Here It Is: Easter Again

Source: The Huffington Post Reuse License listed in search Click on Pic for page

I used the above picture for the sole reason that when I typed the term “Easter Celebraton” (no quotes) into Google, it was one of the choices and I could find no good reason.  🙂

As I sit here writing this, I find myself wondering that it is a big Christian holiday:  Easter.  Easter is upon us and all day there has been celebrating and church, meals, and candy.  Those go together in my head because of my Christian upbringing, but as I sit here now and think about it, the whole Easter Bunny, church, Salvation, Resurrection, and celebration ideas just don’t fit very well.  Children pay more attention to Christmas and Easter because of gifts.  That may be the big draw to those two holidays.  I am not downing anyone who celebrates it at all.  I think celebrating is good for the body, mind, and soul.  I am simply pointing out something I noticed.  You can do with that as you will.

I used to be a big celebrator of Easter.  Easter Bunny in the morning, followed by church.  In my early years, it was Church at dawn, then Bunny, then church afterwards, followed by the noon meal.  This was a big feast in which all of my immediate family as well as my Dad’s family got together and celebrated.

We didn’t do that this year.  My family – parents, sibling, children, great niece, and so forth got together, ate, then did various things (such as nap) before leaving to go home around supper time.  It was enjoyable, but nothing like it used to be.

I have become non-religious in the last few years.  Not atheist, by any means, simply not a follower of Christianity or any other organized religion.  I don’t miss it.  My own closeness to God occurs anyway, much to the disbelief of many who feels that a non-churchgoer cannot have much faith.  I see this as a very limited perspective.

Be that as it may, I decided I should attempt to write something on this holiday.  Not certain exactly how I have done, but here it is.

Namaste,

Scott

If It’s not One Thing,…

Source: Google Image Search with license for reuse. Click on Pic for Page.

Yesterday, Sunday, was a very strange day, filled with sh**, um, cr**, well, just filled with stuff.  Sis and I went to church.  Unusual for me, as most of you know.  Mom’s b-day is in October and that was her wish, so there. Anyway, so that means I don’t get quite enough sleep.  However, I did manage to stay awake through church.  Then, we all went out to eat.  I was excited because the season 5 premier of “The Walking Dead” was on AMC at 9:00pm and I just found out that I now have AMC.  This meant I could watch the show without buying the episodes or the season!

After eating, I went home and tried for the afternoon nap I so dearly love.  I napped fitfully from 2:15 to about 4:30.  Mom then called, telling me that Dad had fallen off the porch steps and the ambulance was coming to get him.  She was looking for Sis to come help.  I can’t help much with that since I can’t lift Dad, but I did offer.  Therein began a weird day (well, weirder, anyway).

I stayed by the phone at home in case they needed me for something.  I did my usual stuff and waited.  At 8:30PM, I knew that Dad was at the hospital with Mom and Sis.  I was going to watch TWD at 9:00 pm.  At 8:45, Mom called to say that she and Sis were looking for a wheelchair and could I please go to Mom’s house to wait on the ambulance to bring him home as he couldn’t get to the chair by himself right now? I drove over and managed to get their TV on AMC by 8:59.  The countdown to TWD was down to about 30 seconds when I got it all right.  I decided all was okay.  The hospital was late as usual and I was watching my show!

At 9:20, the ambulance pulled in.  They got dad to his chair and the TV was immediately switched to the Cardinal/Giant baseball game.  They got him settled in by 9:35 and Mom/Sis were back with the wheelchair.  I went downstairs to watch the rest of TWD only to find that the cable stations they get downstairs did not include AMC!  By then, it was 9:50 and I gave up.  I made certain they were done with me and I went back home, played Skyrim and realized that I was still going to have to buy the first episode of TWD!

Now, just so I don’t hear it from all of you out there, it truly was not that big of a deal that I had to miss my show.  I don’t lose sleep over those things.  I just found it amazingly interesting that I finally am going to get to watch the show, basically , for free; I manage to get set and remember all week when it’s on and prepare for it and then, boom – life…

Just got news that Dad’s break is okay, no surgery needed…that’s great news.  I will, of course, buy the first episode on Amazon tonight and catch up.  Well, that’s the plan…

Namaste,

Scott

“You Should Go to Church”

It doesn’t matter where you are.

The title was something my Mom said to me today.   Setting:  in the hospital, after their minister (mine, too, I guess) had visited Dad.  I was leaving for home; Mom was walking me out.  She said this, not in anger, just in passing.  I don’t remember the entire conversation, but here are my thoughts:

I don’t see anything wrong with going to church.  For many people it is a time to rejoice, be with friends, and celebrate God.  Nothing wrong with any of that.  For others, it is a time to be introspective, learn about their religion’s beliefs, and give them time to pray in public.  Nothing wrong with any of that.

For me, it would, mostly, be a waste of my time.  It’s not that I don’t have strong beliefs; I do.  It’s not that I don’t pray; I do – a lot.  It’s not that I don’t want to be introspective; I do and I am.

However, church does not hold much for me, anymore.  It’s isn’t that I have outgrown it or anything; I am just in a different place.   I enjoy all my time now, and all of it is with God to one degree or another.  I see church as a place to concentrate on God and to be with Him.  I do that at home or out anywhere else.  I pray when I feel like it; it is a communication for me; a talking, not a specific ritual.  God and I talk; we converse; I make my needs and thoughts known; He responds.  He “speaks” in my head, through my conscience, my inner discussions.  I learn through these and through experiences as well as through watching the world and listening.

You all are a part of my learning process.  I learn through each and every post you do; I see your worlds, your lives, your people, everything about you that you put out for me to see.  I learn from the short poem about the bridge to the 5-6 page thought-provoking tour of your psyche you might present each day.  It has to be that way or else I could never get through following 80+ blogs a week.

Your lives are important to me and though I can’t quote you or your stories well all the time, I still know who you are and what you are like when I am in the midst of your stories and truths and trials.  I immerse myself in life and in your lives.  Vicarious living is fun and exciting and a learning experience as well as anything else.

I play video games and I learn about life there, too.  The people who write those (at least, the ones I play) are people who create rules and environments and then allow you, through your character, to interact and live a life with consequences.  Dying means getting another chance to try – that is a learning experience, too.

So, without excuses, I don’t go to church.  Life is my church; I am kinda always there.  I like it this way.  I try to share back with you and with others whose lives I come into contact with.  I intend to increase all of this and extend both my reach and my learning.

If you aren’t getting all of this out of life, it’s not because it isn’t there – please just wake up and start.  Church or no church, life is there and is good and has all kinds of experiences for you.

Namaste,

Scott

Sunday Morning

It’s Sunday morning. I am going to church today. That hasn’t been my practice recently. However, I told a friend who also hasn’t been that I would sit with her if she would come.

My not coming has been a product of habit and sleep. I have gotten out of the habit, mostly, because I don’t sleep well and I don’t like going to simply sleep there. However, I will try today.

Church is not a place I feel you have to go in order to “reserve your place in Heaven”. Church is a place; church has friends for me and I, usually, take away a few words of peace or encouragement. I believe that God has all types of opportunities out there for us to be at or to interact in that will do us, at least, as much good as Church. On the other hand, going to Church is fine, especially, if you believe in what is being said and choose to have that reinforcement in your life. I guess the point here is that I think whatever a person feels they should do is fine, as long as it isn’t hurting them.

I was asked once how I could go at all and not feel like a hypocrite when I don’t agree with a lot of the services and what’s being said. The simple answer is that the service is there for many reasons. Some people truly need to hear all of what is being said; it helps them through their day. Others need the nourishment of good friends of a certain type found in church. Still others need the organization of a service to feel organized themselves.

Whatever the reason, mine is a small mixture of, at least, the first and second. I also like being there with my family, another important reason. I am comfortable enough in my own skin and secure enough in my own beliefs that I could go a lot of different places and be just fine. I went to a Unitarian church a few weeks ago and enjoyed that service quite a bit.  It allows for most all to come and worship.  God and nature are more at the center and no one had to feel left out or weird because of their particular beliefs.  I did enjoy it.

Did you know there are over 1,000 churches listed online as part of yellow pages for churches in Indianapolis? I find that number a bit incredible. This morning seems to be a bit of a wandering post for me, so bear with me and try to get something out of this, knowing that it is perfect for someone and that all things do work together.

Somewhere in this flighty talk someone is being helped by this or inspired to do or say or think something else that will help things along for them or for someone else. I have given up trying to figure it out and just accept it as it is.

Perhaps, this is the message here: trust.
Namaste.