On Fun Stuff and also Lent

Sooo I went home over the weekend for Easter/ birthdays/ seeing family/ seeing boyfriend/ seeing Captain America 2. It was fun to go back and see my boyfriend and family again, even if it was only for a weekend.  Even though my birthday was almost two weeks ago, the celebration was on Saturday because that was when everyone was home anyway.  It's weird - I actually feel like I'm properly a year older now.  I kept referring to myself as my former age before that, but now I feel like I'm solidly in this age now.  I don't know why that is.

The other fun/ interesting/ whatever thing that I noticed this weekend is that I was finally able to complete a Lenten challenge for myself. I gave up flash games, and took on journaling every night, as well as reading a chapter of the Bible every night and to read the Lenten devotional booklet given out at the church I attend at school. This introduced me to my favorite prayer.  Normally I try to stay religion-neutral here, but I feel like this is a good message for a lot of people, regardless of faith status.

THE PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
where there is hatred, let me sow love,
where there is is injury, pardon,
where there is error, truth,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is despair, hope,
where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness, joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


On that note, I'll write again on Friday.

On Lent

So this is the first Friday of Lent.  So far, it's going pretty well, I think.  I've run into a roadblock, though.  Fortunately, it's only today (hopefully).

So one of my resolutions is to read the Bible a bit every day.  This has been going as well as can be expected, I think.  I normally read before I go to bed, and last night was no different.  I did my read-then-pray/meditate shindig, and I put my bible in this bag that hangs from a device I use as a coat rack/ place-to-hold-bags-that-hold-books-because-my-bed-is-lofted.  Well, that bag is now missing.  I'm not sure where it went, but I know that it is no longer hanging up on the coat-rack-thing.  I haven't taken it out anywhere, because I'm putting some fraternity letters on it but it's not done yet.  Hopefully it'll turn up, but this is going to put me back a few days on devotions if it keeps up.  (also, I won't have a snazzy new bag, but that's not the point).

Other Lent-related things are going pretty well.  So far, I have succeeded in avoiding mindless games - and, as I expected, I am suddenly finding myself with a whole bunch of free time.  (I'm still procrastinating sometimes, but it's productive procrastination.  I'm not staring blankly at a screen, I'm crocheting and knitting while watching YouTube).  I'm frequently the sort of person who says 'only five more minutes...' and winds up taking an hour, and the lack of games to provoke that has helped me realize that.

I've also been writing a little bit more as well.  Not a lot - I've only done one creative thing and two journal entries since Lent began - but I did write a really weird contextual back story for the lyrics of "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles.  It involves serial killers with face fetishes and church-based bounty hunters.  (I didn't say that it was good, I just said it happened).

Well, those are all the updates I have for this week.  Will write again on Monday.

On Religion

As someone who knows that interfaith interaction, especially between Christians and Muslims, is super tense a lot of the time, I was kind of surprised to read this article.  For those of you who decided not to follow the link, it's basically an article on a letter that Mohammad, founder of Islam, sent to an Orthodox Christian monastery; basically, the letter said that Mohammad would protect and honor the Christian's religious choice, and that this sentiment should be in effect forever.

It's kind of interesting, then, how much everything has changed.  There are Christians who really don't like Muslims, and I know there are some Muslims who really don't like Christians.  Strife between faiths is inevitable.

At the same time, I think Mohammad had it right - not only should we live and let live, we should live and help others live their choices.  Letting others be is not enough - if persecution is going to happen, then there has to be someone that's going to fight back.

I think freedom of faith is an important part of US culture, even if some people don't realize it.  There are some who think that the US was founded on Christian principles; Thomas Jefferson specifically said that it wasn't.  Some say that the US is a Christian nation, which is complete bullcrap.  There are so many faith communities in the US that calling it a Christian nation is almost insulting.  Sure, there are a lot of Christians, and a lot of Christian denominations that people follow, but that doesn't mean that this is a Christian nation.  That means that we have the freedom to practice Christianity - but also the freedom to practice Islam, Judaism, Wicca, Buddhism, Hinduism, Baha'i, Atheism, Agnosticism, or any sort of homebrew combination that explains what someone's individual view is on the status and existence of a higher power.

And, to follow Mohammad, we have an obligation to protect everyone's right to follow whatever faith they want or need to follow.