker described using any excuse to drink, including ground hog day. Yesterday during ESL I had fun drawing one and learned that a ground hog is a large prairie dog.