I went with my dad to church today for father's day (he's a Lutheran). It was a really nice service. The sermon was by a visiting minister, who worked within the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960's. She was friends with Martin Luther King, and has continued to be an activist for social justice. In her sermon about the beloved community and our responsibility towards promoting equality, she tied in a passage from Exodus where Moses finds the burning bush. Moses doesn't believe that God could really want him to be the one to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses is a stutter, and doesn't have much confidence in his ability to lead people. What I got from the sermon was that we all have the ability to fight for justice and equality, that God wants each of us to take part in this struggle- even if we believe we don't have the ability to make a difference. Even if we aren't the most eloquent of leaders. I don't know if God has a purpose for people, but we can find a purpose within God and what it means to believe in God. I don't know how you can truly believe in God, and somehow not believe in human equality.

Not meaning to bore people with my religious thoughts on here. Happy Father's Day to the dad's on here! Also, a very happy birthday to (e:jason) and (e:joshua).

Things I regret over the past year:

1. All the fights my mom and I had. I think we've worked things out, but I'm sad for all the time that we lost. We both apologized to each last night and had a long talk, but I want things to be better year round.
2. Not being there for certain family members when they really needed someone. I wish I had done more to be there for them.
3. I wish T. and I wouldn't have gone back and forth so much about things. If I could have understood better his point of view, maybe it would have made things easier for him.
4. Not calling my dad enough.
5. Losing touch with friends I've always cared deeply about.
6. Making excuses for things that I should have done, but didn't.


Last year on Yom Kippur, a friend of mine was battling advanced brain cancer. It looked as though he was going to die. Somehow, he not only lived, but is now doing much better. His inoperable tumor is almost all gone, and he's healthier than he was before he had cancer. He's starting a part-time job and is moving back out west with his friends.

I don't believe that God is behind what happens to us in our lives. I want to, especially when I see things like that happen to my friend. But then I see all the terrible things that happen to people for no good reason. I can't believe the people who say that bad things happen for a purpose. There's so many terrible, random things. Maybe I'd like to believe that God is the force behind those rare good things that happen. Sometimes I feel like an agnostic, but I'll see the sunset, and i feel that I can't just look at life through a materialist point of view. At those moments I feel there has to be something outside of ourselves. I haven't figured this out at all.

It seems as though there a lot of posts on theology and Paris Hilton lately on estrip. I found an article that combines both: