I cannot believe that I am doing this...I try to keep out of all of discussions on current events. I have to get this out, though, and if I do it right, I hope at least to make my point.
Human beings cannot begin to know everything that there is to know. To proclaim that they do is a dangerous thing. I have heard both sides of the current arguments. Both seem to be lacking something very important. It's this:
Individuals should not have control over what someone beside themselves chooses as a belief or a lifestyle. Our country was built on this principle. I so happen to be a Christian, so as closely as I am able, I try to follow what I know to be true in my life-long exposure to the Holy Bible. Everyone is human, and everyone, across all of humanity makes mistakes. So...I do not believe that being a Christian makes me better than anyone else. Do I think I am right in this choice? Of course I do! Why would I be a follower of Christ if I didn't think that it was right? Do I ever have doubt? You bet your apple jacks I do. Every day. That's why there's faith. And Hope. And prayer. And study. And eventually, I'll know. We all will, one way or another.
Do I believe that God's commandment to me was to be global adjudicator? Breaker of established laws? Thank goodness NO. I am, by my set of beliefs, to [paraphrased] love my neighbor as I do myself (Mark 2:31) and to 'judge not, lest I myself be scrutinized under the same judgment.(Matthew 7:1-3)
This is so simple to me. My Bible says to give back to the governing body what belongs to it, and give to God what is God's. (Matthew 12:17) The governors of the day were amazed at Jesus saying this. I think that if we as Christians did just that, AGAIN, we'd amaze everyone all over again. It is not my job to judge others, and so, if the government of my country BY ITS PEOPLE sets rules to allow for its citizens to have the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, then it is so very thankfully not my job to prevent that government from doing so. This does not mean that we cannot cast our votes by our beliefs on those laws during the process. It does not mean that Christians need to just stand by and watch the world change from the sidelines.
So now we know what is not my job. What IS my job is to follow Christ and his teachings, to go out into all the world and share this belief, TEACHING people about what I believe and why it is important...by my actions, NOT JUST BY my words. (Matthew 28:19). Nowhere in my Bible does it say that I am to MAKE people believe like I do. Nowhere does it say that if they don't, I can't love them, or grant them a marriage license, or bake them a cake, or whatever else is yet to come. Even God, by my belief, didn't want that. This is why we're all given the freedom to choose what we believe, ever since [what I believe to be] the beginning. Yes, it is my belief that no one can come into the Kingdom of God except by the grace and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.(John 14:6) But it is NOT my belief that I should somehow have the right to circumvent the law, or be a better judge than the government, and certainly not a better judge than who I believe to be God and Maker of Heaven and Earth.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Last Post, This Post
Last entry: November. Tomorrow it will be March 1st, and one day prior to our 13th wedding anniversary. Our wedding was on a Saturday. There was a freak snow storm. Considering the present state of the weather outside, I am forced to be even more reminiscent.
Had the colonoscopy in December. All perfectly normal, except for confirmation of scar tissue from my hysterectomy, the pain caused by which I shall have to simply live with. Ah, well. I suppose we all do the best we can.
Hunter the super cat is better than before. He can now climb up on the couch and sleep on me, which is where he prefers to do so. He is sometimes a demanding, cranky old man. If he's hungry, he literally screams if he sees you coming, and then leads you to the bathroom and squalls until fed. But I believe after a life lived so long, an old man is entitled to shout for his supper.
I have been working on another blanket, and a few drawings here and there. I go through phases where I am more interested in hidden object games and facebook. I have been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my husband. For probably the 5th time. Such a good show. And in light of the recent passing of Leonard Nimoy, it is a bit more interesting when he happens upon an episode, which is the case tonight. It's such a strange thing. Until now, I have never shed tears at a celebrity's passing. I guess it must be because I cannot remember a time in my entire life where he wasn't just 'out there' being Spock. I know it is strange to mourn the death of someone you never really knew, but my life would be so different without my experience with his character. I can think of so many conversations that would have been devoid of any humorous reference to Living long and Prospering. So many contests with friends on who could most skillfully bid a vulcan farewell. A few painful receipts of a 'vulcan nerve pinch.' Silly? No, I don't think so. It's simply the end of an era. A signification of another step further away from youth, and toward the next stage of life. Maybe I shed a tear for us both.
We may have made a small breakthrough with Riley's medication. The poor child takes four medications. He has one to help him 'settle' a little during school, one for bedtime, and one for mood and anxiety. We have reluctantly tried stimulants, with what I would call atrocious results. We have tried mood stabilizers, to reduce aggression, with quite the opposite effect. Before this, they put him on prozac, which helped in some ways, but seemed to increase bad dreams and decrease sleep. We have switched from Prozac to Zoloft and had a week of fairly positive results. And the Vistaril for anxiety is an antihistamine which has a sedative effect. With that, and a little lavender oil, which Riley calls 'wee-waxing-stuff,' we seem to maybe, MAYBE...finally have a good fit. At least for now. We are scheduled to go to the Dennis Developmental Center in Little Rock in May for a day-long battery of evaluations to come to some more clear determination of his overall condition.
So aside from a pretty crummy encounter with an identity thief, things are going along fine! But, that's a subject for another time.
Had the colonoscopy in December. All perfectly normal, except for confirmation of scar tissue from my hysterectomy, the pain caused by which I shall have to simply live with. Ah, well. I suppose we all do the best we can.
Hunter the super cat is better than before. He can now climb up on the couch and sleep on me, which is where he prefers to do so. He is sometimes a demanding, cranky old man. If he's hungry, he literally screams if he sees you coming, and then leads you to the bathroom and squalls until fed. But I believe after a life lived so long, an old man is entitled to shout for his supper.
I have been working on another blanket, and a few drawings here and there. I go through phases where I am more interested in hidden object games and facebook. I have been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my husband. For probably the 5th time. Such a good show. And in light of the recent passing of Leonard Nimoy, it is a bit more interesting when he happens upon an episode, which is the case tonight. It's such a strange thing. Until now, I have never shed tears at a celebrity's passing. I guess it must be because I cannot remember a time in my entire life where he wasn't just 'out there' being Spock. I know it is strange to mourn the death of someone you never really knew, but my life would be so different without my experience with his character. I can think of so many conversations that would have been devoid of any humorous reference to Living long and Prospering. So many contests with friends on who could most skillfully bid a vulcan farewell. A few painful receipts of a 'vulcan nerve pinch.' Silly? No, I don't think so. It's simply the end of an era. A signification of another step further away from youth, and toward the next stage of life. Maybe I shed a tear for us both.
We may have made a small breakthrough with Riley's medication. The poor child takes four medications. He has one to help him 'settle' a little during school, one for bedtime, and one for mood and anxiety. We have reluctantly tried stimulants, with what I would call atrocious results. We have tried mood stabilizers, to reduce aggression, with quite the opposite effect. Before this, they put him on prozac, which helped in some ways, but seemed to increase bad dreams and decrease sleep. We have switched from Prozac to Zoloft and had a week of fairly positive results. And the Vistaril for anxiety is an antihistamine which has a sedative effect. With that, and a little lavender oil, which Riley calls 'wee-waxing-stuff,' we seem to maybe, MAYBE...finally have a good fit. At least for now. We are scheduled to go to the Dennis Developmental Center in Little Rock in May for a day-long battery of evaluations to come to some more clear determination of his overall condition.
So aside from a pretty crummy encounter with an identity thief, things are going along fine! But, that's a subject for another time.
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