It's theology

Sometimes the places I'm happiest are not where I am.
Yesterday morning I had a very long and interesting discussion on certain aspects of Christianity. I am going to recap some of the topics here, but before you read, keep in mind that this is mostly theory and I do not necessarily believe everything on here. However, it does make sense and is highly fascinating. I also apologize beforehand because my memory is imperfect and I cannot explain things as well. Don't believe everything on this post, just think about it.
1) Catholicism is a cult. An example is praying to Mary, which will be explained in the next point. Another example is priests. Catholic priests are breaking the very first commandment God gave Adam, which is not do not eat the fruit of this tree. It is "be fruitful and multiply". Also, all high priests in the Old Testament HAD TO BE married. They were not allowed to be priests otherwise. There's a little bit of perversion from that model nowadays isn't there? There's more to this theory but I am not going to say anymore at this particular point because I either don't remember it or it's hard to explain and I'll end up screwing it up.
2) There is no such thing as the Trinity. God is more than just 3. There are so many aspects to God that they cannot be counted, but He is still one. The Trinity was put into Christian doctrine but the Romans, when they were converting their Empire from Mytholicism into Christianity. You see, in Mytholicism there were three gods, the Old Man who wanted to kill you, the Child, and the Woman who was the intercessor. Compare: the Father is the Old Man, Christ is the Child, and the Holy Spirit is the intersessor. Catholics also pray to Mary as the intercessor. Perhaps there is more to God than we originally thought.
3) The Church is not the Bride of Christ. Israel is the Bride of Christ. Israel is the Church. This one's harder to explain without speaking it, because you need voice inflections. The "Church", as we so fondly say, is in fact Israel. To be a Christian you have to be Israelite, because Christ's Bride is Israel. However, Israel is not entirely Jewish. There was a Gentile tribe, or half-tribe, if you prefer. You see, under Israelite tradition, the oldest son is the one that carries on the father's line. Joseph's oldest son, Manassah, would therefore be Jewish, but his younger son Ephraim would be Egyptian, or Gentile. It follows that it is possible to be Israelite without being Jewish. It also follows that to be a Christian you are part of Israel. You cannot be a Christian without also being an Israelite.
4) Somewhat following the third point, Christ died so he could get remarried. To explain: Christ married Israel at the beginning, but then Israel split into Israel and Judah. So Christ was married to both. In Old Testament law, you can only divorce due to marital unfaithfulness. Israel was unfaithful, so Christ divorced her. He was still married to Judah however. Time goes on and Judah's still faithful. The only way Christ can remarry Israel, [as a whole] is for either him or his wife to die. We're still following Old Testament law, which states that for someone to get re-married, one of the original partners must die. So either the bride, which is Israel as a whole, or God must die, so that they can remarry as it should have been before Israel was unfaithful. So God sent Jesus, who was also God, to die so He could marry Israel as a whole. We are Israel. The concept I ended up with here is that God is polygamous. I don't think He is but He is married to more than one Bride, but it is the same Bride in the end.
5) Also somewhat following the third point, there is a theory that the original roots of Mennonites are Israeli. When Babylon scattered Israel, they scattered them across the whole Persian Empire, which stretched all the way to Spain. When a group of people faithful to their religion are uprooted and transplanted somewhere else, they will still follow their religion, even if they cannot travel to their holy city. All Israelites were scattered, the few faithful as well as the many adulterous. It stands to reason that a group of the faithful could have been moved to Spain, at the far reaches of the Empire. There they would have continued practicing their Christianity, although it didn't have that name yet. When a group of people practicing a certain religion is dumped into the middle of your town, and they refuse to conform to your culture, they will probably be persecuted. They will also probably get several followers. Cultures will be absorbed if not conformed. When a group of people is persecuted in one culture they may travel, to get away from the persecution. Now imagine this happening over several hundred years and get a map of Europe. Start in Spain and think about the history of Mennonites, and how they traveled in groups to get away from persecution. It is possible that they began with Israeli origins and, when sick of the teaching of the Catholic Church, started listening to the theories of a man named Menno Simon. Put it together, I'm tired of typing.

So if anyone actually read all the way down to here congratulations. I am missing a lot of important stuff here but this is about the gist of it. It's theory, it's what the person who this conversation was with believes, or at least partially, and it makes enough sense to me that I'm debating believing it. For a final thought, perhaps God is neither male nor female, but both male and female together. Angels are sexless, could not God be both sexless and both sexes? Have fun with that one.

You're an addict to the need to find yourself a way to breathe

Today's an anniversary. Two years to the day. And ironically, I don't regret it yet. It wasn't the best idea ever but what's done is done. Without it I would have had different experiences and I would relate different to some people. That's perfectly alright. In retrospect it's not smart at the time, but looking at it now its consequences make my life better today. Funny, isn't it?

Feet are made for dancing

Rules are made for breaking
Hands are made for holding
Songs are made for singing
Afternoons for waiting

If paper was made for writing
Then post office boxes were made for mail

Trees are made for burning
Knives are made for cutting
These games are made for playing
And still I'm waiting...

We can't rewind we've gone too far

Once again, Conor Oberst has put my thoughts onto his music and I wonder how much someone has to go through to write like this but I realize it's not as much as you think, it is just an extraordinary talent. I wish I could write this well.


All eyes on the calendar
Another year I claim of total indifference
To here, the days pile up
With decisions to be made, I'm sure all of them were wrong
Into this song I send myself
And with these drinks I plan to collapse
And forget this wasted year, these wasted years
Devoted friends, they disappear
And I'm sorry about the phone call and needing you
Some decisions you don't make
I guess it's just like breathing or not wanting to
There are some things you can't fake
I guess that it's typical
To cling to memories you'll never get back again
And to sort through old photographs
Of a summer long ago or a friend that you used to know
And there below
His frozen face
You wrote the name and that ancient date, that ancient date
And you can't believe that he's really gone
When all that's left is a fucking song and
I'm sorry about the phone call; and waking you.
I know that it is late,
But thank you for talking, because I needed to.
Some things just can't wait.

Trying to keep alive

1. If you could marry one celebrity who would it be? Conor Oberst, hands down
2. If you could be anywhere in the province during this blizzard, where would you be? I don't want to answer this question, it might come back to haunt me
3. What's your favorite season and why? Winter because I was born on the Winter Solstice
4. Favorite style of music? Celtic
5. Favorite city? Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. Favorite color? purple
7. Favorite time of day? (or night) 3 o'clock, am and pm
8. Describe yourself in one or two words. fire
9. What would your mother say if she heard you swearing? she would be angry
10. Would you rather sleep on a bed or a couch? couch
11. Do you have any tattoos? If so what? no but I want an Alpha and Omega on my ankle
12. Are there any lyrics you've discovered recently which perfectly apply to your life? yes, "Happy Birthday to Me" by Bright Eyes
13. Are you a songwriter? frick no but I do write poetry, does that count?
14. Have you ever played in a band? no, I'm musically uninclined
15. Who's your favorite author? Ted Dekker
16. How many books, on average, do you read a month? I don't know, 20?
17. What is your favorite book? "The Reckoning" by James Byron Huggins
18. What is your favorite quote? "Make your choice, adventurous stranger, Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, 'til it drives you mad, What would have followed if you had." -C.S. Lewis in "The Magician's Nephew"
19. Do you have any pets? If so, what and what are their names? two cats named Freckles and Phantom
20. If you could have one exotic animal for a pet what would it be? a lion
21. Have you ever done anything you regret completely? yes
22. Have you ever done anything bad but never felt bad afterwards? yes
23. Do you creep anybody on myspace? not really on myspace
24. What does your computer screensaver look like? camouflage green words that say "Broken Wings"
25. Is your hair straight or curly? wavy/curly
26. Have you ever gotten really drunk? Why or why not? no because every time I had a chance I was driving
27. What do you do when you're snowed in? read, go on the computer and make stupid quizzes
28. Have you ever been in a bus crash? no
29. Do you pick your zits? usually
30. How many days until your birthday? umm, lots
31. Where is number 31? it died when my brain stopped functioning properly
32. What are you sitting on right now? a bed
33. Why are you on the computer? because I'm so cool
34. Do you go barefoot in shoes? sometimes
35. Do you wear wristbands? one, sometimes
36. When is your birthday? December 21
37. How many close friends do you have that you'd trust with your deepest secrets? I don't know, 3
38. Would you ever kiss a stranger? depends
39. Have you ever gone into shock? I don't think so
40. Who would you most want to meet in all the world? (living or dead) Syd Barrett
41. Have you ever had a crush on someone who's dead? haha yeah
42. Should life come with background music? most definitely
43. Who is your favorite hockey team? (and if you say Habs I'll have to kill you) Boston Bruins
44. Are you a pyro? heck yes I love fire
45. What is/are your favorite movie(s)? The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia, Born Free
46. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? no but I'm not on the market or looking either
47. Do you like breakfast sausage? good stuff
48. Do you have ADD? slightly, some days more so than others, depends on how much sleep or sugar or caffeine I've had
49. What color is your pillow? green and stripey
50. If you could have any job what would it be? blacksmith don't laugh at me

Fire

Sometimes I am an idiot. Why do we do such stupid things when we know we ought'nt? On a somewhat different note, yesterday I said my new theory was that high school was too young to date. And then a friend said her theory was that if you really really like someone, don't fuck it up. And I think I agree with her theory more, although I am very good at it, at least in my own head. I'm starting to believe that I'm crazy...

I wrote this while listening to my new Bright Eyes CD this evening:

Years go past
In the same twelve month intervals
Knives get sharper
Ankles get sorer
But it's only a memory
You repeat yourself over and over
I'm hearing the same thing
It's all just rules to follow
Rules to break
Wondering what there is to go through
To write like that
Haunt like this
Such a thing is not never heard of
To screw this up
When the lines between right and wrong begin to blur
Knowing I want to keep this regardless
And take your advice
Don't fuck things up
Smile for the cameras
Break all the rules
Just because you told me it was wrong.

Fare thee well love

New news? Not much. Actually that's a lie. To recap:
1) Went to Waldheim for New Year's and stayed up until 5 o'clock in the morning talking. Didn't take Steph's advice and wished I had but then that would have ruined it I think so in a way I'm glad I didn't. There's still a part of me that wishes I did but whatever.
2) Didn't really make any resolutions to welcome in 2007 but I guess I did kind of just decide something. That would be that when I hang out with friends I want to do less of watching movies and more of actually hanging out, getting to know each other. Now that we have so much less time I want to start using it.
3) Cut my thumb deep and open yesterday while shopping for a jackknife. Bought the knife I opened my thumb with because we are now blood bonded and I didn't really have a choice in the matter anymore. Nice blade though.
4) Got a pair of Rankins tickets for Christmas, decided I am absolutely in love with Celtic music and I am pumped for the concert.