Inspired by Nerd in the Brain
BRING THE HAPPY!
Finding Faith
The wife and I were having a discussion about religion and faith after having watched “The Shack” a week or so back. The movie had a line that has stuck with both of us and had a strong impact with us. The character that was implied as being Christ said “Religion is too much work. All I ever want is friends.” I may have quoted that incorrectly, but the gist is there. Causing us both to think about this in our own contexts of religion, we have reached a point where it might be time to start venturing back into faith. I have never been religious and always had a lot of questions that never really got answered to my satisfaction. Part of me knows that the point of faith is not knowing everything, but accepting that it’s the way it is for a reason unknown to us. My hang up was always on the “organization” side of religion and how so many people see faith and religion as the same thing. I see faith as a completely separate thing from religion and feel that you be faithful to something without having to surrender to the organization of religion.
That said, I’m going to float an idea to the wife and daughter where we each choose a gathering of faithful people (religious or not) and attend each week for a month straight. My wife will no doubt choose a Catholic church to attend, and that’s okay. The only rules we will agree to is that we keep an open mind for ALL of the choices and we go through the entire month asking all the questions we feel are necessary. I think I’m going to find a Buddhist temple to attend as that faith has interested me for years. A future post will detail our progress and ultimate decision as a family.
Political Opinion
I made my 20th post to EatPrayVote.org yesterday. My experience writing for this site has been awesome so far. There is a really good group of writers that span the full spectrum of political positions; conservative, liberal, moderates, progressives, etc. The level of the writing has improved how I write myself and support from a lot of them has allowed me to improve so much in a short period of time. Writing for the site (after inquiring) is proving to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.
Birthdays
It’s the dreaded time of year where it is once again my birthday. The exact day is not relevant because like Christmas, it’s not something I like to celebrate. This year we’re doing a family dinner at my house so at least I get to stay home this year. We’re also doing a more subdued celebration and it’s only my wife’s immediate family. My side of the family is doing a dinner later in April so we can lump my Mom’s birthday in there too. Every year I wish to spend the entire 24 hours of my actual birthday alone, but it never actually comes true. Only other introverts really understand why. But, for my wife and daughters sake, I’m being a trooper and not being the grumpy-gus I’ve been in previous years. It’ll all be over soon enough 🙂
TTT Weekly Music Recommendation
The Stage
by Avenged Sevenfold
Life Between 0 and 1 
Faith is good….I put my faith in myself…..Of course I have made crappy decisions in the past but I have also made wonderful ones….Eat Pray Vote is a good site I enjoy going there whenever I can….a job well done….BDs…I am an old fart so I do not want to be reminded how close I am to a dirt nap…..have a good day….chuq
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First of all let me say, “Happy Birthday” and may your birthday be blessed with all good health, prosperity, abundance and happiness. Then let me talk about “Finding Faith:”
Faith is essential but “Religion” per se is not.
I would counsel that if you do decide to attend an organized religious function that you make the determination from the outset to keep your eyes on the proceedings and the tenents of your faith — on the altar and your devotions and do not get into the habit of getting involved in the little social happenings that will almost certainly be offered to you.
I went hog wild for my own “Religious” experience a few years ago and I even worked my way up to being a “Reader” for the ceremonies and a member of the Church Council.
I did all the bake sales and blood drives and everything.
I discovered that the religion (The Faith) (The Denomination) is a great thing but that if you get involved too much with the people around you you are opening yourself up for a lot of disappointment and possibly even hurt because some people can be very unkind and judgmental sometimes. So always be aware that it is desperately important to pursue Faith but it is also sometimes emotionally dangerous to get too wrapped up in the temporal affairs of the humanity around you.
As to the politics:
You do a really good job so keep up the good work.
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Always appreciate when you comment. I hear you on getting too involved with religion whet the faith is compromised. I’m goon to tread lightly into the while idea.
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Faith I have, religion not so much. Will be interested to read about your experiences with religion.
Political opinions I have, but am tired of shouting into the wind. I follow current events a la 45 because he is, to put it simply, untrustworthy, a character flaw that to me is a bug, not a feature.
Happy Birthday! I get the being alone thing, but considering that you can’t do so, enjoy what you can of the day!
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I say you are heading in the right direction. I’m sure you are not interested in the rest of my thought on this. Congratulations of another Birthday. I’m always happy to have another. It’s like winning the lottery to me.
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