MASH for your most deeply held beliefs…
Out of all the things that trouble me on a daily basis, the quest for spiritual truth is probably always at the forefront. I think a lot of people experience some sort of doubt in the area of spirituality or religion, but I find it plaguing me as I desperately hoping to find the “right” answer.
So when I stumbled across this “What spiritual type are you?” quiz, I thought I’d give it a shot. Hey, if a 25 question survey can tell me what I think, then more power to it. But what I found is that all of the questions it asked were the questions that I haven’t been able to answer. The only help it provided was narrowing it down to four choices and making me pick one.
And then what was my final result?
Spiritual Straddler – One foot in traditional religion, one foot in free-form spirituality
Thanks again for being so helpful, Internet. I could have told you that I had no idea what I thought before I took the quiz. I guess I need to remember that there is value in the search. And as hard as it may be, I need to recognize that I may never have all the answers. Even if God appeared to me right now and we chatted about the meaning of life and the afterlife and what my individual purpose was, I’d probably check myself into the loony bin immediately following, because in my head God and I just shared white chocolate mochas and waxed philosophical.
I do miss talking about spirituality though. It was so much a part of my growing up, and now it's really not on my radar as much. Hearing other people's views of the world and who God was and why we were here was always very comforting to me, even if their views were much different than mine... It's kind of like when you hear a lot of different people's views of some person you've never met, and then when you finally meet them, you can see all those different aspects. Or something like that.
Training Day 1: It must be the altitude...
".... and even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through..."
Wow! Running's not so bad. It's beautiful scenery. I'm getting healthy. I can do this. Two miles is going to fly by."...and another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust..."
Hmmm... it's been a long time since I've really run like this. I forgot how it makes your chest hurt and your sides hurt and the cold air really burns. Even my teeth hurt. But I'm sure we've gone almost a mile now... Wait, .25 miles? Are you f-ing kidding me?"...falling down the mountain, end up kissing dirt..."
I always thought it said "and I'm kissing ducks." But that's pretty much what I'm doing right now, isn't it? This is hard."...and I'll smile and you'll wave, we'll pretend it's ok..."
I'm dying! I'm dying! Did that girl just lap us? Why is she not dying? Stupid girl. I hope she trips on a big rock."...I wrote the gospel of giving up, but the real bombshells have already sunk..."
F this. This is ridiculous. I can't do this at all anymore. If anyone who knew me heard that I was going to try to run a half marathon, they'd laugh. I haven't even mastered casual walking let alone trying to run. Even my mom seems skeptical of this idea, and she thinks that if Becca wants to be a wombat when she's older, we should support her dream. Why am I even trying? I'm not a runner. I'm not athletic. I suck, I suck, I suck."...and the bass keeps runnin' runnin' and runnin' runnin'..."
That's the only thing that's running anymore. I'm seeing black spots. How much longer?"...acting stupid, getting drunk with my best friends, I couldn't wait for the summer and the Warped Tour..."
Running is so not punk rock. And I guess neither is working for a university in a quiet little mountain town. Then again, this song really isn't either. Not their best album. Must keep running."...runnin' down the avenue, see how the sun shines brightly in the city, on the streets where once was pity..."
Ok, just keep focusing on how nice it is. Oh great. Another girl who can actually run. Don't you feel special? And you have absolutely no VPL even in spandex pants. Dumb skank."...she's always running from something so many things ignored, I try to be not like this but I thought it'd make a good song..."
Is there any chance I'm going to do all of this again tomorrow?So yeah, there are my ipod-interrupted reflections on the whole experience. If you can name all the artists and songs, you will win my self-respect. I'm realizing I've never done anything like this before. I've never really done anything that required this much forethought and work and discipline. I'm hoping I'll make it. Especially with being a good person being on the line. Argh!
*I accept no responsibility for music choices while running or the gratuitious comments by the voice in my head.
Maybe the first time opening my big mouth led to something useful...
Over the weekend, I asked Steve if there were any organizations that planned mission trips that weren't really mission trips (or more specifically, a mission-type trip where you actually help people instead of just handing out Bibles like the Starvin' Marvin South Park). Something like a very brief stint in the peace corps. Since we already wanted to do some international travel, I figured this would be cool on a couple of levels:- You'd get to know people from the culture you were visiting, and not just on the superficial, talking-to-one-concierge-that-speaks-English-at-the-Marriott-where-you're-staying kind of way.
- If you spend a lot of money traveling, it won't feel quite as selfish.
- There would be organizers who would know where hospitals were, what shots you needed, how to get your paperwork, what kind of bug spray works best, and they might even have emergency PB & J if I can't handle Malawian food for two weeks straight.
So I did a little research in the last 15 minutes or so and found out that Habitat for Humanity Global Village organizes trips all over the world to build houses. I did something similar a few summers ago (well, like 8 years) and it was a lot of fun. It was very rewarding to see a house actually come together and know that you might be a tiny bit responsible for that (I mostly painted and mixed cement). I'm still looking at what some other options might be, but I'm excited that this type of thing exists!
An Inconvenient Truth...
...was such a perfect title because that's exactly what it is. While the world was getting its scientific knowledge of "climate change" or "global warming" from politicians and biased media, we have continued to do irrepairable damage to our planet. And now...
Tomorrow the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release a major report with grim predictions for the coming decades, according to journalists who have seen draft versions of the paper.
If the IPCC's recent track record is any indication, the predictions will be no exaggeration, according to an analysis posted today on the Web site of the journal Science.
Read more: National Geographic
Which brings me back to Al Gore's movie. Criticize all you want, but I think he did an excellent job of presenting the facts and offering simple ways that we can all make a difference. Changing to energy efficient light bulbs or buying a car that gets better gas mileage are small changes that can make a huge impact. Sorry to go all hippie on you, but I don't understand how protecting our planet is really a political/partisan/polarized issue.
Side note: Since climate change is a huge threat to our country and the world, could we get some Homeland Security funding for a hybrid car?
