Although Joe is staying home and Joe R. is coming to visit, I am taking the boys to visit Ricky & Kay in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in the morning. It was a trip post-poned at Christmas because of the fragile state of Granny and Pa. They are doing better now (or at least Pa is stable) so off we go. This is going to be interesting. I am taking a German who snow skis well and a Thai kid who never saw temperatures below 60 degrees until he came here. He has actually seen snow since he arrived here, which did not substantially materialize for my Thai girl Ploy last year. Let's just hope that we do not have a repeat of our Jozie, Di Steamboat trip in 2007 where Ricky and Jozie both ended up in the Emergency Room. The ER doctor was kindof "freaky" and they put Ricky in the OB/GYN room. The boys are super excited so I don't know how well they will sleep tonight. But I am super grateful for friends who invite us into their winter home for a great visit. I have designated myself as short order chef to fix breakfast, hang out (although I will go up on the mountain but not to slide down on slippery skis or a board) and just chill. Then, I'm going to fix an awesome dinner for when they return from the slopes. I'm sad though that my girl, Ms. Di can't make the trip because I really wanted this to be a graduation gift from us for her.
I had a sit down with Dr. Calhoun, my buddy from the Arthritis Foundation, and we are down to last resorts for my elbow and forearm pain. So I have to decide if I want (ha!) surgery to see if this never ending torture can be put to an end. So I will do some soul searching about that too.
One last request to God, when we return let the beginnings of spring emerge. I'm not saying no temperatures at all below freezing, but just a little, and a lot more 40,50 and 60 degree days. We will miss Joe and the poopies while we are gone, but I will be super glad to be back home, because I am really a home body at heart.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Science v. Religion
Most of you who know me, know of my struggle with faith, and more specifically, the church. From the time I was 14 until I was 37, I stepped into church a total of maybe 5 times, 4 of them for weddings and funerals. I loved (love) Jesus, but it was the church that I found unnerving. One of the things that truly troubled me was reconciling science and religion, because the explanations I was hearing from the church were unconvincing. I got over it as an adult because I can reconcile science and religion, but the contortions some churches go to really bothers me. The Bible is not meant to be a scientific document. It is a spiritual book and a historical account of the Christian faith (and to some extent the Jewish faith).
Last year, I read a great book by Adam Hamilton titled, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White. Although it was disappointing in the end (he voted for Obama as best I can tell), it really sums up our perspective on the world, politics and religion.
I had no idea that the Roman Catholic Church required Galileo to renounce his determination that the Sun was the center of our solar system. Galileo was born in 1564 in Italy. He was a renowned mathematician, astronomer, inventor and philosopher. In 1633, he was convicted of heresy for proclaiming that the Earth revolved around the Sun. He was forced by the Catholic Church to renounce his assertion because it was contrary to Scripture. Imagine that?
As Adam Hamilton says, “To ask the Bible to function as a scientific textbook is to fundamentally misunderstand the intention of Scripture.” What fun would it be for God to have laid out in detail how the Earth and the Universe were formed, or how we were created -- especially since I read the creation story in the Bible as the creation of man and woman that could form thought and discern right and wrong. Six days is God’s time, not our time. Our lives are likely just a speck of a moment in God’s time, yet he knows everything that is happening in every one’s lives. Don’t you think God wants us to discover on our own, learn, debate and grow – a process that must take thousands and thousands of years, just looking at the discoveries and innovations since Jesus lived – or millions or billions of years.
Science and religion are not threats to one another, quite the contrary. To quote Galileo, “The Bible teaches men how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.” Adam Hamilton reconciles the debate pretty well:
Between the black and whiteness of the conflict between science and religion is a place where both are valued for what they offer us as human beings: a place where we don’t have to choose between science and religion. They are not adversaries, but two different ways of helping us understand the universe and our place in it. Those who recognize this have to appreciate the value of gray.
Well said. I am not a black and white person, at all. I am very conservative, especially from a fiscal, small government perspective. But in actuality, I am liberal from a religious perspective. For example, I think gay marriage in the church should not be accepted, but I have no problem with civil unions from a strictly legal (government) perspective – because that is what marriage is to the government, a legal contract. And aren’t we entitled to equal protection under the law.
Sometimes the confines of church and church doctrine, stifle me. I do know Jesus and I love Jesus with all my heart. I want to be like him, although that is an unattainable goal. My struggle is with those that think they have it figured out, or they said the prayer, get dunked in a baptism, or faithfully attend church, so they are good to go and live life accordingly. And sometimes churches say okay they are now saved, so let’s move on to the next lost soul. The thing about that is that person’s spiritual journey is just beginning. Some churches do very little to foster that journey, but rather focus on what I call “Fear Factor” church or trying to scare the hell out of the remaining lost souls to repent.
No one should come to Jesus out of fear, but out of love, because he died a brutal death for each and every person who will ever step foot on this Earth. I question the “judgment” that abounds from churches on a regular basis, either through the people of the church or the pulpit. Jesus was a radical, and he would turn over the tables in most churches today and charge “You don’t get it!” But we are humans so we can’t ever attain that perfection. If you think about it, the closest person to get it (from my life perspective) has to be Mother Theresa. Talk about a selfless servant of the Lord. All of the Popes and smoke and Popemobiles in the world can’t hold a candle to her selfless service to Christ and to the people of the world. She did it with such humility and such gratitude. What an amazing person. I wish and pray I could get to her level, but I know I won’t ever come close. What amazes me most is those who truly believe they are selfless, giving, servants – when nothing could be further from the truth. That, my friends, is the hypocrisy of the church. But I am a part of it, and it has made a world of difference in my life.
Last year, I read a great book by Adam Hamilton titled, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White. Although it was disappointing in the end (he voted for Obama as best I can tell), it really sums up our perspective on the world, politics and religion.
I had no idea that the Roman Catholic Church required Galileo to renounce his determination that the Sun was the center of our solar system. Galileo was born in 1564 in Italy. He was a renowned mathematician, astronomer, inventor and philosopher. In 1633, he was convicted of heresy for proclaiming that the Earth revolved around the Sun. He was forced by the Catholic Church to renounce his assertion because it was contrary to Scripture. Imagine that?
As Adam Hamilton says, “To ask the Bible to function as a scientific textbook is to fundamentally misunderstand the intention of Scripture.” What fun would it be for God to have laid out in detail how the Earth and the Universe were formed, or how we were created -- especially since I read the creation story in the Bible as the creation of man and woman that could form thought and discern right and wrong. Six days is God’s time, not our time. Our lives are likely just a speck of a moment in God’s time, yet he knows everything that is happening in every one’s lives. Don’t you think God wants us to discover on our own, learn, debate and grow – a process that must take thousands and thousands of years, just looking at the discoveries and innovations since Jesus lived – or millions or billions of years.
Science and religion are not threats to one another, quite the contrary. To quote Galileo, “The Bible teaches men how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.” Adam Hamilton reconciles the debate pretty well:
Between the black and whiteness of the conflict between science and religion is a place where both are valued for what they offer us as human beings: a place where we don’t have to choose between science and religion. They are not adversaries, but two different ways of helping us understand the universe and our place in it. Those who recognize this have to appreciate the value of gray.
Well said. I am not a black and white person, at all. I am very conservative, especially from a fiscal, small government perspective. But in actuality, I am liberal from a religious perspective. For example, I think gay marriage in the church should not be accepted, but I have no problem with civil unions from a strictly legal (government) perspective – because that is what marriage is to the government, a legal contract. And aren’t we entitled to equal protection under the law.
Sometimes the confines of church and church doctrine, stifle me. I do know Jesus and I love Jesus with all my heart. I want to be like him, although that is an unattainable goal. My struggle is with those that think they have it figured out, or they said the prayer, get dunked in a baptism, or faithfully attend church, so they are good to go and live life accordingly. And sometimes churches say okay they are now saved, so let’s move on to the next lost soul. The thing about that is that person’s spiritual journey is just beginning. Some churches do very little to foster that journey, but rather focus on what I call “Fear Factor” church or trying to scare the hell out of the remaining lost souls to repent.
No one should come to Jesus out of fear, but out of love, because he died a brutal death for each and every person who will ever step foot on this Earth. I question the “judgment” that abounds from churches on a regular basis, either through the people of the church or the pulpit. Jesus was a radical, and he would turn over the tables in most churches today and charge “You don’t get it!” But we are humans so we can’t ever attain that perfection. If you think about it, the closest person to get it (from my life perspective) has to be Mother Theresa. Talk about a selfless servant of the Lord. All of the Popes and smoke and Popemobiles in the world can’t hold a candle to her selfless service to Christ and to the people of the world. She did it with such humility and such gratitude. What an amazing person. I wish and pray I could get to her level, but I know I won’t ever come close. What amazes me most is those who truly believe they are selfless, giving, servants – when nothing could be further from the truth. That, my friends, is the hypocrisy of the church. But I am a part of it, and it has made a world of difference in my life.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
24 Hours That Changed the World -- Adam Hamilton
We are starting a new series at church starting on Ash Wednesday and leading up to Easter. Oh my gosh, Easter, yeah, warm weather! It is based on a book by Adam Hamilton who is pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. Joe and I joke that we've gone from rock'n'roll groupies to pastor groupies. That is scary.
I am reading for this Wednesday, and one thing really hit home with me, especially in light of recent events and actions of some who call themselves Christians. If it weren't for my own faith and knowing that we are all sinners and thus, imperfect, I don't know how Kelli Thompson of 10, 15 or 20 years ago would tolerate "church people." I'm one of them now, but try my best to be like Jesus. It aint easy, especially for a lawyer. :o) So here it goes.
"Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" -- "For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth." Jesus chastised them for their spiritual pride, their hard hearts, and their religion of rules that served only to alienate further those who were lost.
I was lost, and I found my way back to Christ. The thing is my church welcomed me with open arms, because I appear normal. Ha, little do they know. But how would my church, your church, reach out to some one who was homeless, a rock'n'roll groupie, etc. If they don't, they might just be rejecting Jesus.
Ponder that. And thank you Adam Hamilton for your wonderful gifts.
I am reading for this Wednesday, and one thing really hit home with me, especially in light of recent events and actions of some who call themselves Christians. If it weren't for my own faith and knowing that we are all sinners and thus, imperfect, I don't know how Kelli Thompson of 10, 15 or 20 years ago would tolerate "church people." I'm one of them now, but try my best to be like Jesus. It aint easy, especially for a lawyer. :o) So here it goes.
"Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" -- "For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth." Jesus chastised them for their spiritual pride, their hard hearts, and their religion of rules that served only to alienate further those who were lost.
I was lost, and I found my way back to Christ. The thing is my church welcomed me with open arms, because I appear normal. Ha, little do they know. But how would my church, your church, reach out to some one who was homeless, a rock'n'roll groupie, etc. If they don't, they might just be rejecting Jesus.
Ponder that. And thank you Adam Hamilton for your wonderful gifts.
Oh no! More snow!
According to the weather, it is supposed to start snowing (again) tonight and continue until Monday night. They are predicting between 1-6 inches of snow. Don't you just love that? That is a big margin of error. I don't know if they are right or wrong. I just know one thing. I'm ready for SPRING! Happy Valentine's Day.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
On a Mission
I am a woman on a mission. I am on a mission to simplify my life, and I am on a mission to re-discover joy, hope and love. I went through an intense mediation training program this past week, and it was an eye opener. I now have a new aspect of potential business for work, something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I was waiting for credibility, or at least perceived credibility, and I realized I could have done this some time ago. So I am ready to put the marketing gear into motion and develop some new business. But along the way, I developed some skills that can help me throughout my personal life. I can actually use this training to help people and to help bring about resolution. Resolution is so much better than conflict. Funny I should say that because my job is all about conflict. Anyway, I learned what my personality type is, and reading some of the descriptions was some what scary. Because it was like I was reading a description of me. I thought I was unique! But I am person who likes structure, goals and accomplishment. I am not a risk taker.
So I want to simplify my life, our lives. And along the way, I want to have some fun too. Joe and I are doing something we haven't done in a long time and going on an adventure to Nashville on Tuesday. Our good friend, Joe Robbins is going to stay here and take care of our boys. But we are driving over to Nashville Tuesday, meeting Harvey and Jacquelyn for dinner at the Palm, then going to see BB King and Buddy Guy in concert. But it gets better, because they are playing in the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. I can remember as a child riding with my parents in the car in downtown Nashville, and seeing people standing in line in the hot summer Saturday afternoons waiting to get in to see the Opry. It is an incredible place, and to see these two musicians is going to be a real treat.
So I want to simplify my life, our lives. And along the way, I want to have some fun too. Joe and I are doing something we haven't done in a long time and going on an adventure to Nashville on Tuesday. Our good friend, Joe Robbins is going to stay here and take care of our boys. But we are driving over to Nashville Tuesday, meeting Harvey and Jacquelyn for dinner at the Palm, then going to see BB King and Buddy Guy in concert. But it gets better, because they are playing in the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. I can remember as a child riding with my parents in the car in downtown Nashville, and seeing people standing in line in the hot summer Saturday afternoons waiting to get in to see the Opry. It is an incredible place, and to see these two musicians is going to be a real treat.
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