So What Did You Give Up for Lent?

[From the archives – I thought this one was worth reposting.]

“So what did you give up for Lent?” It’s a frequent question you hear these days – and not just amongst Catholics. Protestants are also known to give things up for Lent. But another more common practice within the past decade is taking up something, rather than giving up something.

Though this is a noble idea to take on something for Lent – like more prayer, or giving more time to the church, or visiting someone more often, or exercising more, or donating more to a worthy cause – I believe its more an invention of today’s Church to mimic religion at a time when religion and spirituality wanes from people’s lives. Hardly a bad thing. Typically, though, it strays from the true issue – the lack of spirituality in the Church which is taught to its members. The Church, in general, has spent (and continues to do so) too much time since Vatican II watering down religion and putting God in a box. Rather than raising man to God, the Church attempts to bring God down to man, and explain Him away like a myth or a science project.

5 Ways to Give the Worst Customer Service

I remember when I was a teenager (which was only a few years ago, because I’m only 29… Shut up!!) my oldest brother told me about a trick he used to do when he got poor service at a restaurant. I never knew whether it actually worked or not, because I’d never tried it – until just the other day. (Relax! There were no servers injured in this blog writing.) What he did was to leave a penny under an upside-down full glass of water on the table – leaving the server the only option but to dump an entire glass of water to get the measly penny as a tip. (The secret, if you haven’t figured it out, is to place a dollar bill over the glass, turn the glass upside-down which causes suction and seals the water, place it on the table, then quickly slide the dollar bill out leaving the water and penny under the glass.)

The above photo is my proven experiment.

Now, I know I’ve written about this before; yet it still gets me how companies can continue to give the worst customer service to their customers and still expect them to come back for more. It’s like being the proverbial abused spouse: “I deserved to be hit; I fell down the steps; I walked into the edge of the cabinet face-first.” It’s almost like we can’t stay away from being abused by the people we’re giving money to, and just keep going back for more.

Standing Up for What You Believe

Apparently, religion is no longer a very important part of people’s lives. I’ve written before about religion, and how it doesn’t play a major role in people’s lives any longer. I’ve written about changes I’ve seen personally, and changes in general. I’ve written about secularism invading religion. But the chasm grows ever wider, separating those who feel it is important in their lives and those who couldn’t give a lesser crap about religion, provided they’re still getting their paycheck. This mind-set even moreso affects clergy, who (some) get paid a hefty salary, even though they’re not doing the job for which they’re getting paid.

Elevator Psychology

I work in an office building on the 17th floor. From my desk, I can see out in two different directions: East and North. Thankfully, there are no other buildings in the way, so I get a clear view of the surrounding areas and way off into the distance for miles. I get to see the ships wending their way up and down the Delaware River; thunderstorms coming and going; and even just the other day a wide, beautiful rainbow arced across the river, ending in the shipping docks. Funny… I always thought there was a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow; turns out it’s just a rusty ship.

So What Did You Give Up for Lent?

“So what did you give up for Lent?” It’s a frequent question you hear these days – and not just amongst Catholics. Protestants are also known to give things up for Lent. But another more common practice within the past decade is taking up something, rather than giving up something.

Though this is a noble idea to take on something for Lent – like more prayer, or giving more time to the church, or visiting someone more often, or exercising more, or donating more to a worthy cause – I believe its more an invention of today’s Church to mimic religion at a time when religion and spirituality wanes from people’s lives. Hardly a bad thing. Typically, though, it strays from the true issue – the lack of spirituality in the Church which is taught to its members. The Church, in general, has spent (and continues to do so) too much time since Vatican II watering down religion and putting God in a box. Rather than raising man to God, the Church attempts to bring God down to man, and explain Him away like a myth or a science project.

Letter to the Mom at Bed Bath and Beyond

Dear Mother Who Can’t Seem to Control Her Kids,

Perhaps I’ll be the first one to mention this to you publicly, but you simply can’t seem to control your kids. Or, perhaps, you’ve heard this before from your friends and family who keep inviting you to gatherings without them. Or maybe you’ve received those wedding invitations that said, “No children, please” and didn’t understand why. I’ll tell you why. Because we’ve met your kids. But before I continue, maybe I should let you in on the clues leading me to believe that you can’t control those kids of yours.

The Politics of this Election

Christine O'Donnell: A deer in the headlights?

It’s interesting to watch what’s going on with this current mid-term election. The amount of mud-slinging from both sides is incredible! In Delaware the race for the Senate between Chris Coons (D) and Christine O’Donnell (R) is laughable. I’m not the typical voter who simply votes for their own party. I look at the individuals and what they stand for. If they don’t speak with my voice on the major issues, I’m not interested in voting for them – regardless of party. And in Delaware I’m hearing childish jabs at each other; but surprisingly, I’ve also been hearing some substantial answers addressed from Coons, but nothing from O’Donnell. Coons understands that what’s happened over the past 2 years hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been a start in the right direction. One example from O’Donnell: “I would immediately repeal Health Care Reform.” That’s it. No answer on what to do after that; just repeal something that, though imperfect, has at least started the ball rolling in the right direction. It’s a start that has been making the medical insurance agencies become just a little more responsible – the most important change is the elimination of pre-existing conditions. No longer can the insurance companies refuse to cover a pre-existing condition; and no longer can they drop coverage because an expensive illness comes along.

The importance of friends

How do you spend your days? If you are like most people, there is at least a small part of your day spent communicating with or spending time with a friend. They’re there when times are difficult; they’re there when times are good. When you have wonderful news to share, they’re right there with you, or on the other end of the phone or email sharing that news with you. But just how important are they? And what benefit are they to our lives?

Petitioning God: Atheist with a Notion

Some time ago I came across a blog basically saying that you cannot petition God with prayer, speaking out against prayer and religion as stupid and wasteful in general. She’s one of those neo-atheists. It stuck with me (I’d found it totally by accident, looking for something else). The blogger continued to bemoan the fact that she was outraged and insulted when someone offered to prayer for her, and that she would rather rely on her confidence in science and her own judgment. I couldn’t help thinking how sad those statements were, even though she presented them as if she was so magnanimous in thinking that way – so highly evolved that she could rise above religion; and clearly, relying merely on science and her own (clouded) judgment, she will remain in question without any answers.

Nude beaches and Puritanism

There’s a very good reason why there are almost no nude beaches left around here. The human body is an evil thing. It should remain covered from head to toe at all times, and any time any part of the body is showing in public it is disgusting and makes God punish mankind with sickness and disaster. Nudity is the reason for all man’s suffering.

Sounds pretty ridiculous, huh? Yet that’s the attitude we see all the time in the US on television, on the radio, in the streets, at the pool, and on the beach. People are so uptight about nudity and our God-given bodies. It’s absurd. I could never really understand it. We live in a country that prides itself in being “on the cutting edge” and “at the forefront.” It’s a melting pot where people have moved from all over the world to come together and unite as one. Yet one set of people who came to these lands so long ago set the stage for the creation of a country steeped in moral intransigence. The Pilgrims came to these shores to