Things I Think…
1. Thanks again for all the kind birthday words yesterday. It was humbling and a bit disconcerting…I’m at that age where birthday thoughts start to sound like eulogies…
2. Think about what we could accomplish in this world if we approached all our problems with the singleminded unity and purpose with which we’re rescuing those kids from that cave…
3. Death doesn’t scare me…leaving things unfinished terrifies me…
4. I don’t fear death but I hate it…hate it as the last enemy that it is. I despise any attempt to soften it, to make it “natural”…to do anything but acknowledge it as the horrible result of the Fall. Then I worship loudly the One who defeated the enemy…
5. If we have to have a discussion about your pronoun before we talk, we probably don’t have much to talk about...
6. In an act of corporate oppression Wal-Mart ran out of Friskies Pate, then (in an obvious micro-aggression against the height challenged), put the remaining Whiskas on the top shelf without an elevator present to assist me. I believe they knew I had a cis gendered cat of color. I was forced to ask for assistance from my oppressors, thus acknowledging the shame of my condition and perpetuating this callous abuse. I kid because I care…not much though…
7. There’s another push for gender neutral language when describing God. I get it…to a degree. God created male and female in His image, but Jesus still refers to Him as His father and Jesus was not gender neutral. I will always try to follow Jesus and let Him correct me later if I was wrong…
8. Call me what you will but I will go to my grave celebrating the fact that there are differences between males and females…I know I’m a man and I love women and vive le’ difference!
9. Jesus said that in His house there are many places to live…which gives me hope not only for heaven, but that I won’t have to live anywhere near (fill in the blank) for eternity…
10. Thank you all again for sharing your hearts with me after Chester passed…another reminder that when we focus on that which we have in common, that which is of the heart…our differences can melt away for a season. Blessings to you all…
A good list to ponder as we start the week.
Thank you, Michael, for sharing the things you think. They often give me some things to think about when all I hear from my own mind sounds like speaking in tongues without an interpreter present.
Thanks, AA.
CK, I always fear that even in writing, my thoughts sound like glossolalia…
Great thoughts Michael and Happy belated Birthday my friend
Thanks, Covered!
Happy (belated) Birthday Michael!
“I’m at that age where birthday thoughts start to sound like eulogies…”
Enjoy them now… you don’t know what they’ll say when you’re not here to reply in a blog! ?
I hope it was a great day…
Thanks, Dan!
Duane,
I had that exact thought yesterday… 🙂
It was a peaceful day and all the kind words helped me not feel so empty after losing Chester.
I just got the call to pick up his ashes, so I’ll be out for a bit…
#7 – so now that it is time to change the genders in the Bible, will Satan now be referred to as female? as we all know she is in the song “Devil with the Blue Dress on” – Hmmm, I guess the devil could be transgendered also, 🙂
#5#6
What a couple of queer things to say
???
#s 1-5 and 7-10… Amen and amen…. Although it does trouble me that there are folk qualifying for heaven that i don’t want to spend eternity living next door to…
#6 as a taller than average old person the bottom shelf is my challenge
#2… Isn’t it a bit interesting that when it means risking your life all the grandstanders and pontificators (politicians?) peel off leaving the dirty work for those who are the real deal? Sadly, tho, i think most of these grateful parents will thank a false God, if the picture of the watchers with their joss sticks are an indication… Still i pray and hope they all receive mercy, a miracle of grace… 5 to go
“Although it does trouble me that there are folk qualifying for heaven that i don’t want to spend eternity living next door to…”
I’m good with it…they probably don’t want to live next to me either…
#13 – ?
The cat people on one side and the dog people on the other with all the pet neutrals in the middle…. LOL
Would you give up your cats if all the rest of the Jerry Lee Lewis people are dog lovers? ?
My cats all were JLL fans…they had little choice… 🙂
#3
This quote from Reinhold Niebuhr to me is comforting as we get older…
“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.
Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.”
Always late to the party…
Happy Birthday, Michael!
5.
For the past few months I’ve been participating off and on in a weekly Twitter conversation with a group of people (mostly Christian) who start nearly every session with introductions including people’s pronouns.
It’s an interesting exercise that I don’t quite “get”, but I know it matters to the people involved so I do it too. I still don’t understand “they” as s singular pronoun, but if someone tells me that’s the pronoun of choice, then I’ll try to remember to use it.
Also have a young friend whose daughter is trans. I’ve known this child since she was a little girl. She now says she’s a boy. Hard to do, but I try very hard to use masculine pronouns when referring to “him”. out of respect – not agreement.
#2 – Agreed. And I’m as guilty as anyone. I think we may be too connected via technology with too much free time on our hands. We’re like kids in the car on a long family drive…. bickering and hitting each other. Once we get “ out of the car” and get the focus off ourselves good things can and do happen.
Great quote bob1!
The only good thing about the gender drama is that we’ve barely become accustomed to gender reveal parties and they are already politically incorrect. Our refusal to participate is clearly a political statement.