It's Nice Outside

After we decided that the homesteading thing just wasn't going to work for us and we also had pretty much no hope of getting out of the city, we decided to start buying some quick growing trees in order to create a natural fence and keep (or at least discourage) strange kids around here from walking through our yard in order to get from the housing addition across the street to the basketball courts at the school that is about a quarter mile behind our house. 

Hubby went to Lowe's and bought two evergreens of some sort and we figured we'd add to them as we could. A year later and that was money well spent.

Ironically, we had a tree that was blown down a couple of years ago and the rest that we (he) chopped down was placed in a temporary wood pile.

There's a new tree growing out of it.

And the new tree growing out of it is doing really well. Hubby says we will have to cut it down, though since it's "too close to the house."

In other news


I've been babysitting my niece every couple of weeks when my sister has to go to team meetings and such at the institution where my nephew is staying. My daughter and her are so cute together and are just best friends. It's adorable.

Sidewalk Chalkin'

One day they will be laying around talking or texting or whatever on whatever device is to be invented, rolling their eyes at me, but now they are so sweet.

Prophecy

One of the last lingering doubts I had as to the Bible (or at least some of it) not being inspired was the idea that it prophesied events well into the future. Most importantly, I suppose were the prophecies that Jesus was said to have fulfilled.



I saw an article in the comments section of another site recently in which a rabbi explains why one such fulfillment is rejected by Judaism.

Question:One of the methods you used in your tape series to refute missionary claims is to point out the context of the prophecy. For example, you point out that the seventh chapter of Isaiah cannot be a prophecy about Jesus’ virgin birth because it suggests that the prophecy was to have been fulfilled in Ahaz’s lifetime, some 700 years before Jesus.Still, maybe this is a “double prophecy,” a prophecy about a boy to be born in the days of Ahaz and also a prophecy to the birth of Jesus. The context is only for the first application of this double prophecy. Rabbi, do you have any comment? read on.... 

For me, this particular prophecy always seemed a bit of a stretch anyway, so it wasn't hard to see how it does really seem to be completely out of context when referring to Jesus. There were more, trickier ones, and I'll try to delve into those in the coming weeks and months.



Meanwhile, check out this post on the doctrine of Hell from a Judaic view.

Post Mother's Day Post

Oh boy.


The night wasn't all that great money-wise, but at least I got to work extra late.


I pull into the parking lot to find it nearly full as in where am I going to park full and while circling the building to look for a space, I see that the front porch is full of people waiting to be seated.



Awesome.



I walk into the side door and see one of the severs shiny with sweat. It was really warm yesterday and the AC was clearly not on and/or working right in the dining room.



"How's it going Natalie?"


"It ****ing sucks."


Roger walks by and looks at me with a run while you still can expression on his face.


I look to see where I'm stationed and find that I'm splitting a shift with Roxanne who gets to leave after lunch. Upon seeing me she yells ALICE!! and gives me a huge hug while practically jumping up and down. She is also sweaty and so is everyone else.


And so would I be soon.


I'm in the section that I absolutely hate the most, but I'm willing to be positive. At least I know it won't ever get too bad, since two of the tables will be in party mode all day. I basically will only have two tables turning all night. My top goal going in yesterday is that it wouldn't be a huge disaster.



(Fast forward though all the hilarious details I would like to add, but won't for the sake of not offending any bosses or guests should they happen upon this way.)


After all the delightful less than 10% tips* on three of my four parties (one left over 20- them's good people and I WILL remember you) and my two top that was empty more than it wasn't, I reminisce about a rather slow Monday night a couple of weeks ago in which I made more money- in about 2 less hours.



But I still love my job:)



I have a bunch of housework to get to now, but have been in tears laughing at this blog all morning. HILARIOUS.




*In the restaurant I work in (as in most) servers are automatically charged 2.5% of their SALES to "tip out" the bar and the hosts. If we get crummy tips we are doubly cheated since the amount of our tip out isn't based on crummy tips and unfortunately, the bigger the check on a crummy tip, the worse it is for us. I wish people knew this. Also, it used to be that we could automatically add gratuity to parties of 8 or more, but since January 1 of this year, we are no longer allowed and that is not good much of the time.

It's Mother's Day!

My boys are learning to play guitar (loudly).


I just got done making myself a rather caloric lunch, but it's okay since I probably won't have time to eat again until late tonight.


My teen is in her usual spot on her laptop and my little gal is walking around carrying a red purse.


Hubby just went to buy garden supplies so we can have some fresh veggies this summer.

The weather is beautiful and the windows are open.


I've got to go into work in a couple of hours and Mother's Day is supposed to be super busy. I hope it goes well.


I look forward to coming home and spending time with hubby (and some Chardonnay).


I hope you all have a very wonderful day as well.

Eternal Life and Death- Part Eleven

About Personal Experiences

Even if the Bible and the Church have it wrong in all the finer details, even if the contradictions and scandals in high places put a stain on Christianity, we always have that. Our own personal experience provides a kind of last line of defense, or at least it did for me. I recall distinctly my very first prayer for salvation and the wonderful feelings that followed. From that point forward any intense, sublime emotion was credited to the spirit of God. 

I also recall distinctly one late summer evening after having pretty much deconverted, experiencing those same sublime feelings completely out of a Christian mindset. It frightened and intrigued me. 

I wrote about my conclusions to this dilemma in the former series I wrote:

(originally posted 12/01/13)

The Spirit of God is promised to all believers. I truly believed I had it from the first time I asked God to reveal Himself to me and perhaps even before.

Back in high school and college when I was depressed a lot, I used to go driving in the country to listen to music and think. In some of my most hopeless moments, it seemed like sometimes there was a presence there, a comforting spirit that would help me to feel better. I kind of always felt like something or someone was watching me, too. I had spiritual like experiences in the past even before coming to Jesus, some may have been due to "outside influences" but in altered states, the mind goes places that one just doesn't usually go. There is another dimension, even if only in one's mind.




What I found as I tentatively wandered out the of the Christian (but not spiritual) box, that the feelings that I always associated with being the Comforter would happen anyway, without my being directly connected to or focused upon Jesus or Christianity. In the months that my faith was slipping away, many times a song, a moving scene from a movie or video game, or fellowship with my children or husband would bring about such feelings of being connected with the Spirit of God.

I discovered this when I began meditating, too and I started to wonder about the implications of it. Maybe it didn't matter if I was praying to Yahweh in Jesus's name, Jesus, Mary, Shiva, Allah, Krishna, Ganesh or the three goddesses of Hyrule. The very act of praying or contemplating on the sacred or anything like that seemed to produce the same feelings in me. I wondered if that had happened to anyone else.


The flood of emotions that I felt during my salvation experience may not have been exclusive to Christianity. I had heard of the Mormon's burning in the bosom, but I also discovered that in all faith traditions there are similar (or essentially the same) feelings that are produced.  Maybe this feeling is coming from within one's own self and not some outside force. All people of all religions can't all have the Holy Spirit if Jesus is the only way. Are they all deceived but not us? ...

 Upon discovering this, I was more convinced than ever that I was ready to let go.

No Hell/ No Heaven

In losing the horrific doctrine of Eternal Torment, I was able to let many questions that had been stifled for years come to the surface and be investigated. It was the conviction that God was love that allowed me to let go of the fear I had to question, and eventually let go of Christianity.


I do not write to convince anyone that I am right and they are wrong, I write because being and then not being a believer was something I never imagined would happen.  I write to explain why I can't settle into any kinder, gentler, less restrictive form of the Faith.


I'm done with it.


Not to say that I disdain all spirituality, I don't...really. I don't have any answers on that front nor am I actively pursuing any. If the universe has a Supreme Being, I imagine that such a being is more than capable of revealing (if it wishes) itself to each and every one of us without a shadow of a doubt.  A Cosmic Mind? Karma? Enlightenment? I don't know. And that's okay.


In the end, if we just cease to be, that's becoming increasingly comfortable to me. If there is some afterlife, I hope it's based upon what we did here and how we treated others and not on right belief, especially right belief on so little verifiable fact.




And I hope that in the end all would be finally welcomed and would find themselves in the state of eternal peace.