The Council at Reality~ What the Atheists Know.

     The rift that we have seen form inside the church over the past few years has shaken many, sent a few packing,  and has  angered pretty much everyone. This rift has nothing to do with faith or work but it has everything to do with the concept of responsibility. Do you know why the atheists have developed such a sour taste for Christianity? It has little to do with the faith involved, although they see Christians as being less intelligent on many fronts, atheists stay angered because Christians have in the past  laid  all responsibility on G-d. Now, with the advent of education being literally at our fingertips, Christians need do nothing more than log on and they have a wealth of knowledge blooming in bright full color in front of them. Christians of today need not trust any pastor, they can google when the Bible was written, who wrote it, what Noah's ark would have looked like, what laws Jesus broke. Christians have at their disposal a way to research their own faith, study the Councils that went into shaping the faith and even get an idea of how so much was lost through translations. So why aren't we? Welcome to the cliff...are you prepared to jump?
     Responsibility is not a word that a lot of Christians have grown up knowing. If we get pregnant, it was because G-d had a plan. If we get divorced, it was because G-d needed to teach us a lesson. If our house burns down,  it's because G-d has bigger things planned  for us (regardless of our insurance). If our child is born with  a life-threatening illness, then G-d is testing our faith. So, here's the real question : If we have the ability to choose what we do and why we do it, why is always G-d's  fault?  We either believe in free-will and self determination, or we believe that G-d literally has laid out a destiny for us and everything happens in His time....The rift in the church right now is about responsibility, you either have it or you don't. We no longer are a culture that is so uneducated that we can play the end against the middle and say, "I am trusting G-d." Those of us in the know are calling your bluff. This is not atheism, this is real, educated, reasonable Christianity.
    Most any pastor you meet, if he is honest and somewhat worldly,  will advise you that Christianity only has a few good years left. What we see coming is incredible: either large social churches that promote fun, family activities and operate schools out of their churches or the cult-like crazies led by men and women who know that Christianity has long been a money pit, ripe for digging. Oh, I'm sorry..the difference in the two? One will have school teachers and lawyers and community leaders, the other will have hippies, washouts, and people who drove by a college once. Other than that? hmmm. Well, the message is the same, "G-d has sent me to tell you..." It just looks better when G-d's appointed in wearing a five hundred dollar suit doesn't it? The rest of the Christian population has stopped calling themselves Christian. We no longer like the connotation. We are okay being real. We are Christians, but we have no love left for the church that has drained us, lied to us, used us, abused our children, took our money, and left us to be hated by a good majority of the world's population. See, we're Christians, we're just not YOUR type of Christian.
    The new Christians meet in secret, talk in code, and mock pretty much everything the church is doing and saying because we know Jesus never planned for us to be stupid, mindless dolts. He wasn't,  so, if I model myself after the Christ, then I should know a little bit about everything. Jesus taught truth. No one led him around by the nose.  In fact we see he went from a haughty youth at 13, disobeying his father and mother, to become a man of 30  who railed against authority. He did what he did and he never made excuses, he never wanted to be pinned down by rules, social norms or religious law.
    The atheist have this joke about Christians...that all they need is one book. One book that is full of historical inaccuracies, biological  inaccuracies, and lots and lots of bloodshed in the name of G-d. Atheists don't mind us reading the book, they have all read the book, what they don't like is that we don't understand parables, or Jewish custom, or  analogies. One book has backed us into a corner. Today the reality based Christians believe in evolution, understand that G-d created the universe (es) and then let it go, and don't pray so much as work. We also don't believe that G-d makes it rain, or causes tornadoes or earthquakes. We made it through fifth grade science. We wonder why no one else  did.  Our  whole shtick is Responsibility. And yes, the right-wing Christian has promised that this new breed will  go to hell because we are educated and live in this world with real people. They have waged war on us, therefore, we live in silence, know who we are,  and continue to do G-d's work without the church's permission. Yet the good right wingers scream about being treated like a minority and go on and on about persecution. Persecution...how many Crusades did  they win? They don't read history books either, I guess.
    Responsibility comes in when, after lots of preparation, many forms and interviews, my son sits and waits to be called and told he is accepted at a new high school. The neighbor says she will pray for him. I am left speechless by this. An 11th hour prayer. When children work and work and then are taught or told that all of it is for nothing unless G-d decides he wants you there, what are we teaching these children? How about instead of praying, we write a note of recommendation? How about instead  of praying we become an active part of some child's study routine and let them lay their path to greatness through hard work? Bill Gates is an atheist. Natalie Portman, atheist. Albert Einstein, atheist. They have each worked themselves into greatness. . Intelligence and a thirst for knowledge cannot be prayed into you if you never open a book. The idea the church implanted into the believers many years ago about steering clear of knowledge was a political ploy, and if we are still buying into  the concept of keeping our eyes closed and our pocketbooks opened, then we get what we get, and our children pay dearly for it. King James chose carefully who helped him assemble a book...are you choosing carefully who you choose to help you interpret it?
     When my house burned, nobody came to my door carrying a Christian flag declaring, "Jesus sent me." Most just showed up and said,"Hey, what do you need me to do." They didn't need me to sign a waiver stating that this was a good work so that G-d could validate it. They didn't need me to know what church they represented, they weren't here earning points. They were here because they were good decent people who decided to do the right thing. They took responsibility for their neighbor and offered food, clothing and housing. They required no edict to do it either. There was no booming voice from the sky leading them to me. 
   There is a reason  why atheists and the new reality based Christians   have a problem with Christianity. The words, "I will pray for you." When you put it in G-d's hands then it releases you from responsibility. You pray that someone will intervene...as long as it's not you. What  Christianity has failed to promote is:  Prayer that  happens in the hand-holding, in the tears, in the quiet moments when you stand next to someone in the check-out aisle and sneak them the  five dollars that they need to buy milkis the most important type of prayer. Prayer is not proud or boastful. It is  supposed to be an action, yet the church has turned it into and inaction. Prayer is supposed to be all-powerful, fervent, life-changing action. We now sit back and pray for the children molested by their priests. Where is the action? Where is the flogging? Where is the therapy? Where is the desire to stop this ridiculous torture of a congregation? Why do we pray for people when they are sick? Are we really leaving it up to G-d  to decide their fate rather than spend a little money and get them to a doctor? The new phrase  when someone asks for prayer needs to be "I'll pray for you but I'll pray while I work alongside you to solve this problem." Because praying for the battered woman is a little different than putting her into your car and taking her to relatives, friends, or your house. But then, your answer is probably , "G -d didn't call me to do that."
    Atheists will tell you the same thing the new breed of Christian will tell you: My most freeing day was when I left the church. To no longer be shackled by outdated misogynistic ideas and actually have the freedom to meet G-d was the best thing that happened to some of us. For atheists, the best thing was the realization that there is no great calculator in the sky keeping a tab on their good works, nor was there an invisible man riding in the car with them. I say that with a smile. They will tell you to find science has been the most holy experience they could imagine. For the new reality based Christians, science is seen the same way. It gives us such a look into majesty and intricacy. It makes us feel truly quiet and unworthy. It brings everything G-d is into a scope that we cannot wrap our minds around. G-d is not our friend, our buddy, our father. He is untouchable and unknowable and we are humbled because of it.
         In essence, to be part of a church is to live in a raindrop. You and your kind are under a microscope and everything you do is magnified and therefore you think everyone lives like you, thinks like you, talks like you.You think you are big and untouchable.  If you came out for ten minutes and realized that not all Christians throw around the terms "blessed and chosen" then you find your mind open to something a little different. You aren't in a huge dome of safety, you are in this world just like the rest of us. Do you open your eyes as Jesus requested? Did you  do something with your life or just rest on the knowledge that your name is in the book?
    I grew up being taught that the Bible, at least the Old Testament, was found as -is. I believed it was found intact as a book divinely given. Today, as an adult, I understand the work that went into creating this religious relic. I also understand how many people were killed in hopes that the church ( being the political power) could give the Bible to the people without any help from the do-gooders. Just because I understand the path theis book took, does it make me any less of a Christian? Many would say yes. Many would tell you that Satan creates lies, and is some time travelling boogey-man who sets up fossils and spends weeks chiselling the Grand Canyon in efforts to thrawrt our faith. Well, my faith is not that shallow or infantile. Just because I know what the Bible is and isn't,  does it mean I believe any less in G-d? No, it means I believe less in the people that have tried to forge, shape, mold and sacrifice G-d. It may mean I believe less in the people that surround me who quote the Old Testament with all its judgements but fail to see how Jesus turned up his nose at the  mockery of human life that the Old Testament proudly boasts.
   Let me close with this. Have you ever known someone who says they lost their keys, they ran late and came upon a car accident. Then they say, "Had I been 2 minutes earlier it would have been me. G-d is good." Wow, the almighty ego in that statement is enough to make a few people sick. Implying that you are so much better or more needed here than the innocents that died in that crash. Assuming that you are so cherished by G-d that he won't let you die...and yet what have you done? Did you visit the family of the crash victims and say, "Well, it should have been me, but I am G-d's chosen, so I am really sorry your family died in my place." Have you sold your home to feed the poor because G-d called you through this event to be a bigger,  better person? Have you donated any money to a local daycare...what have you done?  More importantly, what have you boasted about doing?  What responsibility have you taken as a human being? Or do you just trust that G-d's plan is well laid and whatever happens to you is the way it's supposed to be?

 Sometimes, my children,  life happens, quit acting like you know something about it and start living it. ~ mama shey

Age of Reasoning

     SO, THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A HARD ONE. I FIND MYSELF NEEDLESSLY AT A THRESHOLD. I HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED THAT MY YOUNGEST IS NOT OLD ENOUGH TO ATTEND SCHOOL THIS AUGUST; I HAVE NO QUALMS WITH THAT. I COULD STAY WITH THAT ONE FOREVER AND NEVER GET BORED, BUT I REALIZED PART OF ME WAS AWAKENING TO THE IDEA OF BEING SOMETHING OTHER THAN "MOM".  THIS WEEK I SPENT A DAY ALONE. IT WAS EMOTIONALLY DRAINING AND I FOUND MYSELF NEEDING PERMISSION TO DO ANYTHING REMOTELY FUN. I CONTEMPLATED WHAT BIG PROJECT I COULD DO, WHERE I COULD GO, HOW I COULD SOLVE THAT SPACE-TIME THING. I WAS MISERABLE.  
     I HAVE OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS ACQUIRED A FEW WONDERFUL WOMEN IN MY LIFE. I WAS NOT "ALONE" AFTER ALL, YET IN THE QUIET OF A CAR RIDE OR THE MONOTONY OF DISH-WASHING, I WAS FORCED UPON A THRESHOLD........WHAT DOES LIFE BECOME NOW?
HAVING CHILDREN IS LIKE WATCHING G-D REACH DOWN, PULL OUT THE SMALLEST MOST SECRETIVE PART OF YOUR PERSONALITY AND THEN WATERING IT AND LETTING IT GROW INTO AN ALTERED FORM OF YOU. IT IS SCARY AND BIZARRE TO SEE YOUR KIDS DO THINGS OR BE THINGS THAT REMIND YOU OF YOU. IT'S AS IF THEY HAVE BEEN SENT TO REMIND YOU THAT YOU HAVE JUST SIMPLY TURNED OFF A GOOD PORTION OF YOUR PERSONALITY ALONG WITH  YOUR WANTS, FEARS, YOUR ANGER. I SEE MYSELF DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE OF THEM.
  I SPENT  SOME TIME IN AN ANTIQUE STORE CONTEMPLATING WHAT THE OLD ME WOULD HAVE LOVED. I FOUND THE LACY HANDKERCHIEFS, THE LOVELY LADIES GLOVES, THE HATS, THE DISHES. ALL THINGS THAT SCREAM "FEMININE!!"  THINGS THAT I HAVE PUT ASIDE LATELY FOR BASEBALLS AND MUD, TENNIS SHOES AND PLASTIC UNBREAKABLE PLATES. I DID BUY A PAIR OF GLOVES WHICH SEEMED TO TOUCH A VERY SENTIMENTAL NERVE.
  AS THE DAY WORE ON, THE QUESTION BECAME WHAT DO I DO WITH THE REST OF MY LIFE? DO I WANT A JOB? A CAREER? I SPENT SOME TIME IN JENNIFER'S WORKSHOP PONDERING WHAT I REALLY WANTED FOR MYSELF. TURNS OUT, I AM A LITTLE CREEPY WHEN IT COMES TO JOB SELECTION. TURNS OUT JENNIFER SHOULD HAVE BEEN A THERAPIST.
    NOT KNOWING WHO YOU ARE IS SCARY. BUT, DEAR CHILDREN, NOT GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION TO BE WHO YOU ARE IS TERRIFYING. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU "WANT" TO BE. I AM NOT SPEAKING OF WHERE YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS. I MEAN RIGHT NOW. DO YOU HAVE OPINIONS THAT YOU DON'T EXPRESS BECAUSE YOU FEAR WHAT OTHERS WILL SAY?  DO YOU HAVE WANTS OR NEEDS THAT AREN'T BEING MET BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A BURDEN? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT, BUT YOU DON'T THINK YOU DESERVE IT?  ARE YOU BEING A MARTYR SO OTHERS CAN LIVE ABOVE YOU? ARE YOU SETTLING AND LIVING A CONVENIENT LIFE AS OPPOSED TO LIVING EACH DAY SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE AND THINGS YOU LOVE? WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE YOUR TIME? WHEN?
    TODAY I CLEANED THE HOUSE IN ORDER TO a) FIND SOME SCOTCH TAPE AND b) GET RID OF EVERYTHING THAT DOESN'T SPEAK TO WHO I AM. THE KIDS DESERVE TO SEE THE REAL ME...I WILL NEVER BE THE GLOSSY, SHINY, PRETTY HAPPY MOM. I WILL, HOWEVER, ALWAYS BE THE HONEST ONE. AS THEY GROW OLDER, I REALIZE I NEED A LITTLE BIT OF ME BACK BECAUSE THEY NEED ME. THEY DON'T NEED A STAGNANT, UNEDUCATED, MOM WHO LIVES IN A BUBBLE. THEY NEED ME. ALL OF ME...NOW...MAYBE THE ANTIQUE STORE HAS A LILLE BIT MORE OF ME LAYING AROUND.

"good character is the paved road to happiness"~ mama shey