Monday, June 29, 2009

I Was a Teenage Raccoon

Last night, Gordon, Stewart, and Andy made an appearance on the deck. Ken popped a couple of them with the BB gun--it doesn't hurt them, and the goal is merely to keep them off of the deck and out of the bird feeders--but late last night, they were back. As soon as I flipped on the light and opened the door, two of them scattered, leaving this poor little guy high and dry. I wasn't going to hurt him, of course, but I was able to shoot him...with my little Flip video recorder! Seriously...aren't they adorable?

Another quiet day, lots of reading, a quick trip to our library branch (which didn't have either of the two book clubs books I wanted to pick up...grrr...one is being transferred from another branch now) and then to the store, a nice conversation with my Mom. Rain looks likely, and that's okay--we need a little.

By the way, according to my Mom, it's looking increasingly unlikely that FM and CH will get back together. I guess he asked her the other day if she missed him. She said, "No. Did you miss me?" (I suspect she was wondering if he missed her both since he's been out of the house and when he was cheating on her. That certainly would have been my intent!) He said, "No." That pretty much says everything, doesn't it?

I guess what really slays me about not just this, but recent other prominent affairs like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, is that so many of these types pretend to be pious, religious, and devoted to God's laws. That was certainly the case with FM and CH, and apparently why he felt the need to bring up my two-decades old divorce. Oooo, that Heathen Beth, she's a horrible divorced person! Don't associate with her! Don't welcome her into your home! Give me a freakin' break. Your diversionary tactics were as transparent as a sheet of Saran Wrap, one that didn't get all wadded up when it came out of the box so that it was a big opaque glob, no...the clear flat sheet that results when you get a clean pull on the Saran Wrap and tear it tidily from the roll.

What was I saying? Oh yeah. People who pretend to be pious but are really nasty people. I'm not going to generalize here, because I've known plenty of good people who are devoutly religious, and my parents are two of them. They live their beliefs. I've also known plenty who will be happy to quote scripture to you and tell you how much they love God, but are some of the vilest, nastiest, most UNChristian people I've ever met. I've said it before and it bears repeating: Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. I have no use for those who judge others because of their religious beliefs or lack thereof, and if these people spent half as much time doing good in the world as they spent explaining how anyone who doesn't believe the way they do is on a one-way trip to hell, they just might make a difference instead of being nothing more than a royal pain in the ass.

[pant pant pant]

Let me clarify something, in case I've offended any dear readers. With maybe one rare exception, no one here has ever been in any way judgmental. I'm speaking of people that I have encountered in real life, most recently CH, or people in the public eye such as Sanford. I've encountered enough hypocrisy to last me a lifetime, but I know that not everyone is like that (thanks to my folks). My feeling is that if you're a nasty person and do nasty things in your life, but say that you're a Christian and you go to church...it doesn't mean that you get a Get Out of Hell Free card. I am deeply offended by those that profess to be "godly," but their behavior is anything but. I am offended on behalf of people like my parents who are devout and manage to not just talk the talk, but walk the walk. I don't agree with everything they say or believe, but there is no question that they practice what they preach. Ugly and bitter doesn't vanish in a poof of smoke just because you profess to believe in God.

Books Jeez, how did I get on that topic? Let me get back to my library visit.

After I walked in and started browsing, I felt a bit idiotic because I realized I had a little grin on my face. Talk about heaven on earth...I love being in libraries. Even though they didn't have the books I wanted (this was our local branch, not the main library), it was still fun to walk around and browse the titles and think about future readings. I almost checked out Crime and Punishment because Lori recommends highly that I read it, and I trust Lori's judgement when it comes to books (it's on my list, Lori, I promise!), but I've still got plenty in our bookshelves at home. I've chosen 20th Century Ghosts, a collection of short stories by Joe Hill, who is Stephen King's son, at least until my book comes in.

In what I think is a very nice segue, our book club is meeting tomorrow night, and although I'm several books behind and won't be joining in on the discussion of the current book, I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of work pals and getting caught up with them! Ken has appointments and a business meeting tomorrow evening at which they'll be eating dinner, so this worked out perfectly. We're meeting at an Italian restaurant. Yum!

11 comments:

  1. Hi Beth,
    I remember liking Crime and Punishment ... but read it so long ago I barely remember the details. As for the hypocrites like Gov. Sanford, I have an opinion: I think they protest too much when they hear about other infidelities specifically because they're guilty of the same thing. I don't think they're being deliberately "evil," it's more like a human weakness ... a misguided effort at self preservation and denial.
    Best,
    Marty

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  2. You know how I feel about Sanford, so.......'nuff said.

    But I nearly has a heart attack reading your first line. i thought the Police Reunion Tour was starting in Nutwood and i didn't have a ticket!

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  3. preach it sistah, preach it.


    testify!

    as a sidebar i had a conversation with some future 7th/8th graders today about if tattooing was a sin. hopefully i wont be getting a phone call about that tomorrow. we did discuss briefly how different families feel about 'sins' and talked about how some real strict baptists wont dance, etc. the one kid who was so convinced it was a sin was dumbfounded when i asked him if he thought getting ear bling counted as making marks upon one's flesh....then of course the whole sports star/rock star thing came up too.

    i told them that different families have different ways of training up kids and that i trusted that their parents knew best about what constituted as sin or not and to always remember that some choices cant be undone and to ask their parents or their pastor for further guidance. again, hopefully i wont get called on the carpet for this one. i cant say something i consider a choice is a 'sin' just because someone's interpretation of the old testament says so.

    ps:
    aren't the names of your raccoons the names of the members of the police????

    xxalainaxx

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  4. Glad that my calm and non-opinionated Beth is back :o)

    Sanford should resign, way to much distraction and bagage there now.

    You know my opinions about piousness and such, so nuf said.

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  5. My cousin used to keep raccoons as pets about 25 years ago..they seem too smart and it creeped me out for some reason..lol

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  6. Yeah, I suspect some raccoons were the villains at my house last night. I planted four lilies in my front flower bed on Saturday. Something tried to dig them up last night. My friend Sherri says they like flower bulbs... with all that's happened in my neighborhood I am beginning to feel like a bullseye has been painted on my property... uh, can I borrow Ken's BB gun?

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  7. I'm avoiding my local library at the moment. I can't afford to visit it.. during a recent clear-out I found a book stamped out on Tuesday June 22nd.. 1976. I'm now dutifully saving for the late fees :(

    Your raccoon video is awesome! He really is cute! I know you're not supposed to encourage them but I've struggled in the past to bring myself to actively discourage them. Until they've grasped the particularly human concept of property deed and title, I figure it's a case of joint ownership :)

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  8. Great video and he was hungry. It is amazing how they can be so cute yet teat a dog or cat to pieces in nothing flat when adult. As you well know by now Beth, I don't hold back to much when it cones to honesty. I am not a goody two shoes and never will be. I am not ashamed of being divorced and I don't pretend to be.

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  9. Beth, you are one of those friends who i would fight WITH and FOR. You slay me with how you stand up publicly for what you believe in....and it helps that i always agree with your views. As you know, in my life, i could write a book about a few "Christians" who in reality have no Christianity in their bodies but they sure want to try to teach their version of Bible study with their pants down in the back of their SUV...cough cough. Then when they are done in the car they want to go back to telling others how THEY love Jesus and if we'd only live THEIR way, we'll get our own mini throne in Heaven. UGH.

    be careful with the raccoon...cute video....i like your videos.

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  10. Oh yes! I totally agree with everything you wrote about hypocrites who call themselves Christians.

    I enjoyed reading this post!

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  11. I love your video - how totally huggable & adorable!!!

    We have someone in our area who does a service for people but they steal from the people while doing the service. I said something about them one day to another person and they said, "well they are all in the choir at church"...OK then must be all good. I despise hypocrites in any shape.

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I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?