Church update

Well, after my last post about how much I liked that Unitarian church, I haven't been back. The next weekend I was dogsitting and she was having some issues and I really couldn't leave her alone for too long and it was about 45 minutes from the church. Last weekend my license plate was stolen off my car on Saturday as it sat at the local train station while I was at my needlepoint place all day in the city. So, I didn't think it was wise to drive around without a legal plate the next day.

Now, everything is back in order and I intend to be back this weekend.

I may have found a church I like

I think I may have found a church that I can actually attend and feel like I'm staying true to my personal beliefs. I've not been to a church (other than when I visit my parents) in over ten years because I felt that I had to sometimes go against my own conscience in order to feel like I belonged there. I've been a Presbyterian most of my life -- not exactly a restrictive Christian denomination, lol -- but I still felt like there was a lot of emphasis on having children and not necessarily accepting all people into the fold. I loved my Presbyterian church in Florida, where it was emphasized that our Communion was not just for members of Presbyterians but for anyone who believed in it. When I moved here in 1995 I tried a few churces, but they were full of either people much, much older than me or families -- nobody my age who was single or not married -- and I felt like an outsider.

So, I've been investigating Unitarianism lately and decided to check out the local church. I'm fortunate that it's only about 10-15 minutes away. The are a Welcoming Congregation, which means they openly accept people of various sexual orientations and other religions. This is important to me. I'm so sick of people claiming to be "good Christians" who seem to hate everyone who aren't exactly like them. I'm tired of feeling like I need to go against my own beliefs and what's in my heart in order to be part of something bigger. I like that the Unitarians are very involved in many social issues that are close to my heart and that we don't all have to have the exact same beliefs in order to be part of the mix.

I suppose that to many people this means I'm no longer a "true" Christian. Well, maybe I'm not. I've been questioning my spiritual beliefs quite a bit lately, to be honest. In the end, I will do what I think is best. I can't imagine that God wants me to hate everyone who thinks differently than I do.

And just to be clear...
I do know plenty of Christians who are good and very decent people, and don't mean to say all are hateful. I think I've come into contact with too many who are, but also many who are wonderful people. I just don't feel like any of the churches I've tried in the past are as inclusive as I tend to be in my own life, and that's what I need. This post turned into a bit more of a rant against hateful people than I intended.

Yeah yeah, I know.

I've been so bad about the blogging lately, there's probably nobody out there and I'm talking to myself. Oh well, that's OK -- it's not like there was a huge amount of trafic here. :)

So, I found the cutest cat picture. It's in the Foster & Smith catalog and snagged it for my blog. Does this not look like the happiest and most content cat you've ever seen? This kitty makes me smile every time I see the picture.




On a totally unrelated note, I've been watching the Eureka marathon today and am now going to have to rent the DVDs from Netflix and start watching this show when it starts up again in July. There aren't many current TV shows I actually watch, but I like this one.

Yeesh! Why is everything such a big deal to some people?

Saw this article posted on a message board I visit. It's about a woman getting a negative reaction from some parents because she was born with one hand instead of two and is on a children's program.


How do you explain a missing hand to a child?

Once again, I should clarify that I have no children and to some that means I'm not allowed an opinion. Too bad. :) I remember meeting people who dealt with various disabilities as a kid and I'm hardly scarred by it. We knew people with missing fingers, a missing arm, etc. One of my father's cousins has Down's Syndrome and his niece and nephews grew up with him in the house like he was an older brother. My parents explained these things to us in simple terms -- He lost his finger in a factory accident. He lost his arm in a car accident. That was enough for us and we moved on. It REALLY isn't a big deal and will help kids to understand that people can look different but still be able to do what everyone else does.

Funny Simpsons

OK, anyone who is still reading my blog knows that I'm a fan of "The Simpsons." I was watching one last night and about went into hysterics. Good ol' Grandpa Simpson was telling one of his WWII stories. Apparently, he was the guy who went ahead of the troops to find mines. He ends up directing tanks off cliffs, trucks onto mines instead of around them — you get the picture. Then he says, "And that's how I earned the Iron Cross."

Think about it.

:)

Need to update

Wow. I really need to update some of my links. Maybe over the weekend...

(I'm such a bad blogger.)

I'm still here

Holy crow! It's really been a long time since I've been here. I'm afraid I got addicted to FaceBook for a while, but I think I prefer to use my blog for my normal meanderings, God help you.

Well, I finally found my cord to connect my camera to the computer, so more pictures should be coming soon. I've also become a fixture at a new needlepoint shop (Rittenhouse Needlepoint) near work and have added needlepoint to my stash. I really enjoy it, and it's nice to have another type of project to work on, although I may need a room all to myself for all my stash.

Other than that, I suppose things are about the same. I had a great time visiting my sister in San Francisco over the holidays. It was tough coming back. While I was there, I went to her dentist. This was planned ahead of time. Long story short, I have a dentist phobia and she also did, but said this dentist is so good that it's not an issue. So, he ended up redoing two root canals because my previous dentist apparently didn't make the little poles long enough and that's why one of my crowns broke a while back (don't worry, that didn't hurt). He also pulled the tooth that had the broken crown, which I expected. Now I need to get an implant. Oy. At least it's far enough back that you can't see it. Even with the dentist episode added in, I had a great time out there. Heck the dentist had me on laughing gas so I wasn't really doing too badly there, either.

Things at work are starting to get busier -- more funding for one program, new program opening in Delaware, creating a better website for another, Annual Report coming up, etc. The fact that we are doing so well is absolutely fantastic and being busy in this economy is a very good thing.

Pearl Harbor Day