PREJUDICE IS PREJUDICE

This article was posted on Facebook by an group I follow:

http://progressivepopulist.org/2013/10/02/incredible-letter-from-grandfather-to-his-daughter-after-she-kicks-out-his-gay-grandson/

This bothers me. A lot.

Take a moment to read the ENTIRE letter from the grandfather below:

I'm sorry, this is just as stupid, it just as narrow-minded and ignorant as kicking the boy out of the house for being gay! Yes, our children make choices that we may not approve of - but they are still our children.

And being bigoted and narrow-minded in one respect does NOT justify repaying that with YOU being bigoted and narrow-minded.

I hate to see this 'repayment' get lost in the gay-aspect of this situation. BOTH of these actions are narrow-minded, mean, and non-Christ-like in the extreme.

What do you think?

MIDNIGHT

Who decided that midnight is when the day is over?

My day is over around 8:30 p.m. - anything after that really belongs to tomorrow.

In fact, the only useful thing that I do in the evening it write down all my plans for tomorrow - the plans that I generally smile sadly at the next day and send it through the shredder.

I used to be a complete night owl, and only really came alive after 10 p.m.

And while I am never ever EVER going to be a morning person, I am now a night WIMP.

I am ready to chuck it all in at 9 p.m. - I actually am ready to go to SLEEP.

So when Congress and the Senate and the President are still arguing over Obamacare, which had already been signed into law and ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court, and the Republicans threaten to shut down the government if they can't agree to do just what the Republicans want (can you tell that I am slightly biased about this?), MIDNIGHT was their deadline.

And, thankfully, here in Arizona, that's 9 p.m.

So I got to bed on time.

And yes, the federal government went ahead and shut down - and my husband is home until that changes.

OCTOBER

I like the month of October.

School's begun, and every one's back to their usual work schedule and commute.

There aren't any major holidays you need to prepare for until Halloween at the very tail end.

And Halloween is one of those "optional" holidays - the younger your children, the more you get involved in it, with decorations and costumes and special trick-or-treats; the older you are, you just hand out candy.

I have it lucky there.

I live way out in the country, where even if there were loads of children, we have no streetlights and generally no outside lights on our homes, in order to preserve the incredible night sky we have.

And it is DARK.

So I don't have to decorate or prepare in any such way.

October is also when it (finally) begins to cool off around here - at least at night.






The leaves on the trees in the mountains begin to change, and the green slowly becomes those beautiful reds and oranges.

Yeah, I think I can take on October this year just fine.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

This photograph on the right was posted on Pinterest today; I have a similar one as a sticker on my truck.

(In case you can't read it, it says "Love Thy Neighbor - Thy Homeless Neighbor, Thy Muslim Neighbor, Thy Black Neighbor, Thy Gay Neighbor, Thy White Neighbor, Thy Jewish Neighbor, The Christian Neighbor, Thy Atheist Neighbor, Thy Racist Neighbor, Thy Addicted Neighbor.")

  And my eye was caught by a comment made about it, by a woman who maintained "that it isn't right to love RACISTS - they are bad people!"

Hold it right there, people.

Do you see the problem here?

The commandment is NOT "love people who are capable of love only" - NOT "be loving to those who can return that love in a socially acceptable way" -  NOT "love everyone except those that you don't feel deserve your love."

Because isn't that called judging? And haven't we been commanded to not do that?

Can you imagine how it must feel to be a racist? To hate/distrust/despise people based on skin color/ethic background?

It must get awfully lonely.  Or you surround yourself by other lonely racists.

I admit the quandary here.

How to love someone who hates.

But you can't fight fire with fire - you can only conquer with love.

WHY, YES, I DO HAVE TWO PIANOS

I like pianos.

I grew up in houses that almost always had at least two pianos - sometimes quite a few more.

My dad was a music teacher for most of my formative years, and usually there was a room modified into a studio where he had private students come.

And the majority of those students were piano players.

There was usually a grand piano in our living room, and sometimes an upright also. One of my favorite childhood memories was waking up in the middle of the night and listening to my dad play.

And as an adult, I've picked up old cheap pianos that I'll clean up and tune, and then sell for a profit.

My kids can tell you stories about playing underneath a full-size grand piano we had in Hawaii for about a year.

Fast forward to the present day.

I have an old upright that I bang away on occasionally (going back through a self-instruction book) and have as a tuning practice instrument.

A friend was moving suddenly to Phoenix, and had to get rid of a beat-up piano she had paid literally a few bucks at a yard sale. I offered to purchase it, and when I couldn't arrange for it to be moved before they left, just told her to leave it and forget about it.

Today, it finally got moved to my house (with the help of three pairs of missionaries and a one little tiny Datsun pick-up).

And I am wondering what the heck I am going to do with it.

CRAIGSLIST

I don't remember who first introduced me to Craigslist, but I remember how excited I was to discover a FREE way to list and advertise, well, everything.

And I loved the fact that it has hardly changed since it's inception back in 1995. The format, the open communication - it has remained community based - and the fact that's it is FREE.

Like anything else in the human world, it has been used by evil, as many other internet connections - there have been Craiglist Killers, people who used the service to hook up with victims. There's a lot of porn that just pops up suddenly.

But today I am using it to find another animal to join my little menagerie.

I'll keep you posted.

TEACHING METHODS FOR FIVE YEAR OLDS

When you are regularly teaching a class, at least in our church, you end up gaining, either through study or sheer experience, some techniques about getting to that particular age group.

From many years of research, I maintain that cookies work for all ages.

But I was called in suddenly to teach a class of five year olds this past Sunday, and handed the printed lesson, multiple strips of colored construction paper, and a bag of Starbursts.

Without the Starbursts, it might have been nothing but an hour of chaos.

But with the Starbursts -- suddenly, in able to 'earn' a treat, I have six little model students.