So how's everyone? A new chat thread

[Shiloh Raven]

I'll be OK. Both my wife and brother are healers.

No, the bear isn't a threat. There's plenty of tastier stuff to eat around here besides me. What's funny is I was taking a late evening walk the other night much higher up the road and a couple of locals tried to scare me off by telling me there's more bears than food in these parts.

No one in my family has seen a bear on their road. I have pictures. I'll share them when I get home.

I'm sorry to hear about your arm, Tad. I hope you recover quickly.

Life has been a little hectic these last few days getting my oldest daughter moved back into our home. But it's been wonderful having her around more. I'm really glad she's home again.

 

[Paidiske]

I envy you that relationship, a little bit, Emerald; my mother and I absolutely would not survive living together!

 

[Shiloh Raven]

I envy you that relationship, a little bit, Emerald; my mother and I absolutely would not survive living together!

My mother and I never got along all that well either. So, I decided a long time ago that I wanted to have a better relationship with my own daughter or in my case, with all five of my daughters.

 

[Paidiske]

Ah, well, that gives me hope that perhaps things will be different in the next generation!

 

[Shiloh Raven]

I never realized it would be harder to move my daughter back into our house than it was to help her move out. And I didn't realize how much stuff she's accumulated over the last 3 years when she moved into her first apartment, which was closer to her work and her college classes at the time.

 

[tadoflamb]

We're back home now but my arm is still messed up. I'll spare everyone the pictures. It looks a lot worse than it is, but it's really starting to ache.

It's been raining since we've been gone. The fires are out and my garden looks good. The strangest thing about yesterday with overcast skies, a high of 85 degrees, light rains and greenery in the garden and distant mountain vistas, it felt a lot like Vermont. My brother and I have very similar homes in two very different places.

Here's that promised picture of the black bear. It's a bit blurry. Our intrepid photographer must have been shaking.

 

[tadoflamb]

It's been a week and a day now since I messed up my arm. It's slowly returning to normalcy. I'm just playing through my mind all the 'what ifs?' What if it did rip my arm off? What if the rope caught me around my neck? What if it had gotten my nephew instead of me?

It's messing with my normally cheerful disposition. I've been a bit of a slug all week, sitting on the couch and icing my arm. Terribly unmotivated. I'm looking forward to being back to my normal self, noodle arm and all.

 

[Paidiske]

Hmm. Do you think it may be worth a chat to a counsellor or the like, Tad, if you're not able to stop it playing on your mind?

 

[tadoflamb]

Hmm. Do you think it may be worth a chat to a counsellor or the like, Tad, if you're not able to stop it playing on your mind?

That's sounds like a good idea.

Two Sunday's ago I served mass, so before mass I told the pastor and the sacristan what happened to me. My pastor got all excited. He used to tube a lot. They would just tie a rope around an inner tube and off they'd go. "You know what we tried to do?" he asked. "We tried try to throw each other off! Baw-ha-ha-ha!"

Then, a few minutes later he said, "Tad, Tad!"

"Whut?"

"When we were on retreat we used to go tubing on Lake Michigan. You know Lake Michigan? BIG waves. I'd ride that tube all day long and when I got off, I'd be all black and blue! I didn't know when to get off!"

Little help that guy was.

Fortunately, I'm feeling a lot better. I have a good real-life support system, so I got over the mental thing fairly rapidly.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

I'm doing all right for now, at least. My oldest daughter decided she wanted to move back to where she lived before for her next semester of college. She got a new job and she still has her apartment. However, she wants to move closer to home for the remainder of her college classes this Spring. So, this means more road trips for me and my family to go visit her when we can. I know it will be hard for me when she moves out in a couple of weeks. I've really enjoyed having her at home. It'll hard for my husband and her siblings too. It's been great having her home again. I can't wait until she moves closer to home this Spring. She and her younger sister (age 20) want to share an apartment.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Hey Tad, I am starting to tire of Protestant thinking too, you may be glad to know. I don't know.
What I most dislike about their thinking is the "certainty" of being saved perhaps. Anyway the arrogance that comes with it. The ones who have no doubts. Now this has seeped through to some Catholics I've noticed which is unfortunate. (possibly ex-protestant , not sure)You might say it is a personality flaw but maybe it is part of the Protestant DNA to be dogmatic. Fortunately there are a few humble souls left in Prot. ranks which is a boost to their credibility I think.
People like confidence. They like certainty. Doubts are for losers it would seem to some anyway.
I'll stick with the idea that there are no guarantees on Judgement Day, and that will keep me honest until then. I hope.

 

[Colin]

Hey Tad, I am starting to tire of Protestant thinking too, you may be glad to know. I don't know.
What I most dislike about their thinking is the "certainty" of being saved perhaps. Anyway the arrogance that comes with it. The ones who have no doubts. Now this has seeped through to some Catholics I've noticed which is unfortunate. (possibly ex-protestant , not sure)You might say it is a personality flaw but maybe it is part of the Protestant DNA to be dogmatic. Fortunately there are a few humble souls left in Prot. ranks which is a boost to their credibility I think.
People like confidence. They like certainty. Doubts are for losers it would seem to some anyway.
I'll stick with the idea that there are no guarantees on Judgement Day, and that will keep me honest until then. I hope.

Does what you say , Paul , relate to Protestants you know personally .

The antics of Protestants on forums and on much of the internet is not mirrored by the Protestants I know in the real world .

The Protestants ( Anglicans , Pentecostals , Methodists , Baptists , United Reformed etc. ) be they family or friends , whom I know show a different picture . They are gentle folk , tolerant of others , not pushy , appreciative of the Catholic Church when they have contact with her .

The Protestants I know get along well with Catholics , and make good friends .

I know many Protestants , and they show no certainty of being saved .

I tire of much of the "Catholic thinking" I come across via the internet , and here again the stuff on the internet does not mirror the Catholics I know and worship with .

We need to take what we see on the internet with copious pinches of salt ......

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Does what you say , Paul , relate to Protestants you know personally .

Don't know many Protestants IRL, Colin. The ones I do we never talk about religion. And they are not devout really at all.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Its more the brainwashing that concerns me rather than the individual. I mean you can say we catholics have been brainwashed too I know. But I get a sense that despite the hierarchical, army like structure of the Catholic Church, we are in fact a broader Church in a sense that allows for a wider cross-section of individuals. Catholicism caters for all kinds from the mendicant Franciscans to the ones devoted to Mary in prayer, conservatives and more liberal socially conscious folk. There is a place for the individual, no matter how eccentric they are.
The "being saved" paradigm just opens a can of worms in my opinion.

 

[Colin]

Don't know many Protestants IRL, Colin. The ones I do we never talk about religion. And they are not devout really at all.

That's unfortunate .

Throughout my life I have known more Protestants than Catholics . I have found that more Protestants are less reluctant to talk about their faith than Catholics are . They are not Bible bashing , but they are less reticent than Catholics are to bring God into conversation .

As for being devout , I need only to observe the attraction Anglican liturgy has for many Catholics , primarily because of the reverence shown in Anglican worship which too many Catholics find is absent from their Eucharist .

 

[tadoflamb]

Hey Tad, I am starting to tire of Protestant thinking too, you may be glad to know. I don't know.
What I most dislike about their thinking is the "certainty" of being saved perhaps. Anyway the arrogance that comes with it. The ones who have no doubts. Now this has seeped through to some Catholics I've noticed which is unfortunate. (possibly ex-protestant , not sure)You might say it is a personality flaw but maybe it is part of the Protestant DNA to be dogmatic. Fortunately there are a few humble souls left in Prot. ranks which is a boost to their credibility I think.
People like confidence. They like certainty. Doubts are for losers it would seem to some anyway.
I'll stick with the idea that there are no guarantees on Judgement Day, and that will keep me honest until then. I hope.

I've pretty much decided to keep my head down and focus on my own faith when it comes to protestantism. It's never spoken to me. For the most part it sound's like 'I'm saved, you're not' and pride seems to me to be the first fruits of biblical knowledge.

I don't have any anxiety about the status of my salvation as the Sacred Scriptures tell me that I am saved, I am being saved and if I persevere in faith, my hope is that I will be saved. I feel bad when I see protestants despairing about whether they're saved or not. It doesn't have to be that way.

It looks like they have some great pot lucks though!

 

[tadoflamb]

Don't know many Protestants IRL, Colin. The ones I do we never talk about religion. And they are not devout really at all.

I don't either. It's kind of strange.

I did meet another printmaker at work yesterday. He was new to town and wanted to see what we had to offer. He told me his husband was about to be ordained as an Episcopalian priest. He also told me about his most recent printmaking project. He's redoing the Book of Prayers with the Saints represented by dead, gay, inappropriate content actors with the prayers being written in a secret language used by the gay community in London when they had anti-sodomy laws.

This getting to know other Christians isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

This getting to know other Christians isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Oh sorry I forgot. (Tad did mention it though) The ones who go on about "eternal damnation". That's bordering on terrorism. Love scaring people. And by the number of threads I see about people fearing it, I'd say its working.

 

[Mountain_Girl406]

Hello everyone
Haven't been around much, and may try to make my scarcity at C.F. a bit more of a habit, but I wanted to say Hi! Been a very busy summer with the kids, and I also spent much of the summer preparing for a comprehensive exam which I took Friday.
I finally got out for a run today, the fires in Montana have really done a number on air quality this month...its been a horrible year for fires.
Anyway, I'll keep hanging around here as I can, although work starts back up on Monday...keep up the good fight