Our Economy is JUST FINE!!!

Did ANYONE pay attention when they said that the recession was over last year? Our economy is doing just fine. Is unemployment up? Yes. 10% of people are unemployed. But guess what? That means that 90% of people do have a job, are making an income, are buying groceries and Christmas presents and cars and clothes. Just because we don't splurge as much as we did 5 years ago does not mean we're living in Oliver Twist-style squalor and poverty. We're being more practical with our money. That's good. We're not starving to death!

The American public is totally buying whatever the media wants us to think. We have no original thoughts about our lives anymore. We think the economy is bad because the media focuses completely on the absolute worst about our economy. We don't ask questions. We don't consider how many people actually do have income, shelter, food, medicine, and overall happy lives! Why can't we appreciate the life that we do have?

But no! We're not allowed to think that way. The media didn't want us to. Not until now, anyways. Now that the House of Representatives has been taken over by conservatives, they'll let us feel a little bit better about ourselves. Just enough so that they can take credit for it, and so that we'll be tempted to vote more Republicans in during the next elections. Because we're only allowed to be happy when the Republicans are in charge... umm, no. Never. Not right! No thank you!

The progress is slow, but it's always slow. Obama's changes are good! But it's always going to take time for the world to turn around, and we need to be patient. We think nothing's happening, and he's not doing anything. Why do we think that? The media told us that! And everything the media tells us must be the truth, so why should we question them? Ha!

They did the same thing with the demonization of Nancy Pelosi! All the republicans here would say is: My opponent is Nancy Pelosi. And that'd be it! All of a sudden we wouldn't vote for them because they're the same party as Nancy Pelosi? Since when do we not like Nancy Pelosi? What'd she ever do? And why would her association with Denny Heck make me not want to vote for Heck? But people just said, "Whoa! I can't vote for someone who has their name on the same sign as Pelosi!" (I'm just using a local race as an example.)

I guess I'm just frustrated because no one is asking the right questions, mainly, "Why?" We just accept what people (mainly the media... and conservatives) tell us as truth without finding deeper meaning for ourselves. From where I'm standing, the economy is just fine, so I'm not going to vote for people who are trying to scare me into thinking that our economy is screwed up. They can save their scare tactics for someone who's too afraid to open their eyes and look at the world. It's a beautiful world!

Scam Artists!

I was just verbally assaulted by some young adult/teenager who tried to con me. First, he spoke so quickly I could barely understand what he was saying. And what I did understand made me think twice. It would be random comments, like "a rat on acid. Just kidding." There was a lot of that. But he told me about how if he was one of the top two sellers in the state, he would get college scholarship and a trip to anywhere in the world. He wanted to go to Rome to see the Vatican, and be the first person in his family to go to college. But when he told me what he wanted a degree in, it was something I had never heard of. I've gone to three colleges/universities, and hold three degrees (working on my fourth). I've never heard of it. Whatever, that's okay, I guess. How very admirable of him to be trying to accomplish such a goal.


As he continues to talk about the points he gets, how much the magazines cost, ways to pay, he's slowing creeping closer to the door. Finally, I get up the nerve to say "No thank you, I'm not interested." He gives me this look like I just shot his dog, and says, "What did I do wrong?" I responded, "Well first of all, you're practically in my apartment!" He was standing on the doorstop/threshold/bump-on-the-floor-thingie, which meant his toes were in my apartment. And just so you know, I'm not by myself. My two-year-old daughter is running around eating her popcycle, and this stranger is trying to get in my house. So after I called him on that, he steps back. I also point out that he's speaking way too quickly for me to understand what he's saying, so he insists on giving me the whole schpiel again, slightly slower. I still don't understand half of what he's saying.


I'm on the verge of giving in, when I start to here inconsistencies in his story. The amount of points I would give him changes. His rank keeps changing: first he's 13th, then 17th, then if I don't buy from him he'll drop down to 50th. Finally, I realized that my inner sense was telling me to say goodbye. This was too uncomfortable. So I again told him that I was not interested. Then he turned hostile. Again he asked what he did wrong. I told him that I was not interested. It took several minutes to convince him that I wasn't going to buy from him. I shut and LOCKED the door. Then went to look up this company online. Guess what? Scam! All these complaints of people who didn't receive magazines, or their money back. And that some salespeople had been imprisoned for assault, rape, theft. *shudder* And he was almost in my apartment. My daughter was here! No thanks.

Don't buy from solicitors.

Mother's Day Sermon

Here's my sermon that I gave today. The theme was Bring Honor and Glory to God.

We are called this day to bring glory and honor to God!

We do that every Sunday, don’t we? We gather here on Sunday mornings to glorify God. But do we honor God? Do we honor ALL that God is?

God is the great I Am. Everything that we could be, God is already: all of our personality types, emotions, passions, interests, talents and gifts. Do we honor all of that?

Through our language, we limit God. Every time we use language that does not reflect the totality of God, we place limits on our understanding of God. Every Sunday, I hear God is Father, Lord, and a million “He’s.” Continually referring to God in male terms denies the other half of what God is. Denying part of God does not bring honor to God. So today, I would like to honor the part of God that we ignore so often: God the Mother.

First, we’ll start with God the Father, who we are all probably very familiar with. Christianity believes in a trinity: three-in-one. God the Father, who is the creator of everything. Jesus, the redeemer, who made it possible for our sins to be forgiven. The Holy Spirit, who sustains is in our faith, and moves in the world through our ministry.

I know the trinity can be tricky to understand, but think of it like this: to Katherine, I am Mama; I am also wife, daughter, grand-daughter, niece, sister, employee, student, minister, pianist; some people know me as Ashley Whitham, some as Ashley Sharpe, or just Ashie Rose. It depends on who I’m with, and what I’m doing. But it’s all me. It’s the same with God. Depending on what God is doing, God can be called different names. But it is all from the same God, the same source of love. So even though I am distinguishing between God the Father and God the Mother, they are one God, parts of a whole, different faces of the same.

Historically, 2/3s of the Trinity were male: God the Father and Jesus. The Holy Spirit has gone back and forth in gender, depending on the language of the writer. The Hebrew word is feminine, the greek non-gendered. There is also the personification of God’s Wisdom in the Old Testament, which is the female word Sophia.

I’m going to be sharing with you a series of quotes on the powerpoint to aid my message today. From Janice Allred:

“Picturing God as male leads to valuing masculine attributes, values, and experience over feminine ones and contributes to the oppression of women (Allred 42).”

The basic premise behind this is that if men are made in the image of God, where does that leave women? For centuries, female characteristics of God have been whittled down to nothing, just as women have been whittled down in societies around the world. God has become the epitome of what a man can be. Society looked to God to satisfy many needs: God is a jealous God, a vengeful God, a warrior God, a King of kings, a Lord over all, our Master.

But besides all the male names for God, we have the issue of pronouns and generalizations. If there are men and women, it’s simplified to men. If God has no gender, we can’t call God ‘it,’ so people decided to call God ‘he.’ According to the men who created all these traditions, ‘he’ included both genders. Women, do you ever like being referred to as ‘he?’ If someone addressed this congregation as men, would you feel included?

Male and female are determined by birth. But masculine and feminine are defined by society. Men were once the hunter/gatherers, and as such have evolved several beliefs about how men should behave. Men, can you give me a few examples of masculine traits?

Femininity has always been the opposite. Once, women worked just as hard as men, side-by-side, especially in agricultural societies. Then their roles were forced to change. Where men were seen as strong, women had to be weak. Men were noble, women must be pitiful. Men were majestic, women were thus modest. If men (and God) had all these traits, women had to be the opposite of them all. There were two realities: men and women.

Picture a piece of paper, with a circle drawn on it. Now there are two realities. Your pen can either be inside the circle, or outside the circle. The only problem is that there is a greater reality that we are not always aware of: you cannot have an inside of a circle without having an outside, and you cannot be outside the circle without there being a circle. It is impossible to live completely without masculine, or completely without feminine. Everyone is both.

“The principle of polarity tells us that men must possess feminine as well as masculine characteristics and women must possess masculine qualities along with feminine ones… If human beings need to possess both masculine and feminine characteristics, it should be clear that God, both male and female, is a complete and perfect being, possessing both feminine and masculine attributes in their perfection (Allred 28-29).”

The ancient symbol of the yin-yang represents this idea as well. Not only are the two opposites equally complimentary to each other, but they are also each found in the other. They cannot be separated, and you cannot have one without the other.

All men have feminine qualities, and all women have masculine qualities. Society has dictated against that our entire lives. I know that we are sometimes completely oblivious to this, but it’s there. Societal norms have shaped who you are, whether you like it or not.

“Real human beings, living in freedom, possess all human attributes, which they develop or neglect according to their own desires, gifts, and opportunities (Allred 29).”

This is not based on gender, or on what society has decided your strengths and weaknesses to be. If you were free to be what you want, would you have developed to be the same person? Are you the person God created you to be? We all want to say yes, but are you sure? Can we ever truly know? Our lives are a process, constantly building on our past choices, creating new options for our future. Any one change in our past would have sent us in a different direction later. It is through revelation by God and relationship with God that we can hope to achieve our true self.

For centuries, God has been painted as a man, and men were created in God’s image. This quote is from Joseph Smith.

“What kind of a being is God? I will tell you and hear O Earth! God who sites in yonder heavens is a man like yourselves… It is the first principle to know that we many converse with him and that he was once a man like us, and the Father was on an earth like us… If men do not comprehend the character of God they do not comprehend themselves (Joseph Smith).”

God was the perfect man, everything a man should ever hope or strive to be. It was only natural for the male church leaders to call God ‘he.’ After all, they were ‘he’s’ too.

I know that most people here would say that they believe in a non-gendered God, and if they ever referred to God in female terms, that would be forcing a gender on God. But you do that anyway, every time you use a male pronoun or title. ‘He’ does not cover both genders. Men does not include women.

So where does that leave us? Men were created in the image of God, and must find understanding of self and God through continued revelation and relationship. What about women?

“Today… women say, ‘If I do not comprehend the character of God the Mother, I cannot comprehend myself… What kind of a being is she?’ (Allred 42)”

Who is God the Mother? Do we know? Have we had any revelation of who She is, that maybe we attributed to another persona of God, or simply ignored before?

“God {meaning God the Father} must reveal himself or we have no knowledge of him. Must we then wait for a revelation of the Mother before we have any knowledge of her? We must be aware of the possibility of idolatry, of creating her in our own image, of making her into what we conceive the perfect woman should be, of using our images of her to control or manipulate others. On the other hand, we should also recognize the importance of our own seeking after God… And we should not assume that there has been no revelation of the Mother or that waiting for her to reveal herself need be entirely passive (Allred 43).”

Assuming that the Mother has not revealed herself, and we can’t do anything about it until She does is just lazy. We must be active in our search for revelation and relationship with God. We can’t sit around and wait, and yet we must wait for God. We do not want to merely project our own wants and desires onto God, making God the Mother in our image.

So let’s honor and glorify God the Mother. We may not know much about her, but we might know more than we think. What attributes of God would we consider to belong to the Mother? Go ahead and call them out.

Ideas:
Compassion (The Hebrew word for God’s compassion is the same word as a woman in labor)
Creativity
Forgiving
Nurturing

How can we honor this side of God? It may be that what we normally do to honor God the Father may not be the same way we want to honor God the Mother.

I read somewhere that if God the Father is who we worship, God the Mother is who brings us to worship. That’s how I honor God the Mother. I love worshipping as a community, and it’s the Mother’s presence who prepares us, brings us together, and facilitates our worship. I honor Her by letting myself be open to her presence. I also see Her as the source of my musical talents, and I honor Her when I play the piano.

How can you honor the Mother? You don’t have to share your ideas out loud, but I would like you to consider your works, your faith, your lives, and does that bring glory to ALL of God? What might you need to change so that you honor all that God is, and not limit God?

Can you see the hand of the Mother working in your lives? Honor God by recognizing that the feminine is always present, and equally important to the masculine, and God is both!



Janice Allred. God the Mother: And Other Theological Essays. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books: 1997.

I've Created a Monster!

When my husband and I first lived together, it was college. We put the furniture where it made sense, and didn't think about it for the rest of the year. Then we moved out here, and found this amazing apartment, with room for everything. The only problem: I got pregnant and started nesting. We have had our furniture in just about every possible combination... or so I keep telling myself. It slowed down for a little while, and I thought we had created a good space.

And then, out of the blue, Michael suggests moving the furniture. I thought it was weird, but we went with it. And then we were good again. Until Michael suggested another change. And then another. And then he starts bringing wall art in (which are finally now off the walls and gone). But now, I don't need to suggest to change furniture, because he's going to get the itch before me!

Today, Michael found a new tv stand that he just had to have. So we spent some time moving the heaviest tv I've ever lifted, so that our tv could go on the new stand, and Katherine's tv is on the old stand. But to put that stand in her room, we had to rearrange the furniture in her room. So that was an hour of stress that was completely optional. And we're also working on moving shelves around to better hold all our stuff.

I know that I started the furniture circus when I was nesting, but somehow I instilled in him that change is necessary for our aparment frequently, when it's not. Sometimes it's nice to just let it be for awhile. But will Michael let it be? No. I've created a monster... an interior design monster!

Greed

The world is getting greedier and greedier! There's the obvious ones that we all see: banks, millionaires, wall street, etc. But what about the everyday people?

Recently I saw an example on cable television, when an agent was willing to give up part of their commission to help get their client a fully furnished apartment. But then the client didn't want it unless they also got a flat-screen tv. Of course, it didn't happen. Couldn't the person be grateful for what they were getting?

At work, we try to give our clients the absolute lowest deal possible, sacrificing part of the commission sometimes. And yet, we still have clients, who have been loyal for years, complaining that we're not giving them enough. We're giving them too much! We have to make a living as well. But the whiny, greedy people just keep demanding more. They know that they're getting the absolute best deal possible. They are. But they're so selfish, they keep asking for more. Why? Why can't they be happy with what they're getting? Why do they have to keep asking for more?

According to Proverbs 15:27: "A greedy man brings trouble to his family." What these people don't realize is that they will end up miserable. If someone buys a cruise from my company, and then complains that they wanted more, which we don't give them, then they will not be able to fully enjoy their trip. It won't be the positive experience they want their vacation to be. In their miserable attitude, they will blame their unhappiness on us, when in reality it is their own greed and unsatisfied heart that makes them miserable.

Be grateful with what you have! If you can afford to take a cruise, then enjoy the cruise for what it is, and don't demand extras that you don't need. If someone else is providing you with a service, thank them. Appreciate the work they are doing for you.

Claim Your Community!

I am so tired of people, especially in my generation, denying church! Religion has become a bad word. It is taboo to belong to the now evil structure of "organized religion." And I realize that some leaders of different Christian groups have abused their power, but how did that turn into an entire religion being bad? {As a note, I'm saying religion, but the only religion really organized into a hierarchy is Christianity. Other religions have some structure, but not to the extent Christianity does.}

Spiritual is the new catchphrase. If you believe in a higher power, you fit in the classification of spiritual. That is the LAZIEST copout I have ever heard! Being spiritual cannot be measured. Most people that I meet who only qualify themselves as spiritual do not have an ongoing relationship with God/Creator/Divine. They believe when questioned, but don't do anything with or about it. A person who has a personal relationship with God can be qualified as spiritual. A person who believes but does not apply it to their every day life is NOT spiritual, but lazy.

I personally believe religion is a powerful, amazing thing. Every Sunday, I get to be with a group of people who share mostly similar beliefs. And when there are disagreements over beliefs, we still love and accept each other. We are a community; a family. If I get stuck in the day-to-day, on Sunday I can reconnect with my spirituality at church. Group worship is such an amazing way to feel the love of God in our hearts, and you can't get that if you're just "spiritual."

To those who claim Spirituality as their religion, I ask you this: How does your relationship with the Divine manifest in your everyday life?

I belong to the Community of Christ, and I'm proud of it!

Stuck In The Middle

I've been put in the most uncomfortable situation at work. The person who got me into the company just quit. She accused my boss of illegal activities. Personally, I analyzed the situation completely differently, and would never have come to the conclusion that my friend did. But there were mistakes made, and I've been trying to fix them so that they never happen again. But if I'm fixing human errors, and my frient quit over what she believed were illegal activities, what happens when my solutions prove there was nothing illegal? I am, of course, dilligently watching for errors that could not be errors, in which case I would excuse myself as well. But I really don't see that happening. There were a lot of stupid things that happened, and I'm now fixing them. What happens when I see my friend, week after week, and I'm emplyed and she's not? I don't know. I do not like being stuck in the middle.