Barneyisfat

Quick observation from watching Jackass, before I start blogging. Why do we unashamedly say Oh My God, but will never consider saying the F word. There is a clear Biblical command to not take the Lord's name in vain, but no reference in the Bible to a prohibition on cuss words. I mean, yeah - a few - but nothing compared to not using God's name in vain.

The Blog.

I made a really, really liberal political protest in the middle of a church function today. We had a hymn sing. I had just finished singing a solo and we were singing some hymns that the congregation was choosing. One man chose a patriotic song out of our hymnal. I just couldn't sing it. I was so upset at the current state of our country, of the unjust war we are in, and that fact that I am a citizen in a country where people are okay with a war as long as we are only killing brown people. I felt sick to my stomach. I closed my hymnal. I usually sing lustilly with every hymn. By the third line everyone else had stood up in proud reverence to the greatest country on the face of the earth - ever. I sat there silently. I held a closed hymnal in my hands and I prayed for the war to end, for the people we were killing, and for the damage we were doing to the reputation of Christianity.

I just thought of Sophie Scholl. I couldn't help but think of her. In Sunday School we talked about the situation of the world. We talked about the Nazis and the fact that people still aren't brave enough to say a word when their country does something that is morally wrong. I didn't say a word. I wanted to tell them about Sophie, but I know their generaion isn't too thrilled with communists. Today, when everyone stood up during the patriotic anthem ... well, I was still too afraid to say anything - but, I wanted to make a point and let it be known.

People might have just thought I was tired, but to me it was very important.

I also accomplished something today. There isn't enough parking - so I convinced the Trustees to enlarge our parking lot.

One down, a few more to go. My next project is to work on getting the Sunday School fully supported by the older adults. I'm going to work from the Patty Black principle of "Little Methodists make Big Methodists." I'm going to try and get the older adults to volunteer in the nursery during 8:30 service since many of them show up by 9 anyway. I'm going to try and convince them to volunteer with the children's Sunday School program, to pray for the children and youth of our church, to be more supportive of the Team Kid's ministry (on Wednesday Evenings), and to send our kids to church camp. I'm going to ask them to make our children and youth the main priority of our efforts.