CONNECTING YOU TO MY OTHER BLOG
5 years ago
Saturday, October 9, 2010
MUST FREEDOM BE OUR HIGHEST VALUE?
freedom, freedom,FREEDOM,freedom . . . freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose, freedom is worshiped in this country; to realize how true that is, consider how heretical it sounds- "freedom is worshiped in this country."
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
MRS. D'S STORY, CONTINUED
In my post titled ROMANS 8:28, I started telling about Mrs. D, my next door neighbor up in Cottage Grove in Houston, back in 1983. My husband and I had married that April; and he was from an Assembly of God background. I was interested in different expressions of Christian faith, so I was not rejecting the way my husband's parents' church expressed themselves in their service and in general conversation. But knowing Mrs. D helped me so much to understand and accept their ways.
Mrs. D had been a "pentacostal" Christian, as had my in-laws, for many years, since the THIRTIES. She went to the RAYMOND T. RICHIE EVANGELISTIC TEMPLE when she could.
She spoke in 'an unknown tongue' whenever she felt inspired to. She listened to Bible teachers and other Christian programs on radio daily. She actually took it all seriously, talking to others about Jesus and telling them how important it had been for her to find Jesus and to be able to go to Him for forgiveness and comfort. She was willing to tell her story- that she had been bullied into having THREE abortions by her sisters-in-law (they applied pressure to her husband, and he knuckled under to them, I guess because they were giving some support to the couple)- in order to impress to her hearers how important and loving Jesus is. She gave out tracts to whomever would take them. She even invited some boys in the neighblorhood to go to church because their parents were not church-goers. They walked.
So I got to know this amazing, almost blind, kind-of-silly-sometimes woman over the course of two years, doing everyday things, sitting and talking, sitting on the porch swing enjoying the weather, washing her hair, etc. In this way I got to know about the 'pentacostals' in a way I never could otherwise. I am so thankful.
Mrs. D had been a "pentacostal" Christian, as had my in-laws, for many years, since the THIRTIES. She went to the RAYMOND T. RICHIE EVANGELISTIC TEMPLE when she could.
She spoke in 'an unknown tongue' whenever she felt inspired to. She listened to Bible teachers and other Christian programs on radio daily. She actually took it all seriously, talking to others about Jesus and telling them how important it had been for her to find Jesus and to be able to go to Him for forgiveness and comfort. She was willing to tell her story- that she had been bullied into having THREE abortions by her sisters-in-law (they applied pressure to her husband, and he knuckled under to them, I guess because they were giving some support to the couple)- in order to impress to her hearers how important and loving Jesus is. She gave out tracts to whomever would take them. She even invited some boys in the neighblorhood to go to church because their parents were not church-goers. They walked.
So I got to know this amazing, almost blind, kind-of-silly-sometimes woman over the course of two years, doing everyday things, sitting and talking, sitting on the porch swing enjoying the weather, washing her hair, etc. In this way I got to know about the 'pentacostals' in a way I never could otherwise. I am so thankful.
CLEMENTINE
A movie that has profoundly inluenced me is ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.
I think it is a very beautiful movie some themes of which are redemption, forgiveness, acceptance of imperfections of others and of life. (The movie-mainly by Charlie Kaufman (yeay for Charlie Kaufman)- DOES include sex outside of marriage. Though Charlie's characters embrace that lifestyle, and the movie portrays that as a possible root to happiness-which is not part of my value system, I accept that as a story line that appeals to many people.)
I want to talk a very beautiful part of that movie that really expressed a concern/phenomenon that I believe really needs expressing. I AM GIVING YOU A SPOILER ALERT HERE IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE W/O KNOWING STUFF ABOUT IT: At the start of the movie, which we later find out is closer to the end of the story, the two main characters/the dear ones/ the romantic couple meet for what they think is the first time. When she tells him her name is Clementine, he, Joel, says, "Oh cool. Did you know that means 'merciful'?" It was only later that I realized that Joel was only able to come up with that true original meaning for the name "Clementine" because all of his previous memories of meeting Clementine and learning her name had been erased. Because of that, all the "joke-y"
meanings -"Oh my darlin', oh my darlin'. . ." , the cartoon hounddog, and the diminutive delicious oranges- had been erased from his memory along with all his previous memories of her. How sweet and transcendent that Joel thought of 'merciful' when heard "Clementine." Was Author Charlie commenting on how clogged all our communications are with silly, "joke-y" talk; that we are so geared
toward making jokes and being amusing (and amused) and appearing smart, that we have become poor in meaningful communication?
I think it is a very beautiful movie some themes of which are redemption, forgiveness, acceptance of imperfections of others and of life. (The movie-mainly by Charlie Kaufman (yeay for Charlie Kaufman)- DOES include sex outside of marriage. Though Charlie's characters embrace that lifestyle, and the movie portrays that as a possible root to happiness-which is not part of my value system, I accept that as a story line that appeals to many people.)
I want to talk a very beautiful part of that movie that really expressed a concern/phenomenon that I believe really needs expressing. I AM GIVING YOU A SPOILER ALERT HERE IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE W/O KNOWING STUFF ABOUT IT: At the start of the movie, which we later find out is closer to the end of the story, the two main characters/the dear ones/ the romantic couple meet for what they think is the first time. When she tells him her name is Clementine, he, Joel, says, "Oh cool. Did you know that means 'merciful'?" It was only later that I realized that Joel was only able to come up with that true original meaning for the name "Clementine" because all of his previous memories of meeting Clementine and learning her name had been erased. Because of that, all the "joke-y"
meanings -"Oh my darlin', oh my darlin'. . ." , the cartoon hounddog, and the diminutive delicious oranges- had been erased from his memory along with all his previous memories of her. How sweet and transcendent that Joel thought of 'merciful' when heard "Clementine." Was Author Charlie commenting on how clogged all our communications are with silly, "joke-y" talk; that we are so geared
toward making jokes and being amusing (and amused) and appearing smart, that we have become poor in meaningful communication?
Saturday, October 2, 2010
COMBINING
i now cannot gain access to my other blog "APOLOGIA" at rethinking1776.blogspot.com. therefore, i will put all my stuff, such as it is, on this site and theologica.ning.com. the access denial has to do with my having started the other blog using a non-google address. maybe i'm not supposed to be doing this anyway.
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