…..No, not dalmations, but posts. Sadly, I must disturb the nice, even number on the Admin Dashboard, not only to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Seasons Greetings/Joyful Solstice, but to announce a change of direction of my own, somewhat divergent from ISA’s goals, plans, aims and mandate.

In short (I promise), it’s time for me to put my money where my mouth is. I have to try and put into physical effect some of the spiritual and mental changes of perspective I have been implementing lately. Otherwise, what’s the point? Yeah, it’s great that I am pursuing a different, less anxious, more well-rounded perspective of my past, the present, and my future, but what good does that do me, if I fail to create positive results with it in my everyday, physical life in the here and now? Life is too short to sit back and be an observer on the sidelines, or to make mental changes that have no appreciable effect on my physical situation.

You may see the WW or PH nicknames here and there every now and then, and I will probably always keep up with the comments section on Ambassador Watch. (Who doesn’t keep up with AW? It’s like greasy, fatty, junk food: Oh so bad for you (mentally and emotionally), but you just can’t resist revisiting it again and again.)

For now, at least, no more long screeds. My demons may not be exorcised, but they’ve been tamed and toilet-trained (I think), which is certainly a start. If anything twigs me that just begs to have a post written about it, have no fear, you will hear about it. The fork in the road beckons me in a different direction. My path may intersect with ISA from time to time in future, but not right now.

My brief time as co-admin here at ISA has been productive, thought-provoking, cathartic, and revelatory, and a whole bunch of other adjectives that escape my turkey-drowsy brain right now. I hope that my posts have been at least some of those things, for at least some of our readers. (For anyone who wants to “take up the baton” in my stead, may I suggest our Contributing page?)

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

(Russ, you can moderate all comments on my posts.)

And… it’s winter, or will be very soon. Marking solstice, that time where the autumn dies, the days are the longest they will be for three days, and then they slowly get longer again, marking the rebirth of the world.

That’s what Christmas was all about originally anyway. Even the Christ story has roots in solstice.

I may not believe in Jesus, but I believe in the sun. And the fact that we know pretty much everything we need to know about these things doesn’t make it any more amazing.

Praise Joe Pesci!

(Sorry, I’ve had a flu for a few days, and I’m a little peckish).

A child has no idea or care about doctrine or the law. A child has only a few basic needs. Security, care, food, shelter, a place to play and learn… and that’s pretty much it. You’d think that wouldn’t be a very low bar.

Armstrongites… fail. Anyone who brings a child up in Armstrongism should be convicted of child abuse. I know that’s a strong statement, but I stand by it.

When you tell a child that the end of the world is coming any day now, and that everything that he holds dear will be uprooted at any moment without warning, that’s child abuse.

When you don’t allow a child to make friends with people he wants to make friends with and play with, for no good reason than they don’t believe exactly the same way you do, that’s child abuse.

If you teach a child about the tribulation, that’s child abuse.

If you make a child fast on atonement, that’s child abuse.

If you tell a child that he will never get a driver’s license, or get married, or even grow up, that’s child abuse.

If you tell a child that when the millenium comes, his parents are going to watch over him 24 hours a day, and correct any “misstep” by hoverin around invisibly and saying “this is the way, walk ye in it”, that’s child abuse.

If you are in an armstrongite church, and you had a child, and you didn’t leave that church far, far behind the minute you knew that child was going to come out, you’re a child abuser.

If you were in an armstrongite church, and brought a child up in it, you’re a child abuser.

If you didn’t “spare the rod”, you’re a child abuser.

Maybe you had the best of intentions. I’m not judging your intentions. I am saying that good intentions or not, you abused a child.

What are you going to do about it?

Church Activities: Future Events

Any questions?

The link to “Follow the White Rabbit” on The Surprising God Blog keeps coming back like a bad burrito. (I didn’t do nothin’. I swear.) Poor ol’ Teddy.

Anyway, there’s been WCG traffic from TSGB to ISA: We’ve already garnered at least one “Yer soooo bitter!” comment from a current ministurd of misery in Junior’s little money-maker cult. (Yes the comment got roundfiled.)

Stained Glasses

The company where I work teamed up with an orphanage here in the LA area. They allocated a certain amount per kid, and they had a list of three things that each kid wanted. And they had a bank of computers that they set up, and we sat down and chose the stuff for the kids. Each one of us picked a kid, and shopped for them.

I shopped for Katie, an 8 year old girl. She wanted a bike, a toy laptop, and a gift card.

So I chose a nice High School Musical bike for her, and a toy laptop with a case.

Christmas isn’t about things. Not really. But a little child who is much worse off than I was (although my parents were pretty much worthless, I did have both of them, at least physically) is going to have three things that she wanted. Because my company did something nice, and because I helped.

That’s what Christmas is all about.

Do Some Other People do these kinds of things for the less fortunate during their annual Holy Days?

Yeah. That’s what I thought.

At the company gift exchange yesterday, something happened that got me to thinking. One guy put in a 48 pack of toilet paper. Just toilet paper. The woman who picked it up opened it up, and although I thought that the whole idea was hilarious, the look on her face was… she was crushed. I was almost doubled over in laughter because I could see the humor in it. But I know who did it and I think I’m probably going to tell him off for it. It was one of those “yeah, it’s funny, but it was completely inappropriate” kinds of things.

But… we were like that, weren’t we? We hated Christmas. We weren’t content to let other people have their good time, no, we had to wreck it as much as we could. My grandmother on my mother’s side sent gifts. My parents sent them back… but kept the money. My other grandmother never even bothered. We were so self-righteous about it… “we don’t keep Christmas. Christmas is evil”. And then we’d go off, snug in our belief that we were right, and leaving a bunch of people just a little less happy.

Just as this person put toilet paper in the gift exchange just to get a kick, and left some woman crushed.

There’s nothing wrong with holding fast to your beliefs. They may be stupid, but they’re yours. But if those beliefs make someone’s day worse rather than better… if exercising those beliefs ruins someone else’s day… if after you’ve done whatever it is you do the world is a slightly worse off place than it was beforehand…

You’re wrong.

Not them.

You.

If your beliefs don’t serve life… if your beliefs don’t make the world a better place then when you left it… your beliefs aren’t worth keeping around.

Don’t give people toilet paper for a gift. Figuratively… or literally.

My apology post of a couple of weeks ago did not get much response. But it did get some response. One of the people on that list found their name by googling for it, and we started talking.

This person tells me that at first they thought that I was full of hate and anger. But then they looked underneath and saw what I was really trying to say, and it mirrored what they were feeling but had pushed down.

And at that moment, this blog had become worth every cent of money and every minute of time that I had put into it. Someone came onto this blog, read what I had to say, and they understood. It gave voice to something that maybe they themselves couldn’t express.

I know there are a lot of people who think very lowly of this blog. And I know that there are discussions going on on forums that I don’t or can’t frequent, trashtalking this blog, me, and Aggie. I know all this.

But you know what? It helped someone.

And that’s something to celebrate.