seriouslyscorpio

thoughts of the moment and of my life

Author Archives: seriouslyscorpio


by

CHURCH…..WHO DO WE SERVE #2


Today….we look at the church by using two words…..Two words that can overwhelm any church/parish or attendee. These two words come out of the dictionary….and their definitions are variable When it comes to seriousness. What I’ve found is that the degree of this seriousness is one of the main pitfalls in how churches act and react. This is our challenge…..

Word #1…..CONDITION/conditional….
Subject to or depending on a condition; not absolute
Existing state
Situation with respect to circumstances
Restricting, limiting or modifying a circumstance
(as in ‘only under certain conditions’)
Stipulation that would alter an agreement or an event
A diseased state of the body
To make something a condition

Word #2…..UNCONDITIONAL
Not limited by any condition…..absolute as in God’s love

Ever see those wonderul pictures that come from our friends’ email…cuddly, cute pets,….the artist that lays newborns in a flower, or in their father’s hand. Warm and fuzzy to the max.

Where does that go…we grow up, that’s where it goes. Like the line in South Pacific….’You have to be carefully taught’ to become conditional. If these thoughts make you sad, imagine how God feels.

We do live conditional lives, some conditions more degrading than others. “She’s divorced”…..”Unmarried and 2 kids and on welfare”….”They were baptized in _________ church but not here”…….”He always smells”……..”They just come on holidays”……”They only gave $_____last year”……..”Their son just got out of jail”…… and yes, it goes on and on.

But living conditionally doesn’t make it right…..it’s the ‘everybody’ or ‘they’ where we get this syndrome. “Well that’s the way we’ve always done it”…..”Everybody feels the same way”.

Now is when we spend some alone time wondering how we got this way…this lifestyle of condition. Paul wanted his new baby churches to work together….some did, but some felt it better to try to outdo one another….better food, better giving, better crowds. They missed the point didn’t they…..their church going became conditional. Baby churches also contended with new members not quite standing up to the “Christian way”….some were having affairs, some sill loved those idols, and on and on.

Paul was in the same mess then with new churches as we are today….
Not every new Christian was falling in line when it came to Christ’s teachings….Dang! (and I honestly think that’s what Paul said)

But Paul … in his frustration, along with his love of God….rose to the occasion. He did not what was necessarily the easiest, nor the most moral (conditional), but what was right in God’s eyes…he reminded his newbies that God’s love is UNCONDITIONAL and ABSOLUTE… There are no rooms in God’s house where conditions apply…..except that we do unto others as we expect others to do unto us….. and that we love our neighbor as ourself.

Imagine what would happen if our churchd decided to follow this idea? Now I know there are other rules about all kinds of things in the old and new testament, but loving your neighbor and doing unto others….seems to cover it all. I’ll give you a ‘for instance’……..I attended a Disciples of Christ Church in a small town in central Indiana….I had grown up going to a Disciples of Christ Church with my family, but in my late 20’s married and moved to another town. Little did I know, they had a ‘closed membership’. I’d never heard of it….wasn’t a rule in every church, but it was in this one. If one was baptized in other church, they had to be re-baptized again! I CALL THAT A CONDITION! I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now, 50 years later.

Funny, but I bet some of you are not agreeing with me…and this is just ONE itty bitty condition…..

So I’m leaving…..for now…..Think over God’s way of loving everyone and everything, and then take a look at how we love everyone and everything. MMmmmmmm

It ain’t over til it’s over….there’s still time to live and love’
UNCONDITIONALLY.


by

Church…WHO DO WE SERVE? #1


I’m going out on a limb here by saying I think there are lots of church goers, non-church goers, and all those in between who question in their hearts, how the ‘church’ is suppose to work. In these next few posts…I’m going to pause, probe, and press for answers to questions that are hundreds, if not thousands of years old.

For those who think these problems are new…read the wonderful world of Paul in Corinthians. This book has warmed my soul because here is a daring guy that leaves no stone unturned, when it comes to creating the best church he can. As I said in my thoughts earlier about Paul, I can see him vividly….gnashing what’s left of his teeth, as he hears, ponders, and writes to his new churches about how they act in his absence.

Flash forward to today and multiply the situation. Churches times a thousand, flocks times ten thousand, and guess what, the problems are almost identical those Paul and his new desciples found in their midst.

One thing for sure, the issues don’t touch any one segment of any one church. That, in itself, should make them easy to identify.
Send a group representative to the local church leadership meeting, discuss the problem, discuss the solutions, come to a vote, take the vote, and run back to the nest with a smile……problem solved.

How many board/vestry meetings have attempted to do just that…how many pastor/parish meetings have grappled with attempts to solve the most petty of church fumbling, and on and on.

Well, I’m here to talk about it….to think out loud..on this paper, in hopes you will do the same. For some it might be ‘been there, done that’; for others, it might be ‘we don’t talk about that’; and yet others might say ‘well, the Bible says’.

Right now I am thinking this will be a discussion of why we do what we do in our church….and why most of us think ours is the best.
We’ll look into boards and vestries…to pastors and priests, to rules of law and rules of church, and to condemnation light. Church or club…..business or belief….is there a definite line..or is it a blur.. we’ll talk later


by

ELECTRIC WHAT!! GOING WHERE!!


Wow, the car manufacturers are seriously considering creating an electric car that goes 200 miles before powering up again. WOW…WOw…Wow….wow…..wo..mmmmmmm If there’s one thing I’ve been waiting on since 1943, it’s an electric car that can go 200 miles. I get the vapors just think’in about it..

Like TV was nothing compared to this! And the dial phone, and then touch tone! And the electric typewriter, amazing… Then came the PC and then one that could talk to another one…..then a walk on the moon, and then Google, Facebook, and the Cloud.

Imagine going 200 miles driving an electric car…believe me, I am. When it was me and the horse and buggy, we didn’t travel much…like to town, school, and church. An electric car would have been perfect. (Is there a table to explain the 200 mile distance…like 168 up hill miles compared to 221 down hill miles?)

When I was a little girl in the late 40’s we moved 17 miles away from where I was born…..it was considered ‘a trip’ to go back for a visit. Ah yes, another perfect situation for the battery powered mega scientific breakthrough of the 2000’s.

Oh please….you couldn’t pay me to own one, drive one, or even stand near one for fear I might be recognized. Why on earth would I want one in these United States? I think nothing of going to see my sis…..278 mi away….oops, exceeding the limit. I like going to Phoenix for the weekend….oops again, too far. Heaven help me when I decide to travel to Maine to see my friends.

Oh, of course, my bad, there will be a power source at every gas station…in fact they will be in a row, like the gas pumps. It will be like Costco at noon….lines and lines of people, heading thru the desert, guzzling water, and waiting for the next plug-in to free up. My heart is aflutter! Without a doubt the gas companies will extend their hand of friendship in order to allow the positioning of chargers on their property. They love to share the wealth of the auto industry.

I don’t know who is more gulible.. the government, backing anything the current political party likes, the auto manufacturers for thinking the public will fork up thousands for something that will be in the trash by 2025,or the public who thinks the manufacturers have their best interest in mind, along with global warming.

Why don’t we try this….let us produce and install all the plug-ins FIRST….Then print a map that shows all the places we can plug….like the desert, in the Rockies, west Texas, and in downtown cities at 2AM…..Please have a nice man in attendance to help us with credit card problems, plug-in problems, and robbery problems. After about 5 years, when I’m sure all the bugs are ironed out, give me a ring on my flip-phone and bring me up to speed.

P.S. Is this a two prong or a 3 prong plug-in situation…and what about surge protection (just ask’in)


by

HOW DO YOU STACK UP?


I wrote a little on this subject a few months ago…..I thought I’d bring you more of the same. To me, in the Fall/Winter part of my life, it seems just a little more pertinent than during the Spring period…..that being what I do with the remaining moments I may or may not have. I have trotted along, just like you, sometimes completely oblivious to the important and loving actions of others. I was either too cool, or too bored, or too stupid, or a little of each to really tally up the comings and goings of my own time here.

What I’ve found is we are pretty much looking for the same thing. How we get there and who with, who we step on, who we love on, who we cut out, who we lean on, and how we learn what we learn is the part that varies.

So today, I’ll give you some sentences of those who left for ‘their Heavenly Father’s house’ as is stated so many times in the paper.
They are not just words, my friends, they represent a description of life….just like yours and mine. How simple they may sound, a housewife, a husband, father, grandfather. Perhaps a volunteer at church, a gardener, a gourmet cook, and a golfer.

“Danny was a very kind, loving, generous man, who was always there to help anyone. He loved golfing and fishing and restoring his 1931 Ford Coupe.”

“Alex passed at age 90. He was born on Dec 6, 1922 on the high seas as he and his family were immigrating from Germany to the US.
He was in WWII, deploying to Europe and flying 33 missions in the B24 Liberator. He has 17 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandson.”

“Rollyn was a Vietnam War Vet. After his discharge he traveled the country living in Wa, Ca., Id.,Montana and Arkansas. He loved working with his hands as a restaurant cook and a carpenter. He was a drummer for Willie Nelson and the late Johnny Cash.”

“Betty passed away after a battle with Parkinson’s. She lived in Omaha, Ne. and got married on Easter Sunday, 1949.She was in Eastern Star. She was an organist. She retired from the Retail Clerk’s Union. She is survived by her husband…of 64 years”

“Robert was born in Uhrichsville, Ohio. He served for 20 years in the Air Force and then worked as a television Tech for about 35 years. He loved skating and that is how he met his wife Donna.
He was a great mechanic and could fix anything and loved to volunteer his time at a thrift store. He leaves 4 children, 4 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.”

“Harold was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He took great pride in his family and cared deeply for them. He was in the Air Force during the Koren War. Harold held steadfast to is Christian faith and was a founding member of Cross and Crown Lutheran Church, Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. He retired from General Telephone Co. after 31 years in engineering management. He and his wife started a ceramics company in San Jacinto, Ca. He loved music, wood working, painting, public service and keeping up with his grandchildren. In memory of Harold, his family asks that you donate your glasses to your nearest Lions Club.”

These are your friends, your parents friends, your neighbors, and for me, some are my idols. It’s time to live, love, laugh, and be happy my friends….for you, and yours. That is what God intended……for us to just be good to one another, to love our friends, our family and our country, to the best of our ability.

MMMMMmmmm what will my obit say….will I be proud to be listed amongst these….. who passed just a day ago, and in the big picture, just a few moments before me…….


by

MORNING TEA


Every morning, without fail, the ladies show up for tea. They wear frocks that are kind of drab. Tea has been going on for awhile, so they don’t feel the need to dress up. I also think they’ve been together for most of their lives, so impressing each other is just passe. I think that because I have wonderful friends who don’t feel the need to wear fancy colors, big hats, or uncomfortable shoes just to sit for tea.

Anyhow, each day one can almost set their clock by it, the gals congregate. They nod, they talk quietly, and abruptly leave, only to return in a few minutes, something I cannot understand. Of course, I’m on the outside looking in, not having ever been invited. They also like to be relatively alone….and move in unison when something or someone comes into view. I’m thinking they discuss things that are strictly intimate because their actions dictate complete privacy.

And then…as quickly as they’ve assembled, the tea is over. It’s like someone is calling. One thinks maybe the kids have come home from school, but the ladies must have teens by now. Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. They speak their own slang, their own language, and even tho it is beautiful, it something I can’t seem to grasp.

Only later in the day do I see each of them again, returning for a simple bath, a quiet time, maybe before starting supper for their brood. They nod to one another, and get a little flustered if the area gets crowded, however all irritations seem to dissolve in the fluttering bath of my tea ladies, the finches who share my yard til they vacation south of the border.


by

bubbling thoughts


haven’t written for awhile…..seems like time has been filled by other stuff…..good stuff, but stuff….All the time I’m doing my stuff, however, I’m thinking. Thinking of things to write about, thinking of things to help others dream about, thinking of things to comment on, etc. etc.

Yes, things are bubbling inside…..It is true for me, and maybe just me, that I should sit and write until there are no more words coming out of my head. Since the bubbling is annoying, I think that is a sign I should make time to sit and write.

I’m most upset I do not understand the workings of Word Press as well as others….I’d love to have someone set up my ability to get my postings available to others…..I am very personal on one side and don’t want to bother all the people I know with my rantings, however, I would like to be incognito and be able to send out writing in a better way. I admit I thought and still think that ‘booting up’ is a stupid way of saying open or start.
I also admit that hitting ‘send’ to answer a phone is even more stupid……but who am I…..

I’m in need of a new computer…and it is like pulling teeth to get one…why, because there is no one to help me take the info off this one and put it on the other. I’ll probably have to travel and drag around a bunch of computer stuff from place to place….looking like a beggar..to see if they would help me. Am I in the mood for that…..nu-uh. And so it goes.

I finally found a service to fix the old girl (my computer) whenever she went haywire…..and it is worth every penny. Just make the call, and turn it over……they perk the old girl up, take away all her globs of info that we really didn’t want or ask for….clean her disk or disc…..and send her back for another round of emails and googling.

While we’re (I’m) talking….I am pissed at the TV cable too…I kind of think they are like a rental car company I used one time…they don’t take good care of their cars, until one finally bites the dust. When it is finally drug in off highway 395 in February, it is serviced. Kind of like my TV boxes…they never seem to work well, one downstairs is fine, the others are full of sounds and no satellite reception. We understand half of every sentence from 8 til 11PM but when it comes on at 9AM the next day, it works fine……It’s always fun to call, and be helped by some poor gal who has to have an armed guard in her office to keep the peace…..that speaks well for the cable companies, doesn’t it.

Oh well, TV or Computer, cell phone or IPhone, it is there to amuse me and abuse me….I’m gett’on out the can and the string!!


by

SHOPPING FOR “THE GIRLS”, and other stuff


Been shopping this AM….that’s really saying something for me, cause I am not a shopper. No doubt the reason is I don’t weigh 150 anymore, or even 160, or 170. Yes the genes have caught up with me and mine. I know, those skinny genes are with some forever, but not me. I was lucky enough to have them thru the first 55 years or so.

Now I’m sure that some of you are saying, well, hell, she’s 55, over the hill, not club’in, etc, and so why should she care….Listen….we always care, I said ALWAYS! Some of us cover it up better than others, in our clothes, and/or in our souls, but we do cover it up.

I remember 118 well, even 125. We were together alot of years. No matter ow many bags of Taco Chips, or how many hot fudge sundaes I consumed, I was 125. Then came 127 and 129…..you know what I’m talk’in about…..just one or two pounds a year. That’s noth’in, you’d say. I’m still pretty good at 45, etc.

But 2 pounds for 10 years….20 years….30 years, add’em up….it does creep upon your butt, etc.

So now I’m pushing 70, pretty hard too…..and I’m still that 125 girl on the inside but not on the outside. My heart and soul long for even 150 or 160 or 170, but my genes say no. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you gals….only you know what goes on inside….when you are in the mall, or at church, or playing cards, or at work…..it surely is painful.

What I think is the most painful is that the men and women who were blessed with staying at decent weights ….. seem somehow to cast a shadow of doubt on our problems of genes. They know that if we just to Atkins, or just do 1500 calories a day, or carbs only, or protein only, the pounds will just melt off at 2 pounds a week. What we know is different…that it just doesn’t work that way. There is one way and one way only….starving! Even bread and water isn’t acceptable because of the bread. It is just 500 to 750 calories a day and no eating after 3.

I know the gurus will say no, not right, get on the treadmill, etc, but how many of us 65 to 75 year olds are really ready to hit the gym at 6AM and go for 750 calories……not me. I know should be doing the rah-rahing…for keeping at the old 125, however, they’ll have to find another gal.

I’m sure if I had movie star money, I could go to sleep for a couple of weeks in a great spa and lose the extra pounds. I could be nipped and tucked and de-wrinkled…..but that isn’t happening either.

Truth is, I have to be me…like it or not, it’s what God had in mind this time around, so I had better get used to it.

In closing dears, heavy and light, fat and thin, big or small boned, 10 years old or 70 years old…..take it easy on yourself and don’t be tough on those who don’t fit the size 14-16 that seems to be the norm. Lay off the girl sitting next to you in the cafeteria…or the one who shared her secret of always wanting to be a cheerleader, knowing she was just not what they were looking for. Befriend the boy who did not go out for football and was too slow in cross-country….know he is crying on the inside, even willing to sell his soul on an especially bad day, just to look like the jock who teases and then ignores him.

Lighten up!!! You never now what God has in store for you and your genes. AND FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE……CLOTHES DESIGNERS…..MAKE THE STRIPS GO UP AND DOWN INSTEAD OF AROUND!!
GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!


by

MOVIES ……MY OPINION, RIGHT NOW, THIS MINUTE


The best so far since June World War Z by far….tell adults that
are not into zombies….make believe the ‘zombies’ are people with green and yellow heads…..then go see it….You’ll love it
Rate 9 1/2

The Heat……pretty good, could have been better, lots of F-words, but so what. Love the actresses…..sure was alot better than Identity Thief….that was sad.
Rate 8 1/2

White House Down…….okay, like lots of others, some things hard to believe but……it was entertaining,
Rate 7 1/2

Pacific Rim…….was really wanting this to be super dooper, however…. it was just entertaining. We love to see what the robots, and zombies, and creatures really look like, BEFORE they get into the fights of the century. We were able to but it was hard to follow the plot…could scare some little ones
Rate 6

Can’t even remember the title…the one with Adam Sandler and his friends….so bad, so really really bad…..
Rate 1 1/2…..no a 1…..no a 1/2

Looking forrward to RIPD….The Butler….haven’t seen Monster University,and the Interns…..I know, I’m kind of late. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.


by

still in black and white


am visiting a beautiful eastern Georgia town that is full of southern charm, architecture, and history. Such a shame black and white is still so noticeable in people’s lives instead of being just colors in cotton and polyester in Joanne’s


by

NO CURFEW IN THE GULF


Well, I’m here to say, there is seems no end to this spring party in the Gulf….One doesn’t hear much, but the beaches are jump’in..yes, even ‘in the air’ jump’in.

Now that the little guys have arrived, their extended family have received their invites. It is time for sprucing up the digs, so many hermit crabs are up sizing. Yes, they do outgrow, their studio type homes, so searches go on constantly. People (nice humans) who visit the Gulf, know they should only take one live shell away from the beach each visit……what a shame they are allowed even that.
(another ‘be that as it may’) So it is proper etiquette to lift gently and peek in to these shell homes first, before plopping them into your bucket. If they have set up housekeeping, it is then necessary to put them back, and apologize for making thier little hearts skip a beat.

As spring progresses, many empty shell bodies are found. The tides give us a new view of what the Gulf has to offer, and the waves gently deposit the new, old, and empty shells of life in it’s beautiful waters. It is a fact of life, life and death, and the Gulf of Mexico shows us how the grand plan was put into place. I still wonder, at almost age 70, why things are the way they are, so don’t feel alone, if you wonder the same, now and then.

Discarded shells from other generations do provide exquisite art that cannot be duplicated. Their color, their shape, and their design are the architecture of God. Each is made to house the life inside…and is done so to perfection. Take note…..and know it is a simple joy to ‘stop’ and look at these treasures….they will move you and replenish your soul.

I spent the evening at low tide, picking and choosing my next gallon of shells….What a wonderful and inexpensive habit I have. The warmth of spring, the waters of the Gulf, a good friend, and a bucket. These are the days to remember. Thank goodness I’ve been allowed to realize these moments. Just take 60 seconds…and stop to look around…then take 70 seconds and then 80. Take in all the gifts God gives us each day..for free!!