$2.20 a gallon in Long Beach. Cripes.
...
Went to church yesterday for the first time in a long time. Each week for the past few months, there's been something getting in the way of attending (traveling to Ohio, moving, Carey's inability to go, car issues, our church disbanding)... I could count on one hand the number of times I was actually in a church service over the course of the entire summer.
It's strange when you've been in a groove your entire life and then you abruptly stop. In the case of church, it begins to give you the perspective of an outsider who doesn't know a thing about church or Christianity, trying it on for size for the first time... Very interesting experience. I found myself thinking some very cynical thoughts, which is nothing new, but I was very distracted by the wanderings of my own brain.
("Why do people believe this? Isn't this hokey? Isn't this manipulative? Is the pastor such a nice guy because he wants to cover for his lack of research for this sermon? Was this whole thing pulled from Chicken Soup for the Soul? Why are people laughing at these jokes? Any other crowd would boo that gag offstage. What's with the 'offering plate'? Why don't they just not pass it instead of making such a big deal out of the fact that you don't have to put anything in if you don't want? If they have such faith that the Lord'll provide, why not just have an offering drop box at the back and avoid making visitors feel like jackasses? What's with all the over-dramatic Loretta-Lynn-esque faces that one worship singer keeps making during the songs? Is she really that into it? Doesn't she know how showy and cheesy and artificial it looks? Why is it that young Christians are harder on Christianity than anyone, yet older Christians seem to be easiest on it? Is it possible to lead a fulfilling life without God? Are the people that say that they are living a fulfilling, Christ-free life lying or kidding themselves or are they genuinely content? This is the one, true faith? How do I know? Has every person in this room asked themselves how they know? Have any of them? Why is it that non-Christians think more critically than Christians, by and large? Isn't that a problem? Shouldn't that indicate something? Would it be wrong of me to go out and check out other religions for awhile, or would that be "running from God?" If the Christian God is truly the only God, wouldn't He want us to verify it for ourselves? Isn't the whole "you just need more faith" thing pretty screwed up and a way to keep people from going anywhere? So, what about those folks that have never heard about Christ? Is it just Hell and that's it? Is paying general regard to a creator enough for those people? If that's the case, isn't it then more beneficial for some folks to have never been told about Christianity? Why can't I just stop thinking about all of this and just listen to the sermon?")
...
Getting back into the freelance swing and my recent neglect has caught up with me. I'm out of excuses, now, so it's back to work. A couple of fun projects in the pipe, so I'm encouraged.
And I really need to design that new website for my business... hnnn.
...
Went to church yesterday for the first time in a long time. Each week for the past few months, there's been something getting in the way of attending (traveling to Ohio, moving, Carey's inability to go, car issues, our church disbanding)... I could count on one hand the number of times I was actually in a church service over the course of the entire summer.
It's strange when you've been in a groove your entire life and then you abruptly stop. In the case of church, it begins to give you the perspective of an outsider who doesn't know a thing about church or Christianity, trying it on for size for the first time... Very interesting experience. I found myself thinking some very cynical thoughts, which is nothing new, but I was very distracted by the wanderings of my own brain.
("Why do people believe this? Isn't this hokey? Isn't this manipulative? Is the pastor such a nice guy because he wants to cover for his lack of research for this sermon? Was this whole thing pulled from Chicken Soup for the Soul? Why are people laughing at these jokes? Any other crowd would boo that gag offstage. What's with the 'offering plate'? Why don't they just not pass it instead of making such a big deal out of the fact that you don't have to put anything in if you don't want? If they have such faith that the Lord'll provide, why not just have an offering drop box at the back and avoid making visitors feel like jackasses? What's with all the over-dramatic Loretta-Lynn-esque faces that one worship singer keeps making during the songs? Is she really that into it? Doesn't she know how showy and cheesy and artificial it looks? Why is it that young Christians are harder on Christianity than anyone, yet older Christians seem to be easiest on it? Is it possible to lead a fulfilling life without God? Are the people that say that they are living a fulfilling, Christ-free life lying or kidding themselves or are they genuinely content? This is the one, true faith? How do I know? Has every person in this room asked themselves how they know? Have any of them? Why is it that non-Christians think more critically than Christians, by and large? Isn't that a problem? Shouldn't that indicate something? Would it be wrong of me to go out and check out other religions for awhile, or would that be "running from God?" If the Christian God is truly the only God, wouldn't He want us to verify it for ourselves? Isn't the whole "you just need more faith" thing pretty screwed up and a way to keep people from going anywhere? So, what about those folks that have never heard about Christ? Is it just Hell and that's it? Is paying general regard to a creator enough for those people? If that's the case, isn't it then more beneficial for some folks to have never been told about Christianity? Why can't I just stop thinking about all of this and just listen to the sermon?")
...
Getting back into the freelance swing and my recent neglect has caught up with me. I'm out of excuses, now, so it's back to work. A couple of fun projects in the pipe, so I'm encouraged.
And I really need to design that new website for my business... hnnn.
posted by Jeremy Bear at
6:27 PM
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