The Good, The Bad, and The Bigots
I've been riding 3 times in the past 4 days; this makes me a happy person. Of course, it also explains why I've got part of my ring finger falling off. Topper has a new bridal, and today's lesson was especially rough -- Topper and I were both sweating by the first canter -- so I guess I wasn't too surprised when I came off a course of jumps and think, "hmm ... my finger hurts" and look down to see a chunk of the skin peeling off from a blister. Ouch. Band-aid and I rode for another half hour. It's much harder to ride with the reins between the 3rd & 4th finger than the 4th & 5th. If you know what I'm talking about, try it sometime ... you'll appreciate your fingers much more.
All injuries aside, I've had a great set of lessons. Topper is coming together nicely, even without the draw reins, and I'm starting to judge distance to and between the jumps, which means that the horse has an even number of strides to ride in and Topper won't have to jump on a half stride ... most horses would refuse, which shows what a great horse Topper is, but I think if I had a couple of refusals I would probably learn quicker to judge the distance. Oh well. I've fallen enough, thank you, and I'll just pay more attention to the strides from now on.
Last night I met some friends from school at the Fox to see "Swan Lake." I wasn't quite sure if I would enjoy the ballet, but it's surprisingly entertaining. The music and the choreography blend perfectly to tell the story. I realized that I knew the music from "Swan Lake" but not as such. You know it too, I'm sure.
My grandmother is in the hospital again, and Mom is really stressed about it. There's a tension between us again, and for once, I'm not sure why. Maybe Mom's being tense with everyone ... she's been out of town for a week, and work is busy so now she's really backed up, and now with her mom ... and I'm just being weird about it.
It's Palm Sunday and I haven't been to church since ... Christmas Eve. And that was a Mass, so I didn't take communion, which means the last time I had communion was ... Maundy Thursday a year ago. But here is why I'm not guilty about neglecting my Christian obeseiences:
The zealots are at it again. Mom pointed out that there is a good chance that they are Klan members. White, male, hating Catholics and Homosexuals, hiding behind "God" ... it fits, so it's a possibility. I put God in quotations because their "God" is not the God I know ... we're talking two diffrent Gods here. That they stand on street corners and spread this hate in the name of Christianity is one of the reasons that I haven't gone running off to find a church. Although, to be perfectly fair, the main reason is that I'd rather sleep on Sunday mornings. But they stand on the corner with posterboards with horrible sayings on them, and a man with a megaphone rails against the "liberal politicians who don't want to hear the word of God" and the "heathen Catholics" (they claim that the Pope is the Anti-christ, which is disgusting) and proclaim that "real men marry women". My stomach knots up with nausea even as I think about it. And they bring their children -- boys only -- out there to hold signs with them ... THEY ARE BREEDING THIS HATE INTO THE FUTURE GENERATIONS. I started crying as I drove to the auto store to buy a new battery. With people like that claiming to be Christians, I would much rather be thought of as a moral person than as a Christian.
By the time I drove back home, 3 Policemen had arrived. To what end, I'm not sure. As far as I know, they aren't breaking any laws, and they have the same First Amendment right to stand on the streetcorner and scream their hate as I have to post this journal with my vents of frustration about their ignorance. I know I'm not alone in these thoughts; I heard several people yell things like "You're Ignorant" as they drove past. I suppose the police were there to ask them to leave ... it's a busy intersection, and they could be considered a public disturbance. I know I'm disturbed.
I'm going to write an editorial and submit it to the AJC. For those of you not living in Atlanta ... and now there are several of you who actually follow my journal -- thank you ... I'll post a copy of it here. If you have any idea of how I should go about the writing/submission of such an editorial, I'm open to all suggestions. But hurry, because my head is already putting ideas together and I'll have to write it soon. The ultimate objective of this editorial is not to bash these people, although if that is a side-effect, all the better. My objective is to encourage people to think for themselves, and not believe something just because it's written in a textbook, published in a newspaper, or preached in a church. Obviously, whatever church is preaching to these people is not one that encourages individual thought and tolerance, let alone love. In fact, if the work of Christianity is to spread love -- for the term Christian means "Christ-like" and Christ is the embodiment of God's love of man --- then the opposite would be to spread hate. These people are spreading hate; therefore they are doing the work of the devil. The logic makes sense to me.
"A million mile fall from Grace, thank God we missed the ground"
All injuries aside, I've had a great set of lessons. Topper is coming together nicely, even without the draw reins, and I'm starting to judge distance to and between the jumps, which means that the horse has an even number of strides to ride in and Topper won't have to jump on a half stride ... most horses would refuse, which shows what a great horse Topper is, but I think if I had a couple of refusals I would probably learn quicker to judge the distance. Oh well. I've fallen enough, thank you, and I'll just pay more attention to the strides from now on.
Last night I met some friends from school at the Fox to see "Swan Lake." I wasn't quite sure if I would enjoy the ballet, but it's surprisingly entertaining. The music and the choreography blend perfectly to tell the story. I realized that I knew the music from "Swan Lake" but not as such. You know it too, I'm sure.
My grandmother is in the hospital again, and Mom is really stressed about it. There's a tension between us again, and for once, I'm not sure why. Maybe Mom's being tense with everyone ... she's been out of town for a week, and work is busy so now she's really backed up, and now with her mom ... and I'm just being weird about it.
It's Palm Sunday and I haven't been to church since ... Christmas Eve. And that was a Mass, so I didn't take communion, which means the last time I had communion was ... Maundy Thursday a year ago. But here is why I'm not guilty about neglecting my Christian obeseiences:
The zealots are at it again. Mom pointed out that there is a good chance that they are Klan members. White, male, hating Catholics and Homosexuals, hiding behind "God" ... it fits, so it's a possibility. I put God in quotations because their "God" is not the God I know ... we're talking two diffrent Gods here. That they stand on street corners and spread this hate in the name of Christianity is one of the reasons that I haven't gone running off to find a church. Although, to be perfectly fair, the main reason is that I'd rather sleep on Sunday mornings. But they stand on the corner with posterboards with horrible sayings on them, and a man with a megaphone rails against the "liberal politicians who don't want to hear the word of God" and the "heathen Catholics" (they claim that the Pope is the Anti-christ, which is disgusting) and proclaim that "real men marry women". My stomach knots up with nausea even as I think about it. And they bring their children -- boys only -- out there to hold signs with them ... THEY ARE BREEDING THIS HATE INTO THE FUTURE GENERATIONS. I started crying as I drove to the auto store to buy a new battery. With people like that claiming to be Christians, I would much rather be thought of as a moral person than as a Christian.
By the time I drove back home, 3 Policemen had arrived. To what end, I'm not sure. As far as I know, they aren't breaking any laws, and they have the same First Amendment right to stand on the streetcorner and scream their hate as I have to post this journal with my vents of frustration about their ignorance. I know I'm not alone in these thoughts; I heard several people yell things like "You're Ignorant" as they drove past. I suppose the police were there to ask them to leave ... it's a busy intersection, and they could be considered a public disturbance. I know I'm disturbed.
I'm going to write an editorial and submit it to the AJC. For those of you not living in Atlanta ... and now there are several of you who actually follow my journal -- thank you ... I'll post a copy of it here. If you have any idea of how I should go about the writing/submission of such an editorial, I'm open to all suggestions. But hurry, because my head is already putting ideas together and I'll have to write it soon. The ultimate objective of this editorial is not to bash these people, although if that is a side-effect, all the better. My objective is to encourage people to think for themselves, and not believe something just because it's written in a textbook, published in a newspaper, or preached in a church. Obviously, whatever church is preaching to these people is not one that encourages individual thought and tolerance, let alone love. In fact, if the work of Christianity is to spread love -- for the term Christian means "Christ-like" and Christ is the embodiment of God's love of man --- then the opposite would be to spread hate. These people are spreading hate; therefore they are doing the work of the devil. The logic makes sense to me.
"A million mile fall from Grace, thank God we missed the ground"