Here and Now...What's Happening?

[Kraut]

Posted by Carmody (here)
one way, may be..is to..over time...let her understand that it is not a break with her, but internal evolution and change. A thing that has grown over time. Not a rejection, but an evolution, over time..in you. for she may be in the moment and space of always perceiving it as rejection. This, if she has suffered similar programming in her life, as that of rejection and breaks. what is her moment of perception? What does she understand the situation as, on the deepest formation levels? - That indeed may be a part of the core issue. Separating yourself from the situation to be able to see that more clearly, will take time, as it will similarly, for her.

Very good point(s). She may think she did something wrong while "inculcating" me and might feel rejected herself. Sigh. It's a bit like walking through a mine field with all these aspects of mental conditioning. Sad thing is that on her part the conditioning goes on and on, every day, every week. Witnesses are regularly reminded how to deal with those who leave, worst case is complete shunning.

Posted by Paula (here)
Oops, if/when I hear something like that come out of my head, I remind myself that I am the sole owner for my beliefs and actions. Then I am filled with gratitude, and thank myself for wearing my custom-designed, self-empowered sneakers.

Couldn't resist customizing mine a bit more:

Posted by ulli (here)
In my last year in Barbados, before I knew that I was going to move to Costa Rica one day,
I still had my boutique there, and the girl working for me was a Jehovah's witness.

She was still in training, and used me as an exercise machine. Two nuts trying to crack each other.

Ha, would have been interesting to watch, I bet.

Posted by ulli (here)
So she insisted to bring her bible and a pile of books to work, and during the off season there were few customers...
so we would have these debates.
It ended with me discovering that they don't believe in getting into heaven, not until the final judgement,
and then only a small number....
all based on the position of one comma,
which was in a different place from the bibles I knew. It was about the promise that Jesus made to the thief on the cross next to him...
where he told him that today he would enter paradise. meanwhile she argued, backed up by her bible, that Jesus meant he was saying it TODAY, but it would not actually happen until two thousand years down the road when the dead would come out of their tombs.

It's a shame that most Witnesses are unable to debate without using any kind of book or publication. If they took a closer look at the bible, they'd see how much of the doctrine is garbage. I used to have similar debates with my Dad, but always with a friendly tone and respect. Ironically now we see eye to eye and I am glad to have him, he's been a great support for me and also opened my eyes to new views.

Posted by ulli (here)
That's when I gave up all discussions.....realized there was no way to win the argument. And once I showed an unwillingness to discuss her bible with her she also dropped her work standards until I decided that I would just have to let her go.

Yeah, it really isn't about debate but about getting you and I and others to accept their views and beliefs. If JWs meet someone while preaching who can stand his ground or even persuade them, they'll hit the road quickly.

Posted by ulli (here)
So I went to work the next day, nervous about the idea of giving her notice, because I hated firing people,
and as I walked in the door and before I could tell her anything, she announced that she was pregnant.
And this meant I couldn't fire her, under Barbados law.
And I ended up having her right until the end, and even pay for her three months maternity leave as well.
By then it had become clear to me that we were going to move to Costa Rica,
and I handed the business over to new management. So there was my personal saga...
and how spirit used a JW to drive me to a new country.

At least it was good for something. Good thing that she drove you to a new country, not crazy.

Posted by Flash (here)
And I would add with mothers, always remain on the love side, kind of "i know you love me and want my well being - I love you too and want the same for you, can we just share our love for the moment" this is a no fail argument with a mom. But do not give up on yourself, follow as well Ulli and Carmody's advice.

That's good advice. When I read that it felt like just the right thing to remember.

Thank you all for listening and for your advice.

Lately I've been finding lots of meaning in this song:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=96fd5o8Xq8w

[ulli]

@1inMany
Thanks for sharing that. Wow, can I relate!
When I left the Bahai community and was subsequently shunned I also went through a deep low.
But then I found in my solitude that spirit became louder than ever...and on the Internet I found the balm I was looking for.

I became a member of several Bahai dissident forums, which was very healing.
Despite the fact that the Bahai teachings have lots of passages about an individual's path, and even empowerment, yet in recent decades there has been a tendency to ignore that aspect, with an insistence of obedience to the elected elite, the Universal House of Justice, who now run every aspect of Bahai life, as they are supposedly infallible.

This is now what it means to be faithful to the Covenant of Baha'u'llah.
Reform is needed. All the answers are there in the early writings of Baha'u'llah.

The sad reality is that the purging of scholars and mystics since the eighties has left the community with a leadership that seems spiritually bereft.

[ulli]

http://pix11.com/2013/03/14/chelsea-...#axzz2NXIkqKj6

Chelsea Clinton's new Manhattan apartment. If I had a spare $10.5 million bucks I might have chosen that, too.
No way I would ever give up my shack in the Orosi Valley, though.

[Kraut]

Posted by 1inMany (here)
Oh, Kraut, I wish I had the answer for you. As it is, your expressions have led me down a hole in myself that used to be extremely painful and I am finding out now that it was a crucial turning point in my soul development.

I was born into a JW family, born into the Truth. My father was the director of music for the district back when orchestras played at assemblies. I grew up napping on concrete floors being lulled by beautiful interpretations of Myriads and Myriads of Brothers before the assemblies started. I grew up being paraded around and showered with positive reinforcement because I was a good girl, answering questions during the Watchtower Studies as soon as I could speak. I was on stage from the time I could walk, a good example. I learned to read using the Watchtower and Awake, and of course the Bible. We went to meetings on Thursday nights and Sundays, and usually held the Tuesday night Book Study in our living room. Saturday mornings our house was full of Brothers and Sisters, and families, getting ready to go in Service. On Monday nights and Wednesday nights, our family sat in a circle and every member took a turn reading something aloud, usually studying for Sunday, but very often we had some part or other at the meeting that we needed to prepare for. I was a proficient public speaker at about 6. I placed many, many magazines before then, countless number probably, just on the cuteness factor alone.

When my parents divorced, there was the necessary Disfellowshipping of one party or the other, my Mom took that one. Upon remarrying, she relocated all of us across the country, which was so far away that we actually did not get to see our Dad even annually. What this did, of course, was send me into a tailspin of nightmares (because of course my Mom was demonized at this point) and secret (forbidden) midnight calls to my Dad so that he could pray with me. Many, many nights I awoke from a nightmare of demons, and after I got the courage to get out of bed (which it felt like took an hour), would get in bed with my Mom shaking with fear. I would make her say "Jehovah" out loud, the only way to make the demons go away. This, I'm certain, infuriated her, having been disfellowshipped and trying to give me a sense of normalcy.

When I moved in with my Dad at 15, I did so because I missed him very much and it seemed the only way to be able to touch him. Upon making this decision, my mother put everything I left behind at home into a pile and lit it. Literally. Every item of clothing. Every picture. Every award since grade school. I no longer existed.

My father then took me out of high school to watch my younger brother, an infant. He wanted, first and foremost, to keep me from becoming worldly. My Dad and step mother also could not afford day care. And, to them, it seemed the perfect opportunity for me to Pioneer. So, here I was a 16-17 year old girl, Pioneering with my brother on my hip. My Dad made frequent trips to Bethel, and helped to compose many songs in the new song book. He also helped record all the "new" music, now heard in Kingdom Halls all over the world. I used to play the piano at assemblies, Circuit and District, Dad standing on the stage directing the music. 2,000 or more people's voices behind me.

I understand the emotional and spiritual abuse that takes place in fundamentalist religions. Even opening up this much, I still could not explain how much a part of my life "the Truth" was.

Upon moving out at 19, maybe 20 years old, I was disfellowshipped as well. (Already shared that elsewhere, not going through that whole story again.) The Truth was such a part of me, and I a part of it, that I cannot describe the sensations on the morning I woke up knowing the Elders had met the night before to decide my "fate." I sat and cried for hours, literally, because the birds were still chirping, the train still blew at 6am outside my window, the traffic noise still existed, the alarm still went off, and I looked in the mirror and still saw myself. I am not joking, here, in the least. I am not sure what I expected to happen, but that moment of realization was the worst and best moment I have ever experienced.

Years ago I had to face a judicial committee, it was terrible. But back then I was still a firm believer and "took my medicine", at least that's how I felt. One Elder was really abusive, so much that the other two weren't happy about it. When I started figuring out the truth about the truth I felt very liberated knowing that the Elders have absolutely no authority over me. In my years I've seen plenty of Elders that are dorks, to say the least, which often got me frustrated, so many like the glory but they care little about others. I'm glad I have to answer to none of them, not all are bad, but still...

Posted by 1inMany (here)
And in one night, I went from having a million brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles to not one. None. And you know what? Had that one moment not occurred, I would not be here. And now.

For a while I felt that all Christians were my Brothers, then and now I feel that all people are my Brothers and Sisters, regardless of what they believe or don't believe. The JW view of Brotherhood is really messed up and friendship among them is as conditional as can be. That was a sad realization for me, I have to hide who I am, how I have progressed as a person because no one will understand.

Posted by 1inMany (here)
I am so, so sorry, Kraut, right along with you, that religions are more than "just" religions. After having the experiences I have had, I would venture a guess that there is not one single thing you will be able to say to your mother that would even make her comfortable being around you. I tried calling my Dad, for years actually, and only once or twice did I ever get him to come to the phone. I visited him a couple of months before he died, in the hospital actually. He could not speak, so they had made him a poster of common words and letters, and he had a pointer. After 6 or 7 years, finally seeing him in person, do you know what he said? He said, "are you going to meetings?"

The coldheartedness that many Witnesses have even towards their own children is something I will never understand. All this talk about love, but what do they practice? What a shame. I'm very sorry it was that way for you. The bond between me and my Mother is strong, so for me there is still hope. But I have to be careful so none of the Elders know about my "apostate tendencies", I don't want to force my Mother to have to choose.

Posted by 1inMany (here)
When this is ingrained so deeply, and especially from birth, it takes a shock to get away from it. But it isn't the kind of shock someone else can give you. I was disfellowshipped for something I actually didn't do, but for one reason or another didn't feel like battling the whole thing. So I let it happen. But this haunted me for 20 years. Twenty years of my life, every waking moment and every sleeping moment. The guilt. The fear. At some point, in therapy even, I decided that there would be no way to get any peace unless I just went back. (This is quite an undertaking, following this rule and that, doing first this step and then that, until the Elders decide to re-instate you.) I went into a Kingdom Hall, asked to see some Elders. Told them I was considering coming back to the fold. But before I did, I wanted to study with them first, because I had been born into all these beliefs, and I wanted to ask questions as an adult. They refused. That's not the way it was done. First you jump through the hoops, then you can ask questions. The only way past after that, was to accept that I would die at Armageddon. So I did.

And you know what happened? One day, out of nowhere, a thought popped into my head. It was something like, hey wait a minute. Jehovah knows my heart, and is a just God. I will wait to talk to Him and see what He says.

The Elders hold far too much power, how many people have had to suffer because of that? They are just like Pharisees. Not asking questions? Even that is clearly against biblical principles. I am glad that you overcame the fear of Armageddon. It's a tool that keeps most in check for all their lives.

Posted by 1inMany (here)
After all this, the only advice I would give you is to not share too much. The risk of alienation is HUGE. Let your light shine, let your attitude show her that Jehovah didn't forsake you, turning His back on you until you get your **** together. Build on what is still in common, we are all actually moving toward the new system of things.

Thanks for the advice. I hope you're right that there's a new system coming, I doubt it.

Posted by 1inMany (here)
But even saying that, only you will know if there is a way to reach her. Look at me, here. Some point after 20 years away from it, I let every single bit go. I learned about the Law of One, something that resonates with me like nothing else I have ever found. I know to the core of my being that Jehovah is not "God," just wanted to clarify for anyone reading that I'm way past all this now. This was a painful share because I accessed some memories in such a way as to put myself back there for a moment.

The way I see it (the gnostic view makes sense to me) is that Jehovah is not God at all, just the opposite, it's interesting how JWs resemble Jehovah far more than the Father or Christ. Doom, death and destruction that's what they focus on, all wrapped up in some tasty bits so it isn't too obvious.

Sigh. I'm grateful that you shared your experience. Sending some peace and positive energy your way.

Posted by 1inMany (here)
Why did I do this? ****. I have no clue.

I got home from the city, and all I could think about was rest. I'm so worn out. But, being how I am, I thought I would check in and catch up in the village...and Kraut, I simply could not dismiss your posts.

There is always, always hope. Always. Follow your intuition. And know, please, that you are not alone. None of us is, your mom isn't either. And when the time is right, and I hope this is in your lifetime, she will awaken to All that Is. The work you are doing now will mean that you will be such a source of strength and love for her when her awakening begins. You know as well as I do, it won't be easy. She will be absolutely blessed to have your support.

Much Love,

Usually I'm not much of a huggy person but you deserve a hug or two.

Posted by 1inMany (here)
Oh, Kraut, I wish I had the answer for you. As it is, your expressions have led me down a hole in myself that used to be extremely painful and I am finding out now that it was a crucial turning point in my soul development.

You wish you had the answer for me? I wish I had one for you, your experience was far worse than mine. Mine can still get worse, but not as bad as yours. It's sad you had to go through it and I hope you can let go of the pain once and for all soon.

Most likely I forgot to say a hundred things, my tired brain isn't working that well anymore. And I'm slowly getting older too.

[eaglespirit]

Just stopping by again...great sharing and suggestions and recourse and resurgent thoughts shared : )

And if it is any consolation...My Mother's Voice came to me in a whisper on that Indian Hill in 2007 and said, "Danny....You were right, I Love You!"
And that whisper of Hers had to do with my sharing through the years on Catholic-based-tinted-and-tainted-deliverance of control and distortion..
Each of Us HAS Everything Needed to Shine with Pure and Honest Higher Love!

And the Village IS Living It and Expanding It : )

...
and Thank You Paula : )

[ulli]

Posted by Kraut (here)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=96fd5o8Xq8w

Thanks for that. One of my son's favorite bands. I was the opposite mum to yours,
I could never get enough of his discoveries...but getting him to share was like pulling teeth.

And I even picked him up from a Primus concert in Toronto at 2 am
and drove him and his buddies back to Oakville where he was at art school.
That was during snow storm, as well. I still can't believe I offered to do that...me, only used to life in the tropics.

[Dennis Leahy]

Posted by ulli (here)

Posted by Dennis Leahy (here)
I died last night...in my dream.
...
I laid in bed for a little while, thinking. ... I thought about the fact that I am not ready to leave. I'm not done yet. I haven't accomplished what I came here to do (or at least try to do.)

Dennis

Death dreams can be so scary, Dennis. But they have important messages, too.

...

I should note that there was nothing scary or frightening in the dream. It is possible that the one NDE/OBE that I had decades ago removed any fear of death, so the death experience was not scary. The crash was more of a Zen experience - happening too fast for either logic or emotion - only observation.

And, my thought about not being done with my self-assignment/purpose in this incarnation was only a first layer of the onion: an observation, not really an in-depth attempt at interpretation (which I'm not sure I have the skills - other than intuition - to really do.) So, your possible interpretation is very interesting.

I'd love to hear other interpretations, if anyone is willing. I don't really know anything about dream symbology.

Thanks,

Dennis

[ulli]

Posted by Dennis Leahy (here)
I'd love to hear other interpretations, if anyone is willing. I don't really know anything about dream symbology.

Thanks,

Dennis

Yet your own interpretation is the only truly valid one,
since it was your mind or subconscious which created it in the first place.
You have to ask yourself what do you associate cop cars with?
It's all about association.
The best books I read and from which I got the most were by Frederic Perls, founder of Gestalt Therapy.

[Dennis Leahy]

Kraut and 1InMany... thank you for sharing those powerful stories.

At 17, I told my Catholic father I had had enough - after all those years and all those Catholic masses (every Sunday since I was an infant, and 6 days a week from 1st grade to 8th grade) I wasn't going to church again. He was furious. He said, "If you're going to live in this house, you're going to church." I said, "OK.", and walked away. He was surprised when I packed a backpack full of stuff and walked out.

(I'd like to say I stayed away, but I caved-in when my sister begged me to come home, "because it is destroying the family." I stayed for one more year, pretending to go to church at a different time than my dad.)

Not nearly as dramatic as your stories (especially 1InMany - holy sh!t!), but I do understand being born into oppressive and unwavering religious indoctrination.

Dennis

[ulli]

I was always a restless child and easily bored.
So before going to church on Sunday mornings I
would paint my fingernails with nail varnish
which I would then peel off during the service...
that's how desperate I was to have something to fiddle with.
The tiny bits of pale pink varnish were left on the floor where I had been sitting.

First time ever that I confessed this. Not even my mum knew.

[1inMany]

Hmmmm. I'm getting ready to run some errands, but before I go... I can't leave "the story" like that. After you sent me loving intentions for peace, Kraut, I have to stop for a minute. First of all, thank you. Nothing, absolutely nothing means more than sending each other love, peace, well wishes, prayers, healing... anyway that I can think of right now.

But secondly, I don't want anyone to think that I am in any way, shape or form, stuck in that same spot. This village is intimate, but it also has a lot of stories tucked in little nooks and crannies. Mine here have been extensive. My "story" is all over the pages, though I'm not an original villager.

I would feel downright terrible if I thought that story caused anyone any negative feelings whatsoever.

If anything, my heartfelt intention is that it is a story of hope. A story that helps even one person, one other self. Having lived it means nothing unless I can offer it to help.

I have had so many utterly indescribable moments of peace, moments where memories have opened up from other lifetimes, other dimensions (for lack of a better word)...

I bet some of you remember when I about wrecked my car with the realization I have wings. Or how about when all of these Angels appeared one day, and I thought I would lose my mind. Or the Obi wan hooded gentleman on my left, and the Angel of compassion on my right.

I have nothing but compassion and love for most everybody these days. I'll not make it sound like I just oogle and oggle over every person I meet, because I can think of several that I have to really work at being in the same room with. However, what I mean is that in the past year, I have come upon understandings beyond compare. There are tons and tons of things I don't share, lol, believe it or not. And every time something comes to me, it makes me sit in awe...and then it settles...and then I realize how much more there must be that I am not even close to yet.

My Dad...my Mom...I still love them very much. And I know they love me very much. Everything they ever did was the best they could do with the information they had at the time. And I have even received messages long after their respective passing(s) that they "know" now.

Okay, off to run errands...

Much Love,

[Dennis Leahy]

Posted by 1inMany (here)
... I don't want anyone to think that I am in any way, shape or form, stuck in that same spot. ...

I would feel downright terrible if I thought that story caused anyone any negative feelings whatsoever.

If anything, my heartfelt intention is that it is a story of hope. A story that helps even one person, one other self. Having lived it means nothing unless I can offer it to help.

If you had not come through it (and were still in it) you wouldn't/couldn't have written the story. It does come across as a story of triumph over great adversity. One of my high school English teachers used to tell me, "man against man, man against nature, man against self" were the three classical themes of conflict. I always have thought that 'man against self' is the most powerful and the most ubiquitous.

That you escaped - from the mobius strip in your own mind - is an astounding accomplishment. And joyful. :~)

Dennis

[astrid]

How the pope was really elected.

[Flash]

Posted by Dennis Leahy (here)
Kraut and 1InMany... thank you for sharing those powerful stories.

At 17, I told my Catholic father I had had enough - after all those years and all those Catholic masses (every Sunday since I was an infant, and 6 days a week from 1st grade to 8th grade) I wasn't going to church again. He was furious. He said, "If you're going to live in this house, you're going to church." I said, "OK.", and walked away. He was surprised when I packed a backpack full of stuff and walked out.

(I'd like to say I stayed away, but I caved-in when my sister begged me to come home, "because it is destroying the family." I stayed for one more year, pretending to go to church at a different time than my dad.)

Not nearly as dramatic as your stories (especially 1InMany - holy sh!t!), but I do understand being born into oppressive and unwavering religious indoctrination.

Dennis

i told my dad the same Dennis, but I was 8. The family would go to church every Sunday, often except him. We were living in a small village and it was not well seen not going to church. So my mom would force us, but she could not force my dad. The province of Quebec was as fanatic about catholicism then as Pentecotist are down Southern US now.

When I was 6, the nuns at school had told my sister and I, and the rest of the class, that people not going to church would die and go straight to hell. Therefore, my sister and I started praying for my father daily, because we loved him and wanted to avoid him hell.

I finally asked my mom if dad was a bad person. She asked why do I ask? I told her about the nuns discourse. The following dinner, we had a family discussion to understand the difference between good and bad, asking us what our hearts felt. When we answered, my parents told us that we should always follow our hearts, not what people say, that if our hearts felt my father as a good man, it was because he was, period.

No need to tell you that when I woke up on a Sunday morning at 8 years old, and told my dad I did not want to go to church anymore, there were no arguments. His answer was, ok, you don't want, therefore you don 't go anymore. My sister kept going for a while and then she stopped too.

That was really great.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Dennis Leahy (here)
I died last night...in my dream.

I don't remember ever dying in a dream before. I have had lucid dreams where I left my body and flew, and have had dreams/nightmares where something was happening that would have ended in death...but would awaken before the death scene. Not last night.

I got into a car along a busy highway, started it up and was trying to defrost the windows when a cop car, traveling at high speed on the wrong side of the road, came racing down the road towards me - and smashed into my car. My car spun around and flew the opposite direction from where I had been pointed, scraped along a concrete wall and hit a large pole. I (my spirit) must have then popped out of my body, as my viewpoint was instantly on the outside of the car, watching my body get ejected from the car. The pole then fell on my body.

One second later, I was with my daughter, and she could see and feel me. I held both of her hands and told her that I had just died in a car crash. She was pretty calm, but listening intently as I told her goodbye and how much I love her. Just then, my wife came in, worried, and said, "Your dad's car is outside and it's smashed!" I then realized my wife could not see me, but only saw our daughter holding her both of her hands out if front of her.

There were some real-world sounds in the house, and I awoke.

I laid in bed for a little while, thinking. I thought about the inadequacy of words in trying to convey a message of emotion. And I though about the fact that I am not ready to leave. I'm not done yet. I haven't accomplished what I came here to do (or at least try to do.)

Dennis

Hi Dennis,

A little tongue and cheek, but that’s what’s left right now. Been studying and writing and in the middle of it all my stoneware fermentation pot arrived! So of course, I had to make my first batch of red and green sauerkraut with garlic, bermuda onion, carrots and spices. But I’ve digressed...

My car spun around and flew the opposite direction from where I had been pointed, scraped along a concrete wall and hit a large pole.

spinning of car = spirit leaving the body (I’ve experienced that spinning in meditation.)
hitting the pole = coming up and out the spinal column/chakras systems, and through the top of the head

One second later, I was with my daughter, and she could see and feel me. I held both of her hands and told her that I had just died in a car crash. She was pretty calm, but listening intently as I told her goodbye and how much I love her.

The love you feel for your daughter and your responsibility for her, never leaves you. To the point that the love is so great that even in your dream, you find your way to her.

I laid in bed for a little while, thinking. I thought about the inadequacy of words in trying to convey a message of emotion.

Stop that... Words muddy the purity of experience. Just go right to emotion. Don’t “think” the emotion.

And I thought about the fact that I am not ready to leave. I'm not done yet. I haven't accomplished what I came here to do (or at least try to do.)

From one Irishman to one that is 100% Irish (or so my father said, I think there’s some English) we/they never feel like it’s enough - good news/bad news thing - we just love challenges. Drool, drool.

Antidote to it’s never enough: my mantra - "Life in balance is a Jenga thang."

Love, love, love,
Pauler

[astrid]

The Equinox is next week, we should see more settling after that,
right now its still wild and crazy out there.

[RunningDeer]

I’m behind reading the posts.

Thank you, 1inMany. That was a powerful story! If there’s any bits of gunk left to release, I have no doubt that it’ll be quick like a tupperware burp!

I just saw the Catholic thing up there. I went to a Catholic Academy. Was going to become a nun until I learned that nuns don't do sports.

I was late in leaving the establishment at age 26. My ex-mother-in-law told me I couldn't receive communion because I was divorced. I asked then why haven't I been struck down? “Officially excommunicated,” I believe were her next words.

She said it was okay to go to church but I couldn’t receive communion. I told her that I was the same person before as after, so, I'll have no part of it. Her answer to that was, she'll pray for me.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by astrid (here)
How the pope was really elected.
Attachment 20814

Pointy hat-guys must manifest? Or reverse ascension?
Here's the music that popped into my head and then I got it. bwahaha!!!

[Carmody]

My church story (some here have heard it already)

At the age of 8 or so, we had moved again,and my parents decided to enroll us in Sunday school. we were going to get us some churchin!

I read the bible and the good news version. lots of blood, violence, all kinds of stuff.

My mother taught me stilled mediation at the same time, almost by accident. I discovered kundali and the stilled mind at age 8.

I was tired of the things I was supposed to learn in Sunday school I thought it was a bit of er...trite dogmatic military enforcement, so I decided..no more of this. I questioned everything. out loud. all the time. I basically started acting out in the church choir, during practice. I swallowed air and burped out the hymns, until I was caught. I kept doing it. I did it until they tossed me from the church.

No, I said, i wasn't fired...I quit first!

I was irritated enough of all that crap, that the next thing I did is I taught the pastor's son how to be a delinquent. Which didn't work out so well, for him. He went home to his dad, crying. Oh well, so much for adventurousness and breaking the mould.

What did the passerby say to Dick Cheney? I said the same to the church.

[ulli]

My religious confusion got to the point that in the end I personified the Groucho Mars joke:

Q.: “What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?”

A,: “Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.”