Free Coffee!!

I went to 7-11 today for my weekly Slurpee fixed, and was pleasantly surprised to see their signs promoting free coffee morning! Thursday, September 29th, between 7 and 11 a.m., you can get a free medium coffee from 7-11 (does not include iced coffee).

I'm all over that!

Banned Books Week

Yes, the Book of Mormon has been burned and/or banned/challenged by different competing religious factions.

Artist: Multiple popular artists and writers, Religious materials

Confronting Bodies: Harvest Assembly of God Church

Date of Action: March 2001

Specific Location: Harvest Assembly of God Church parking lot, Penn Township, Butler County, PA.

Description of Artwork: Books, Music CDs and tapes, Videotapes, Religious materials

Description of Incident: The Harvest Assembly of God Church held a book, music, and videotape burning ceremony in the parking lot of their church. Approximately 30 participants gathered to burn their own possessions that they felt were disloyal to God. The event was the idea of some church youths who were studying the book of Revelations. Acts 19:19 was also sited as inspiration, given its description of how former practitioners of magic burned their books in public. Participants congregated for the ceremony where in they deposited their popular music, literature, and movies in the fire, while singing Christian songs. Among the "objectionable material" was music from artists such as REM, Bruce Springsteen, and Foreigner. Disney movies and Harry Potter novels were destroyed for promoting sorcery. Additionally, Mormon and Jehovah's Witness materials were burned for not being truly Christian since they promoted several gods. The event was catered toward people who had already "received Christ" and wanted to demonstrate their commitment to him. That may explain the absence of pornographic materials or any discernable idols.

Results of Incident: No protesters attended the event. Reverend George Bender from the Harvest Assembly of God Church was disappointed that there were not more visitors at the burning, but felt the ceremony had worked out well.

Source: Post-Gazette.com

So if, in the spirit of Banned Books week, you want to read it, go ahead. But if you want to read a GOOD banned/challenged book, may I suggest:

• Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman)
• The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)
• Candide (Voltaire)
• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (Judy Blume)
• The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
• Fallen Angels (Walter Dean Myers)
• Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
• The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
• A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle)

What's your favourite banned/challenged book, and why should I read it?

 

Undies

Today, in breaking news that no one cares about, I'm going to tell you about my undies!  They're not white. They don't come down to my knees. There's nothing under my bra except my boobs and nakey skin.  The bottom undies are black, with little red hearts, and a black ribbon bow on the front. They're cute, and they make me happy. Way happier than the underwear I wore for 25 years. (Um, that should not be construed to mean that I wore the same pair of underwear for 25 years, because ugh.)

That is all!

Nightmares

My best friend had a son who passed away a little over a year ago.  I loved that little boy from the day he was born, and still--and will--love him forever and always.

I had a horrible dream last night that he had come to me and told me that the world would end in one year, and that the beautiful rainbow in the sky was the last rainbow there ever would be.

Well, based on the whole rainbow thing, in my dream that meant that TSCC was really true.  But even then I couldn't believe it and could not participate.

Fortunately the dream then passed into a dream about work, which for once was far desirable than the first dream.

I believe that there are many, many beautiful, good, virtuous, lovely people who are members of the mormon church. I respect them and love them for who and what they are.  But I also believe that the foundations of the church are not what they proclaim to be. I do not believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I believe that he was a very charismatic leader who did whatever it took to get whatever he wanted. He was a sexual predator. I do not believe that Brigham Young was a prophet. He was absolutely foul. I do not believe that Spencer W. Kimbell was a prophet. Ever read The Miracle of Forgiveness? I wonder how many people have hated themselves, or even committed suicide, after reading that book.

I haven't posted much here because in my mind I'm so thoroughly separated from the church that I haven't really needed to vent. I have my cup or two of coffee every morning, and my husband is finally used to it enough that he doesn't complain. I go through my day without feeling that I'm a horrible person who is beyond redemption. I love my neighbours. I love my family. I don't have to be mormon to be a decent person.

I don't know what, if anything, is out there beyond this life. I guess my religious beliefs, at this moment, are aligned with Marcus Aurelius, and that's not a bad thing. I still pray, but my prayers are more like sending things out to the universe and hoping that there is perhaps a higher power who will hear me. And if not, it still comforts me to hope that there is.

I miss my best friend's son. He lit up the world just by being himself. He had a huge personality, and left a giant gaping hole when he left. But I believe that he still exists. I believe that he still has that huge personality, and deeply loving heart, and I'll get to see him again, and hug him tightly, and tell him how much I love him. And I don't believe I have to be mormon for that to happen.

C., I love you. Always have. Always will.

Going Crazy!!!

My husband, once he decided that all the events of the last four months were judgments from God for my leaving the church and his asking the questions that instigated my leaving the church, will not let that thought out of his mind.

I am going out of my mind. I've said to him that if everyone who left the church had their houses burned down, there would be a heckuvalot more homeless people. Sometimes that will calm him down, and other times he'll continue to argue.

Here's what's happened in the last four months:

• He got a nasty cold. No big deal, except that he so rarely gets sick that to him it's a huge deal.
• After the cold went mostly away, he had lingering sinus issues.
• He got a really bad case of food poisoning.
• Our oldest dog died.
• Our house burned down. (Okay, not literally down, as in to the ground, because if you just drive by you wouldn't know anything had happened. But all of the interior and the roof and rafters have to be gutted and rewired, rebuilt, etc.)
• The manager at the hotel we're staying at until Friday, when we move into an apartment for the duration, has been extremely nasty.

So yeah, a really sucktastic period for him. But I still don't believe in the cause and effect correlation. I don't believe all these things happened because I left the church. Here's why:

• Colds happen to people all over the place all the time.
• When colds mostly go away, it's possible to develop bronchitis or have lingering sinus issues.
• If you eat food that has something toxic, you get food poisoning. He was in another state, and ate some Chinese food that had chicken in it, so I'm assuming it was from that. Chicken's tricky if you don't use proper methods of preparation and cooking.
• Our dog was old and tired. It was just her time. It doesn't make it any easier, but there it is.
• Our house was built in 1954, and at some point someone put a fuse (I think that's what it is--I'm not a mechanical/electrical type of person) that was 100 whatevers instead of the 50 whatevers it should have been. There have been extremely high temperatures here this summer, so there was a lot of drain on the air conditioners and electricity demands. And I don't know what else happened, but the result was a house fire.
• The manager at the hotel is an asshole. There are people who are lovely to work with. There are people who are ignorant and hard to deal with. There are assholes. That's just part of life.

So I'm trying not to let all his negativity get to me. When he tells me not to drink coffee or wine, I tell him that I'm an adult and will drink whatever I feel like drinking.

I'm hoping things will get better when we're into the apartment and out of the hotel. If not, it's going to be really craptacular.

WTF?

Yesterday after work, my husband met me at a restaurant near the hotel for dinner.  The restaurant really had the air cranked, so I was quite cold.  When I told my husband how cold I was, he said, and I quote, "That's because you're not wearing your garments."

WTF?

My response: "I'm cold because they have the air conditioner cranked up."

Things That Make You Go WTF?

My husband asked me the other day if anyone from TSCC had contacted me about the house fire. I told him no, but then again, I haven't been in contact with anyone to tell them.  He then told me that he'd called our bishop.

Hmmm. Fat lot of good that did, eh?

Okay. Here's the thing. If I were, say, someone's visiting teacher, and I learned that she had requested no contact with the church, I would respect that. If, however, I learned that the person's house had burned down, I would be calling or visiting not as a representative of the church, but as a fellow human. What can I do? How can I help?

And then today I've been thinking some more. I am actually "friends" on Facebook with a few members from our ward. And of all the people who responded with commiseration or well wishes, none of them were those people. I may be doing some unfriending tonight.

It goes back to what I said before about my loving visiting teacher who showed me only too clearly that she didn't love me at all. I was just a duty for her. And while I requested no contact from the church, I very clearly emphasized that it was me, and I did not speak for my husband in any way. For him to reach out, and be rebuffed, just pisses me off even more.

(Please note that I have friends who just happen to be members of the church, and this isn't directed at them in any way, shape, form, or fashion. I am referring specifically to the members of the ward in which we reside and which my husband would love someone to reach out to him not as someone who's falling away but in genuine compassion and kindness.  (Did you just laugh there? Did you snort? Oh--the snort must have been from me. Sorry 'bout that, she says unrepentantly.)