I lost some time once...

Tonight, I watched "Religulous", a documentary on religion by Bill Maher. Well, I watched it again. I first watched it a few years ago, as a DVD rental when I was still living with Charles. Of course, he watched it as well, and agreed with many of the points.

Now, I identify as a pagan (to facilitate discourse; I'm more accurately a Norse-style Saxon Heathen, with just a touch of interest in herb lore, divination, candle magic, and British Isles witchcraft), and Charles is a devout Christian.

I can appreciate wanting to find something in which to believe. Especially as one ages, the threat and doom of death grows ever larger and more real, and we as a society have conditioned ourselves to fear death as if it's this horrible monster, come to rob you of everything that makes you unique.

In my opinion, that couldn't be further from the truth. Even if you believe that death is truly the end of all things, and that there's nothing after, you're forgetting one particularly important detail: what you are doing on this planet while you are alive. No matter if you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a Wiccan, an atheist, an agnostic, a Buddhist, a Taoist, or a Jedi (I understand many of these begin to get into philosophies instead of religions, but I'm being very inclusive on purpose), the choices you make while you are living on this rock orbiting our insignificant main sequence star are what remain of you long after you are gone, no matter what you do otherwise. Your choices, even one as simple as speaking politely to everyone you have a chance to talk to when you leave your home, will have ripple effects that will spread far beyond your close group. The person who receives the benefit of your good decisions is just as likely to spread that good mood, as would one receives your discontent and anger.

So, back to the subject of religion. What is it about it that causes rational beings to go off the deep end? If someone heard some aspect of a religion in the context of mythology, would they still be so sure that it's literally true? Why are religious people so quick to violence when their faith is challenged?

...and here is where I dozed off, and lost my train of thought.

*sigh* I guess it's bedtime.

So, today was "work in the yard" day. I got the front yard mowed, and cleaned out the (empty) flowerbeds. I saw a black widow in one of them, and got the bug spray to kill it. (It was really neat, since I've never seen a black widow in real life before, though that doesn't mean that I wanted to get up close and personal.) I found a few ant colonies, and had to spray those, too.

I finished up by using the blower to clean the driveway off, taking special care to keep from blowing grass clippings onto our neighbor's yard. I was rolling up the extension cord, though, and he starts mowing. What'd he do? Cut straight across his yard, and mowed along the edge, blowing grass on my just-cleaned driveway. He never cleaned it off either. See if I take care to respect his yard again. >.<;;

I had lunch, took a nap, and woke to find that Charles had gone to dinner already. It kinda upset me, since I'd gotten us breakfast and lunch. I thought we'd get dinner too. He brought back a steak (small one.. not familiar with the cut), so I got something to eat, which improved my mood. Then, Charles, April, and I went to see Mummy 3. I liked it a lot, but I tend to suspend my disbelief when I watch movies like that. I just wish they'd had something at the end.

On our way home, we got stopped in traffic, because someone was pushing their truck. Folks were pulling around him, but Charles and I stopped and got out to help him. It turns out he ran out of gas, so we pushed him to the nearest gas station. Charles felt he should have bought a gas can from the AutoZone that was closer, but the guy could only afford $5 to put in his truck once he got there, so I suspect that he wasn't in a position to spend money on one. My only problem with helping him was that we started jogging to push the truck. *I* couldn't keep up that pace. I may have toned legs from all the walking I do at work, but that pushed my limits beyond what I can normally do. 2/3 of the way to the Schnuck's gas station, I had to drop off.

At that point, though, they started walking it, so I got back behind and continued to push. By the time we reached the station, I was gulping air as fast as I could get it, and still felt my vision starting to blur. I really need to get in shape (duh), because that actually scared me a bit.

Now, I've taken some Advil (for the running that I know will hurt, and the pain in my hands from using the weed eater today... using it for a couple of hours straight to edge one's property will cause one's hands to begin hurting, if one isn't used to that kind of physical labor), and I'm going to bed, because I have work in the morning, like I do every Sunday. Ironically, I'm off on Monday. Odd, huh?

G'night, all.