ritual, tradition, and hell

Jack-O-Lantern Halloween Greetings
Originally uploaded by Fort Photo

Growing up my family had few traditions. But one of the few was celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. We would read the Christmas Story, open presents, and all sleep under the tree. It was magical.

A good friend of mine, however, did not have these traditions for Christmas. In fact their family tradition at Christmas, was to pretend it didn't exist. They were fearful that the roots of the Christmas celebration hearkened back to pagan origin. They of course had proof. The evergreen tree was part of this ritual, the time of year Christmas is celebrated corresponds with winter solstice celebrations...and of course the family was absolutely correct. These are the origins for many of the things associated with Christmas. So does this suddenly make Christmas less Christian and more 'evil'?

I have often noticed that my local Church carries around dual baggage. On one hand they are quite fearful of the idea of accidentally celebrating and revelling in something that may actually hold less than savoury beginnings. Halloween, for instance, is definitely out! There is a fear that if you celebrate something that has "satanic" origins than, you are in fact worshipping the devil himself.

On the other hand, it is impossible to accidentally worship God. They tell me that even if i do all the rituals, like go to church weekly, say prayers, and read my Bible, I'm not *really* worshipping unless i give my heart to Him.

So dual beliefs continue. If i ritually keep a holiday, i could in fact be unconsciously giving myself to evil, yet if i ritually keep religion, i'm still in danger of hell.

I suppose there is no satisfying others.

Avenue Q

I was invited to go see a play in Sydney with Melody. It was so much fun. We went to see Avenue Q. It had some striking similarities to sesame street. The main difference was the language, drug references, and sex with puppets (which was very funny). Here is a taste...without the sex scene:)




And a bit of background, if your interested...

pop dogma

I was first introduced to 'Buddy Christ" in the film Dogma. Buddy Christ is used as a religious parody icon. It was created to BE a parody icon. It was created with the idea of making people go "woah! someone is taking their religion to the ridiculous level"

So it always makes me second glance when i see Buddy Christ being held with reverence, or placed in a home where it is taken seriously. "Of course, Christ is my buddy" i hear people say.

I suppose i could be in awe that something that was created to be ridiculous has been re-branded for a 'holy' or more meaningful purpose.

But generally i just think those people got scammed.

creating a top five

Could you come up with a top five favourite Joss Whedon characters? Sci Fi Uk thought they could.

They compiled a list of characters they believe are the most enduring Whedonverse characters. I disagree. So because i have my own blog, i will give my list.

5. Fred
4. Dr. Horrible
3. Willow
2. Spike
1.River Tam

The only problem is that after writing this list up, i realise that there are other characters who really should make this list.

Xander, Anya, Zoe, Captain Hammer, Lorne, Kaylee, Faith, Buffy, Tara, Topher....oh dear...my list of top five is turning into quite a mess. I guess the truth is i can't limit it to a mere top five. I'm not even sure i can really put them into an order!

I am left with no alternative but to admit that Joss and his people have some mad skill when it comes to character creation. I wonder if i can learn the skill...

sad story

Details are still emerging but it looks to be more proof that carrying a gun doesn't protect you from gun violence.

A US mother who openly carried a gun to her 5 year old daughter's football game last year was shot dead this week. (story here)

Whether she was carrying her gun at the time and who was responsible for the shooting are still being investigated.

Her open advocacy for her right to carry a gun did nothing to protect her from getting shot. Nor did it keep the trauma of that kind of violence from her 3 young children.

I could give another speech on gun control, but i think i've already made myself very clear on the topic.

Cleopatra Stratan

The translation (as far as i can find out) is a children's song about animals and a very talented cat. I found the translated lyrics here, but you might find the song fun without knowing the lyrics. She is such a talented little girl.

I do feel bad for the director though. They say never work with children or animals and this poor person obviously did both to an insane level. You can see the dogs barking in some of the background scenes and the cats getting upset...it could not have been a headache free set.

Top 5 reasons to be happy

For the last couple of weeks i've been working on building a tiny life form. Some of the time it sucks...(or rather blows). If i'm not careful i can find myself completely obsessing over the hard part of it. So i thought i would remind myself of 5 things that are great about my life right now.

5. Getting to eat blueberry pie without any guilt at all.
4. Getting phone calls from friends/family to cheer me up
3. Being brought meals in bed
2. Listening to my animals 'talk' in their sleep. (it makes me giggle)
1. Watching my husband's eyes light up when we talk about bub