Well its finally Jehovah's Witness week. I have to say I know I would go into each religion with an open mind, but this one is going to be tough for me! My ex is a Jehovah's Witness and a self described nutcase. He blames all his problems ( and trust me there are MANY) on having been raised Jehovah's Witness. He didn't get birthday parties, didn't get to celebrate Christmas like his many classmates. Apparently his mother wouldn't let him have friends that weren't JW's. Blah, blah, blah. I do believe that many of his problems stemmed from being isolated as a child due to his parents religious beliefs. I feel if you are going to raise your children in such a individualized religion that its important to have others with the same beliefs as you around as much as possible (private schools, etc). Since he attended only public school he felt isolated much of the time.
That being said I have a dear friend who is also a JW. She is not [as much] of a mess (love you Reida!).
So, what do I know about JW besides the constant "harassment" at my front door?! I know they don't celebrate holidays, or birthdays. I still am not clear on why. I know Jesus was a Jew and Jews do celebrate many holidays including birthdays. I know they are adamant about going door to door to spread the word. I know they don't believe or refuse to fight in wars of any kind. I know they don't believe in hell, which makes it hard for me to understand why they don't partake in the fore mentioned activities to begin with!
"I can't celebrate my birthday, I'll go to hell!"
" No you won't! "
"Oh, OK then..!!!"
Well this is going to be interesting, maybe for the first time EVER, someone will be knocking on a Jehovah's Witnesses door!
Stay tuned!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter
Hope everyone is having a Happy Easter no matter what their religious preference is. Here are some words from the Great Dalai Lama;
"Unless we know the value of other religious traditions, it is difficult to develop respect for them. Mutual respect is the foundation of genuine harmony. We should strive for a spirit of harmony, not for political or economic reasons, but rather simply because we realize the value of other traditions. I always make an effort to promote religious harmony."
Cheers and Happy Easter
"Unless we know the value of other religious traditions, it is difficult to develop respect for them. Mutual respect is the foundation of genuine harmony. We should strive for a spirit of harmony, not for political or economic reasons, but rather simply because we realize the value of other traditions. I always make an effort to promote religious harmony."
Cheers and Happy Easter
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Too Quick to Judge; My Apologies
Well, I met with the paster at the Assembly of God church this week. Now I am feeling that I may have judged them too harshly. While its not my way or worshipping, its certainly not for me to decide how other people worship. Just because I didnt get anything out of it, doesnt mean that others don't. For some, this is how they are raised, to be "rejoiceful" to sing, wave your arms, praise God, etc. It was just very much outside my comfort zone. As most of you know, I went to Catholic School and had never attended this type of church service. Also, I want to make it clear that I didnt mean to allege that anyone there wasn't intelligent. I was just curious as to whether anyone has ever done studies on IQ and religion. Where I said it may have been misconstrued to say these people weren't intelligent. I certainly didn't mean to offend.
While they are another religion against homosexuality ( I don't believe that its wrong) the paster did give me some good information and explained things to me, I actually got a little bit out of it! We talked about good and evil and he clarified some of the struggles i have been having. Why some people seem to be blessed and do nothing, while others serve God endlessly and suffer with illness, finances, etc. He informed me that the Devil does reward some people. God rewards those that follow him, but not always with "materialism". This made sense and clarified for some some things I have been struggling with.
All and all not a bad lesson. I may go back on Wed and talk with him further. I think every religion I am studying seems to be offering me something!!! More to come.
I will be posting more about this shortly! Just got up and can't find my glasses!!!
While they are another religion against homosexuality ( I don't believe that its wrong) the paster did give me some good information and explained things to me, I actually got a little bit out of it! We talked about good and evil and he clarified some of the struggles i have been having. Why some people seem to be blessed and do nothing, while others serve God endlessly and suffer with illness, finances, etc. He informed me that the Devil does reward some people. God rewards those that follow him, but not always with "materialism". This made sense and clarified for some some things I have been struggling with.
All and all not a bad lesson. I may go back on Wed and talk with him further. I think every religion I am studying seems to be offering me something!!! More to come.
I will be posting more about this shortly! Just got up and can't find my glasses!!!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Assembly of God. Wow.
I haven't been able to get back to the Seventh Day Adventist church. For several reasons, weather, illness and to be honest I have been attending Shabbat services on a semi-regular basis. I will try to get to them next Saturday, but in the meantime I am anxious to start blogging again, lets hope the weather holds up.
Well, it just so happens that I live next door to a church. It is an Assembly of God church and since its a whopping 20 ft from my house I decided to go. This was unlike anything I have experience before!
First there were people standing and praying with arms extended to the "altar". There was really no altar, few if any crosses were present. But still they prayed. The church was a bit plain but modern. They had electric guitars, drums, keyboards, etc. The first hour was nothing but singing. The music is what I would consider to be Christian Rock. People were really getting into it, dancing in the aisles, arms raised up, singing loudly, waving, etc. This music and singing went on for an HOUR. The congregation was really getting into it, this music, which I couldn't really figure out why, but they seemed to be getting something out of it. I was confused as to what the importance of all this was, some of it seemed incredibly bizarre. There were people whispering out their own prayers, saying things like "yes Jesus, thank you Jesus".
Finally the pastor got up, I thought he was finally going to start preaching, but no, more singing. This time Amazing Grace (what else?)
Sometimes I wonder if there is a correlation to IQ and religious preferece. I am not saying people of certain religions aren't intelligent, but it would be interesting to see what the IQ's of certain religious followers are. Are some religions more intelligent than others? It would be interesting to see. I digress...
Finally he started preaching and of course the first words were about tithing to the church. How you should be giving 10% of your earnings to the church and with that the collection plates started passing around. Everyone started pulling out cash and to be honest I will a little appalled. To be honest I have always found the collection plate a bit appalling. I don't like the idea of God and money going hand in hand. Anyway then there was more singing.
The pastor read from Acts Chap 11 20th verse. I am not real clear what his point was, or if there even was one. He then mentioned the government, made a comment the government trying to take the position of God. He mentioned the government telling us what we should buy, what we should eat and something about the nation "slipping". Again, I was confused, the government doesn't tell me what to eat or what to buy. If the government were going to take a God like position, wouldn't this be a good thing? He mentioned health insurance and how we will soon have no free choice and will be TOLD what insurance to buy. This isn't how I am understanding health care reform. Those private insurance will continue to have whatever they choose. Nothing was mentioned about those who can't afford insurance or who can't get it in the first place because they are already sick. Furthermore, I thought preachers weren't supposed to be talking about politics, doesn't this cause them to lose their tax breaks?
He went on to preach out "Gods will" and again, I didn't really grasp the point of it all. I am going to contact the pastor (my landlord) and see if he can clarify some of the comments he made. This was by far the strangest church experience I have had thus far.
For those of you that don't already know, I am leaning towards Judaism, been studying it for several months now. I will write more about that later.
Next week, Jehovah's Witness!!! Yikes!!!
Well, it just so happens that I live next door to a church. It is an Assembly of God church and since its a whopping 20 ft from my house I decided to go. This was unlike anything I have experience before!
First there were people standing and praying with arms extended to the "altar". There was really no altar, few if any crosses were present. But still they prayed. The church was a bit plain but modern. They had electric guitars, drums, keyboards, etc. The first hour was nothing but singing. The music is what I would consider to be Christian Rock. People were really getting into it, dancing in the aisles, arms raised up, singing loudly, waving, etc. This music and singing went on for an HOUR. The congregation was really getting into it, this music, which I couldn't really figure out why, but they seemed to be getting something out of it. I was confused as to what the importance of all this was, some of it seemed incredibly bizarre. There were people whispering out their own prayers, saying things like "yes Jesus, thank you Jesus".
Finally the pastor got up, I thought he was finally going to start preaching, but no, more singing. This time Amazing Grace (what else?)
Sometimes I wonder if there is a correlation to IQ and religious preferece. I am not saying people of certain religions aren't intelligent, but it would be interesting to see what the IQ's of certain religious followers are. Are some religions more intelligent than others? It would be interesting to see. I digress...
Finally he started preaching and of course the first words were about tithing to the church. How you should be giving 10% of your earnings to the church and with that the collection plates started passing around. Everyone started pulling out cash and to be honest I will a little appalled. To be honest I have always found the collection plate a bit appalling. I don't like the idea of God and money going hand in hand. Anyway then there was more singing.
The pastor read from Acts Chap 11 20th verse. I am not real clear what his point was, or if there even was one. He then mentioned the government, made a comment the government trying to take the position of God. He mentioned the government telling us what we should buy, what we should eat and something about the nation "slipping". Again, I was confused, the government doesn't tell me what to eat or what to buy. If the government were going to take a God like position, wouldn't this be a good thing? He mentioned health insurance and how we will soon have no free choice and will be TOLD what insurance to buy. This isn't how I am understanding health care reform. Those private insurance will continue to have whatever they choose. Nothing was mentioned about those who can't afford insurance or who can't get it in the first place because they are already sick. Furthermore, I thought preachers weren't supposed to be talking about politics, doesn't this cause them to lose their tax breaks?
He went on to preach out "Gods will" and again, I didn't really grasp the point of it all. I am going to contact the pastor (my landlord) and see if he can clarify some of the comments he made. This was by far the strangest church experience I have had thus far.
For those of you that don't already know, I am leaning towards Judaism, been studying it for several months now. I will write more about that later.
Next week, Jehovah's Witness!!! Yikes!!!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Well Crap
Yet more bad weather has prevented me from attending the SDA church. We had a snow storm last weekend, then icy roads yesterday. It may be another month or so before I can get my blog going regularly again.
In the meantime, I got to thinking the other day. If Jesus Christ was alive today, what religion would He be? I asked this of my facebook friends and the general consensus was he would be Jewish. Of, course he would, that makes total sense. He WAS Jewish. So I thought I would put this out there and see what anyone else thinks about this. Comments welcome!
And lets pray I make it to the SDA church next week. I am anxious to get my blog going again.
Cheers,
Thea
In the meantime, I got to thinking the other day. If Jesus Christ was alive today, what religion would He be? I asked this of my facebook friends and the general consensus was he would be Jewish. Of, course he would, that makes total sense. He WAS Jewish. So I thought I would put this out there and see what anyone else thinks about this. Comments welcome!
And lets pray I make it to the SDA church next week. I am anxious to get my blog going again.
Cheers,
Thea
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Finally, Seventh Day Adventist
Well I finally got around to meeting with the pastor of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and I have to say I found myself a little disappointed. As I have previously mentioned I attended SDA briefly during my childhood and was looking forward to talking with them. I like their overall view of things, which is basically that you need to take care of yourself , that Jesus wants you to be healthy and they promote healthy living and eating. Their diets, while not as strict as kosher, are very similiar. We talked for quite a while, I discussed my "quest" for God, we prayed and he explained quite a bit about the religion, some of it I was already aware of.
To be honest, things were going well until I asked the pastor about their views on homosexuality. He informed me that he treats homosexuals as he would singles, that they should abstain (forever?), that he believe it is a lifestyle and gay people should pray for themselves to be healed. I guess I was a little taken aback, I still can't believe that people think this way.
I, personally don't believe that anyone "chooses" to be gay, no more so than I choose to be straight. It's not a choice, its not a lifestyle. Science everyday seems to be backing those beliefs. Its this kind of "shame" and "repression" that have lead so many gay people to turn to drugs and alcohol and live a life filled with pain. I can't be a part of a church that would shun anyone because of the way they are. Something they certainly didn't choose.
Beyond that this is another church that is very "Jesus laden". Don't get me wrong, I love Jesus, I just don't like the way so many churches are interpretting Him and what He was about. I'm not so sure that they get it, what He was really all about. The God I believe in wouldn't create someone a certain way and then proclaim their natural sexual proclivity a sin.
The more Christian churches I attend the more I am leaning towards Judaism. I immediately went and had lox and bagels.
To be honest, things were going well until I asked the pastor about their views on homosexuality. He informed me that he treats homosexuals as he would singles, that they should abstain (forever?), that he believe it is a lifestyle and gay people should pray for themselves to be healed. I guess I was a little taken aback, I still can't believe that people think this way.
I, personally don't believe that anyone "chooses" to be gay, no more so than I choose to be straight. It's not a choice, its not a lifestyle. Science everyday seems to be backing those beliefs. Its this kind of "shame" and "repression" that have lead so many gay people to turn to drugs and alcohol and live a life filled with pain. I can't be a part of a church that would shun anyone because of the way they are. Something they certainly didn't choose.
Beyond that this is another church that is very "Jesus laden". Don't get me wrong, I love Jesus, I just don't like the way so many churches are interpretting Him and what He was about. I'm not so sure that they get it, what He was really all about. The God I believe in wouldn't create someone a certain way and then proclaim their natural sexual proclivity a sin.
The more Christian churches I attend the more I am leaning towards Judaism. I immediately went and had lox and bagels.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A Week Immersed in Judaism and Prayin' It Old School
Well, I am back, finally, this time for good! Lets hope anyway! So to update, my quest for God most recently took me to New York City. Thanks to an invitation by a Modern Orthodox dentist in New Jersey I spent almost a week totally immersed in Judaism. This was quite the learning experience for me. I ate kosher, got to explore Borough Park in Brooklyn and ate at kosher deli's. I have to say Borough Park freaked me out a little bit, to see how the Hasidic Jews live, dress and just to see their day to day life was very surreal. I felt like I was on another planet! Quite interesting to say the least.
I have to say I have been impressed with most of the Jewish people I have met recently. While I was in New York, I had dinner with a wonderful Modern Orthodox family. They were so kind to invite me, the food was amazing and I was able to see how a Jewish family spends the sabbath. NO! They don't sit around in the dark as I had imagined. We ate, talked, drank amazing wine and have wonderful conversations. Again, so impressed with Jewish family life. That being said I am still on the fence about converting.
Which takes me to today. I, at the coaxing of one of my readers, made an appt with a Christian Science practitioner. I am battling some depression and was told that a CS practitioner could help, so what the hell, I am going to give it a try. Stay tuned.
As I was leaving the Christian Science Reading Room I heard the bells from the Basilica of St Lawrence here. They sound so beautiful, as I passed by the church I felt compelled to go inside. The church is breathtaking, absolutely gorgeous. I haven't been to a Catholic Church in a very long time and it all felt to incredibly familiar to me. It seemed as though I arrived just before mass, so I decided to stay. Of course I know the prayers, and all the other practices that go along with a catholic mass. It was nice. I felt really good to be there. I even took communion, which technically I am not supposed to as I have never been baptized Catholic. Anyway, I'm sure God will forgive me.
I am still under a lot of stress. I haven't felt God anywhere around me lately, but today, I kind of did. I am still struggling with my faith, but I am feeling oddly calm today, almost hopefully.
I will resume my blog at once! I have an appt with the Seventh Day Adventist pastor here on Monday so I will continue with them as promised. So glad to be back!!! Once again on my journey to find God!
I have to say I have been impressed with most of the Jewish people I have met recently. While I was in New York, I had dinner with a wonderful Modern Orthodox family. They were so kind to invite me, the food was amazing and I was able to see how a Jewish family spends the sabbath. NO! They don't sit around in the dark as I had imagined. We ate, talked, drank amazing wine and have wonderful conversations. Again, so impressed with Jewish family life. That being said I am still on the fence about converting.
Which takes me to today. I, at the coaxing of one of my readers, made an appt with a Christian Science practitioner. I am battling some depression and was told that a CS practitioner could help, so what the hell, I am going to give it a try. Stay tuned.
As I was leaving the Christian Science Reading Room I heard the bells from the Basilica of St Lawrence here. They sound so beautiful, as I passed by the church I felt compelled to go inside. The church is breathtaking, absolutely gorgeous. I haven't been to a Catholic Church in a very long time and it all felt to incredibly familiar to me. It seemed as though I arrived just before mass, so I decided to stay. Of course I know the prayers, and all the other practices that go along with a catholic mass. It was nice. I felt really good to be there. I even took communion, which technically I am not supposed to as I have never been baptized Catholic. Anyway, I'm sure God will forgive me.
I am still under a lot of stress. I haven't felt God anywhere around me lately, but today, I kind of did. I am still struggling with my faith, but I am feeling oddly calm today, almost hopefully.
I will resume my blog at once! I have an appt with the Seventh Day Adventist pastor here on Monday so I will continue with them as promised. So glad to be back!!! Once again on my journey to find God!
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