An Eeyore kind of day

Ok, so I am not sure if I am spelling it correctly, but Eeyore- the winnie-the-pooh character, is right up my alley today. It is a sad and mopey day here at the seminary, and I am feeling sorrowful and mournful. Ok, and maybe a little angry. Here's why:

I spent the morning helping a friend plan a memorial service for her partner. And spent a good portion of that time recognizing (not for the first time) that our country, and the state of PA on top of it, is for the most part, illogical, immoral and ignorant. This couple has been together- well, for more than 15 years, cause that's how long we've known them. They are so much like us in many ways. They are two amazing, committed loving people. And now one of them has died - and I finally recognize how much our society keeps them from living normal, happy, lives. Let me explain that this couple has lived the "love your neighbor" thing more fully than any people in any church I've ever seen. They care about their community and serve it fully. They are moral, responsible, ethical, caring, kind and generous people. They are GOOD! they are God's daughters too.
And my culture - because of its religious values, chooses to hate them and oppress them. Here in America, we Christians pick and choose which parts of the bible we want to use to oppress people. Let's take slavery and the treatment of women as just two examples of past abuse that has changed...(and our understanding of mold and the wearing of mixed fibers as just a few of the levitical and cannonical texts which we have reinterpreted-) WISELY - I might add- as we begin to understand God and creation and nature more fully... And yet we always need to find some group to hold down and abuse under the guise that - that is what Jesus would do.

Has anyone who believes this ever read the GOSPELS?!? Yes, there are texts that we can use to bash gays and lesbians (I blame the Apostle Paul and right wing politics for the most part) but in a society that claims to allow individual, unalienable rights and claims that there is some separation of church & state- if you set aside the Bible for just one moment and look at the issue with your brain and social structure instead of your religious views, THEN HOW IN GOD'S NAME and ALL THAT IS HOLY CAN WE KEEP OPPRESSING THESE PEOPLE WHO WANT NOTHING MORE THAN TO LOVE EACH OTHER!!!!??????!!!! I do NOT get this and I am SO ANGRY!

The Laws do not protect them. The laws abuse them and I am appalled. As a pastor, as a loving Christian, but mostly as an AMERICAN, I have no way of comprehending this.
And this blog was going to be about knitting and my family and fun, humourous life events, but now is not the time for me to knit- because I will make tiny little hate-filled knots that i will just have to rip out later. I need to practice some forgiveness and prayer at this point, because I have no idea what else to do- but at some point soon - my family and I will need to become activists. Because it is what I believe Christ did, would do and is still working on... to bring love and peace and care for the community into this world, we will all need to start seeing the holy in one another.... I am going to get off my soap box now, hold my head in my hands and cry a little, and then pray. It is all I am left capable of doing today. Say a little prayer friends, and I promise, next time I post, no talk about religion...

Bruised yet happy...

So, I need to post pictures (and will do so later this week- when I am somewhere near my camera) because Scott and I had a FANTASTIC weekend- and we took a lot of good pictures of ourselves actually. We went on a trip to Somerset PA and rode our tandem on the Allegheny Highlands trail - it was such a blast. We rode 24 miles on Saturday through beautiful woods, and by neat little waterfalls. Then on Sunday I was a guest preacher at a church there and after worship we went out to the trail again and rode for another 21 miles or so. I was SO bruised though from the seat...that's right... I bruised my Tuckus if you can believe it (actually, anyone who's ever spent more than an hour on a bike at a time knows this feeling). I want a new saddle pronto (it may not help, but it can't hurt). Even with the soreness and what not- it was a beautiful weekend, and it was nice to leave our "little man" with his Nena and Poppie so that we could have a night alone together. And - I started another "Irish hiking scarf" on the drive (such a great hobby this knitting is. What else can you do so easily while riding in a car?). This time I am knitting the IHS using a beautiful lime-navy colored Malibrigo yarn.... Simply yummy.
:-)
Total Joy...

Knitting through the pain of it all

So, tonight I will be knitting, but I will be knitting at a meeting that will be painful. I am not dreading it, but I am not looking forward to it, mostly because it is embarrassing and will require great change from me.... yep...I am going back to weight watchers. I've tried before and had lost 30 pounds a couple of years ago,but had a baby and fell back to really bad habits. Then I joined again this past January and, well, the friend I was going with got pregnant and bailed on me (with good reason, I am very happy for her, just sad for me). Now I have another friend that wanted to rejoin,and I just feel like the timing is right. So I will take my knitting along in the hopes that it will make the time feel REALLY well-spent. And a little less traumatic. I hope to just plug along, and stick with it (both the knitting and the WW). wish me luck!
On a side note- the boy's second birthday was fabulous.... ice cream cake, poppy blowing bubbles with him. Cousin Avery and Uncle Chris running amok with us. It was really fun. Pictures will be posted later...once we all have the time to recover.

Turning Two

The boy will officially be two this weekend- which means a full weekend of extended family festivities... My FIL is co-directing a race, followed by a b-day party with both our families...it should be weird, and hopefully fun, but weird for sure. We will try to take his picture again at all the cool places we went to last year, but he is TWO and so, much of our plans are dependent on his cooperation, and well, that cannot be planned for. Gotta love it. Actually, everyone tells me that three is much worse than two, but we'll see about that. And for the most part- he is still a laughing, bubbly, chatty little man, so, I will just be grateful for age two and recognize that 18 comes too soon.
Happy weekend everyone- may it be as weird and fun as you can handle.

The Boy

Firsts of all kinds

So, I am knitting my first ever sweater (it's for a non-discerning eyed toddler) and I am learning how to blog all at the same time. I really wish I could stick to one thing at a time, but it seems to be against my nature. Rather, I have three or four projects on the needles, I have been coerced into quilting for the first time, and I am learning about blogging all at once! It's more fun that way I suppose to never spend more than a half hour doing any one thing in my life. And if there is one thing I have learned about other knitters from viewing all their websites, it is that many of them share my personality traits for multiple projects, short attention spans and a love of too much yarn (at least, the fun ones do!) ;-)

A first post

So, I am learning about blogs by trying to construct my own. I've tried once before, but this time I am serious, because I have been obsessively reading other peoples knitting blogs for the last year now, and it is time to jump into the fray. So here I go!!!