Tag: Church

Most of us want to live life to the max - feel great, be strong, have purpose. Remember that old Lady Clairol slogan, “If I’ve only one life, let me live it as a blonde?” My upgrade of that would be, “If I’ve only one life, let me max it out and live it for God.” Of course, this is challenging in light of the culture we are currently experiencing, with many opposing our right to even voice our opinions if they don’t line up with their contrary or incompatible ways of thinking.

An amazing thing happened this past week in the religious community, and just in case you've been boycotting the news - I sure wouldn't blame you - let me fill you in. Harvard University, which was founded in 1636 for the purpose of educating ministry students and meeting the unique educational needs of Christians, has just appointed an atheist as the school's chaplain. The school, whose motto is "Truth for Christ and the Church," evidently feels this is an excellent choice. As one student said, "Greg's leadership isn't about theology…."Apparently not!

Want to change your thinking? Change your life? Tried churches that are more religious than spiritual. Try the Center for Spiritual Living in Hemet. “We teach spiritual practices that will change your life,” so says Senior Minister Reverend Rhonda Tretsven. The law of attraction, meditation, self-awareness, tuning in to your intuitions just to name a few. She goes on, “Learn to really love, accept, and forgive through God’s love - not judgment, if you are a good person. That includes couples living together, members of the LGBT and 4-20 community, parents, etc. YES! You are welcome. Of course, folks living a ‘traditional’ lifestyle are welcome also. Please know, wherever you are on your spiritual path, you are welcome here.”

This is going to be hard to believe, but in 1980 a young lady named Rosie Ruiz cheated her way to a win at the Boston Marathon. How does someone do that? Many believe Rosie jumped onto the subway for sixteen miles, then got off the subway, then got back into the marathon, and crossed the finish line! Her cheating was found out and, of course, she was stripped of her "first place" champion title. The story made headlines and Rosie acquired public notoriety and lasting name recognition. To this day, "Doing a Rosie" is runners' slang for cheating by taking a shortcut.

This has been a very blue week here at the Beckett abode. We had to put our beloved Roxie down - our thirteen-year-old Maltese. I cried till my heart hurt. Our Roxie was older than our two youngest granddaughters and she had become a fixture in the family. She was just a mere seven-week-old puppy when I brought her home; she snuggled into the palm of my right hand as I drove with my left. Always so sweet and cute and loving, she had a quirky little smile that she'd throw out there whenever she wanted to be mischievous plus cute, and it melted our hearts every time. This morning when I fed Boogie, our two-year-old Coton, I had to miss Roxie all over again, as only one bowl of food went down on the kitchen floor. And Boogie misses his Roxie - how do your tell your other dog/person what's happened?!