I suppose I am a hedonist.

I was looking at the blog of a girl I knew only very briefly (she's still a Facebook friend and I saw she was engaged, went to go check out her writing, blah blah..)

And this greeted me:

First of all.. I strangely really like the music. If I were to be subjected to listening to Christian music for the rest of my life, her voice would likely be my first pick.

But listen to all six (approx.) minutes of that. Of special note is the part where the "Devil" shows us images of Buddha, a Mosque, and a few other symbols of various world religion. And then this gem, lyrically:

Or I'll tell you...
There is a heaven but there's many ways to get in
Keep you so confused that you stay bound to your sin
Tell you there are many ways to the same God
Keep you distracted with your methods so your heart stays hard,
I'll make you think you've got spirituality, but it's really just emotional alchemy
Oh, the vanity of self-idoltary I never let you see that it breeds
Hedonism! Whoo!

The reminder that someone with some shred of talent and intelligence still believes these things was a bit too much to handle on this absolutely wonderful Saturday morning. The reason I still cling to parts of my Catholic upbringing is because of the handful of priests and laypeople I met who genuinely loved humanity as a whole and saw life as a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate love in all capacities, to all people, all of whom had a place in a life after this one.

Then of course there's the obligatory line about the Big Bang being a bunch of hooey, and divorce being sinful, and yadda yadda yadda. I'm sure dinosaurs also don't exist.

I do not mean to show malice towards this particular blogger. I think there is power is a faith that strong, and certainly the potential for that power to do wonderful, beneficial, altruistic, and world-altering things. But to consider one way of thinking the only road to spiritual enlightenment, love, Heaven, and worth in the eyes of God is so incredibly narrow, self-indulgent, and hypocritical. Believe fervently in what you want; go ahead! But with that certain brand of belief should come an understanding that other believers of all walks of the world may, too, wish for the same changes in the world and believe in an everlasting life. Or what have you. Show your love through compassion, not through finger-pointing.

Oye. I was going to go further into this, but my head hurts with the considerations and the fact that I'm rusty at writing. Going to go outside and plant stuff. And maybe chant

Green Things

kara-and-mashley.blogspot.com/

It was Kara's idea! And I think it's grand.

Also, been plugging away at a plan for our garden. Richard isn't working the same hours during the week he'd been used to, though weekends are full— and he has a full-time job lined up for the supper. So we're planning and plotting a 20' x 20' veg garden in the east section of our fenced yard, and a compost bin. Right now, the plan is for English peas, summer squash, broccoli (I'm dubious about this one; different sites offer very different levels of difficulty for it, but whatever— worth a go), carrots, leaf lettuce, and spinach. I'm also doing tomatoes in this funky As-Seen-on-TV device thing we acquired and mint and rosemary in some large pots out front.

I want to ride more. :/ CAMPfrence is the beginning of this week, and I have a decent list of chores to tend to, but at least the hay delivery is done. Moving 104 bales a quarter mile over a windy road in little tractor frankly sucks. I am not good at "clearing my mind" or letting mindless tasks "calm me" unless they are physical. Riding the tractor is duller than can be imagined— the only upside being the opportunity to watch the herd eat, play, snooze, and kick up their heels at each other while forking the bales to and fro.

Natalie's coming in a week or two! Kelsey may be here this week! Polly and I had a good shopping trip, the first time I've bought much in ages, and it was all remarkably cheap. All clothes for the few days I need to look "Office Space" nice for work, but none of it boring. (i.e., I HATE black slacks. But grey crop pants are okay!)