have you ever been stopped by a stranger....

[chiver78]

May 8, 2012 9:09:13 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Oh, and I hope you had a coupon for that rice, Chiver, and it better have been a BOGO day as well, or I'm outing you on YM.

nope, no coupon. and I actually stopped and registered that they were asking $4.19 for the 2lb box of Uncle Ben's basic rice before buying it anyway.

go ahead, out me on YM. they don't like me much over there anyway.

[chiver78]

grg, that's how my family is too, even though the definite majority is still whatever strength of Roman Catholic that they were when I was a kid - which for some is the "I sit in the front pew on Sunday, but spend the rest of the week breaking every Commandment I can" variety. there's a Wiccan cousin, a few agnostics, and me - spiritual, leaning Pagan. there's one other cousin that is quite open about her multi-faith beliefs. she wears her late mother's cross, prays to St Anthony when she loses something, greets people with "blessed be" and is very matter-of-fact about what she does and doesn't believe about her Wiccan daughter's thoughts and beliefs. as open as I am both here and with friends, I tend to keep more quiet around family as I don't feel like getting into it. my immediate family understands that I don't ascribe to the teachings of the church I was confirmed in (and that was mainly to not disappoint Nana) and they generally leave me alone about it. the extended family that would give me grief at all are those I don't much care for anyway. while I'm not at all concerned about their opinions, the discussion would be loud, and it would be the last one I'd ever have with whoever started it. I do still like some cousins, so I try to keep the peace if at all possible.

as far as rudeness being an acceptable and appropriate response at times, that's a lesson I am still trying to learn. I won't explain here and now, as I'm having dinner, but I have a story about a dinner on a cruise ship where I got stuck sitting across from an absolutely vile woman as she was already seated when our odd-numbered group was seated. the stories she told that night were just disgusting, and I just couldn't bring myself to be rude to her and tell her to STFU.

[toomuchreality]

I'll even tell you what I was looking for - white rice.

LOL I thought that said you were looking for white lice!

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

May 8, 2012 19:12:28 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

grg, that's how my family is too, even though the definite majority is still whatever strength of Roman Catholic that they were when I was a kid - which for some is the "I sit in the front pew on Sunday, but spend the rest of the week breaking every Commandment I can" variety. there's a Wiccan cousin, a few agnostics, and me - spiritual, leaning Pagan. there's one other cousin that is quite open about her multi-faith beliefs. she wears her late mother's cross, prays to St Anthony when she loses something, greets people with "blessed be" and is very matter-of-fact about what she does and doesn't believe about her Wiccan daughter's thoughts and beliefs. as open as I am both here and with friends, I tend to keep more quiet around family as I don't feel like getting into it. my immediate family understands that I don't ascribe to the teachings of the church I was confirmed in (and that was mainly to not disappoint Nana) and they generally leave me alone about it. the extended family that would give me grief at all are those I don't much care for anyway. while I'm not at all concerned about their opinions, the discussion would be loud, and it would be the last one I'd ever have with whoever started it. I do still like some cousins, so I try to keep the peace if at all possible.




The similarities between our families is striking. Maybe we're cousins in RL, LOL, LOL, LOL. As for me, I spent a few years "exploring" after the priests started being exposed for their criminal, evil, sexual abuse of children. But, frankly, I didn't find anything out there less imperfect. All faiths seem to have their own inconsistencies...well, at least to my thinking, LOL. So, DH and I and our kids are...gasp...cafeteria Catholics and attend a Jesuit parish (the Jesuits are the hippies of the Catholic faith -- peace and love, man, peace and love). My main focus is raising kids who treat others with respect, have a deep commitment to and regularly active in social justice, and who are profoundly aware that, though they don't have everything they need or want, are still very, very blessed. Obviously, there are many faith/spiritual/cosmic roads to raise kids that way. They're all good. I think I stuck with the Catholic route because I'm lazy and it's pomp and circumstance and ceremonies and rituals are all so familiar (or were until they changed the Mass recently, ). I firmly believe people have to find what works for them whether it is faith in an established deity or the Spaghetti Monster guy. Go for it. Just try and live a life that doesn't unnecessarily burden someone else's, kwim?


as far as rudeness being an acceptable and appropriate response at times, that's a lesson I am still trying to learn. I won't explain here and now, as I'm having dinner, but I have a story about a dinner on a cruise ship where I got stuck sitting across from an absolutely vile woman as she was already seated when our odd-numbered group was seated. the stories she told that night were just disgusting, and I just couldn't bring myself to be rude to her and tell her to STFU.


Wow! Is it any wonder she was sitting alone? Maybe she needs a gentle, loving nudge to help her pick up on why that was/is... But, too bad it ruined your dinner. If you can't find it in yourself to be rude next time, then simply commandeer the conversation. ;D

[dianartemis]

I just had someone tell me I was beautiful inside and out. How the E do you respond to that?

[weltschmerz]

The similarities between our families is striking. Maybe we're cousins in RL, LOL, LOL, LOL. As for me, I spent a few years "exploring" after the priests started being exposed for their criminal, evil, sexual abuse of children. But, frankly, I didn't find anything out there less imperfect. All faiths seem to have their own inconsistencies...well, at least to my thinking, LOL. So, DH and I and our kids are...gasp...cafeteria Catholics and attend a Jesuit parish (the Jesuits are the hippies of the Catholic faith -- peace and love, man, peace and love). My main focus is raising kids who treat others with respect, have a deep commitment to and regularly active in social justice, and who are profoundly aware that, though they don't have everything they need or want, are still very, very blessed. Obviously, there are many faith/spiritual/cosmic roads to raise kids that way. They're all good. I think I stuck with the Catholic route because I'm lazy and it's pomp and circumstance and ceremonies and rituals are all so familiar (or were until they changed the Mass recently,
-------------------
Have you looked into Buddhism?

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

May 9, 2012 16:29:45 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

The similarities between our families is striking. Maybe we're cousins in RL, LOL, LOL, LOL. As for me, I spent a few years "exploring" after the priests started being exposed for their criminal, evil, sexual abuse of children. But, frankly, I didn't find anything out there less imperfect. All faiths seem to have their own inconsistencies...well, at least to my thinking, LOL. So, DH and I and our kids are...gasp...cafeteria Catholics and attend a Jesuit parish (the Jesuits are the hippies of the Catholic faith -- peace and love, man, peace and love). My main focus is raising kids who treat others with respect, have a deep commitment to and regularly active in social justice, and who are profoundly aware that, though they don't have everything they need or want, are still very, very blessed. Obviously, there are many faith/spiritual/cosmic roads to raise kids that way. They're all good. I think I stuck with the Catholic route because I'm lazy and it's pomp and circumstance and ceremonies and rituals are all so familiar (or were until they changed the Mass recently,
-------------------
Have you looked into Buddhism?

No, that's one faith I haven't explored...probably because I don't know if there are any Buddhist temples around here. Might have to check around.

We did look at the Bahai faith, but it isn't well-established in these parts and we would have to travel for services/meetings.

I need a faith with a fairly visible presence around here. I can't be the only person/adult in my kids' lives "preaching" the message. They're teenagers and already have reason I'm getting senile, kwim, LOL?