Trial run of a fashion update. I'm chronicling my attempts to gain a sense of fashion here rather than trying to present myself as some sort of expert.
(This is an essay I wrote for part of a Cultural Memoir Assignment) One former Adventist friend of mine always says, “It was the table that fed me” in referring to our shared Seventh-day Adventist background. My friend was referring to the morals, values and spirituality of Seventh-day Adventism that we still hold onto, even though we disagree with the Church in many ways. I, however, can’t help but think of feeding in the literal sense. Seventh-day Adventism did truely feed us, but in very unusual ways. Seventh-day Adventists have something they refer to as the “Health Message.” Just like the Mormons we have our very own prophet, only she was a woman and not a polygamist. Ellen White encouraged healthy living and vegetarianism in the Seventh-day Adventist church. In many ways this has been a blessing to the church. Adventists who follow the health message are some of the longest living folks in the nation. On the other hand it has brought a spirit of legalistic infighting ove...
Let today be the day. you look at your anger and self-loathing, your anxiety and depression, neurosis, obessions and compulsions. Look at them and see them…not as demons, but as the traumatized children they are. Then tell them Thank-you. In their own way they’ve tried to protect and nourish you, to soothe and motivate you. They didn’t know how, but they tried. So Thank-you If they are crying out to you now, tuck them in bed, kiss them on head and whisper… “Go to sleep, little ones. Mama’s got this. “ Then wake up in yourself the children of compassion. These children who are kind, fierce, curious, sustaining and beautiful. These sweet little ones need your attention now. They’ve been weak and malnourished. You’ve always given so much to the children of trauma that you’ve had nothing left for these others. So feed them now, kiss them and let them play....
For the record, still agnostic, but I might be a reverent agnostic. (ala AJ Jacobs) I went to two Easter services (a Saturday night easter vigil and a Sunday morning service.) They were both at Episcopal churches and I have to say, "Episcopals, I like your style." I know all the reasons Adventists reject such ceremony, but I have to say you loose some of the reverence when you take out the ceremony. (and substitute it with cheesy CCM and 70's style sanctuaries.) I've been thinking about joining a church again. I miss that feeling of being part of a larger community with potlucks, families, music (not CCM) all about me. The last "church" we were apart of was full of really good people and some forward thinking pastors, but it was the whole "Jesus is my Boyfriend" music that I couldn't get into. I feel like the old hymns leave room for some unknowing wonder in their lyrics. I've also noticed that a lot of liberal churches have traditional...
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