Thoughtful

[textualdeviance]

So, we were visited today by a couple of folks from a local Baptist church. On a whim, I decided to invite them in. I usually just turn missionaries away, but there was something about these two--an older woman and her young protegee--that just struck me, and I wanted to actually talk to them.

At first, I just listened to what they had to say about their church. It was the usual stuff--we have services twice Sundays, etc. Then they started in with the "saved" stuff. At that point, I explained to them that, although I was raised generically Christian, I'm not religious anymore, save for a small non-deistic pagan streak.

I could tell they were a bit taken aback. I'm sure they're used to a lot of different kinds of responses, but a pagan atheist probably was at least unusual.

Then the younger one, regaining her composure, changed tacks. She asked me if I was really happy in my life as it is. I had to answer her honestly. I'm not. Comfortable, yes, but not happy most of the time. She asked about my goals in life, and what mattered to me, and what kind of legacy I wanted to leave.

The more we talked, the more I got this weird feeling in the back of my head, like she was understanding parts of me I usually keep hidden--the parts that maybe question some of my rabid feminism, and think that maybe life really would be more fullfilling if I stripped it down--made it simpler and just concentrated on the basics of what women are "supposed" to do. I've been sort of a housewife for a long time, but even as much as I hated having crappy jobs, I hated being domestic more. But somehow, her explanations of everyone and everything in the natural world having its place and purpose--and that I was probably fighting mine, making me unhappy--made sense.

In the hour or so that followed this, we talked more about my life and what I wanted from it, and about God and duty and thinking beyond the physical world.

The net result of all this--and this is a doozy, I know--I'm going to church tomorrow (today, technically.) I guess I just want to see what all the fuss is about. The churchies have always seemed crazy to me, yeah, but they're happy. And I can't really argue with that. So maybe there's something to this God and religion thing, and just being what the world thinks I'm supposed to be, instead of fussing and fighting with it all the time.



Congratulations on clicking the cut. Gotcha. :)



Yeah, that's me: born-again Baptist housewife. Give me the litter of kids and the modest floral-print dresses, pleeeeze! ;)

Comments

[ladysunrope.livejournal.com]

*laughing* I'd completely forgotten the date and read this with utter disbelief and more WTF expletives than I can shake a stick at.

And yes, I clicked on the cut. Good one - although if you'd stuck a paragraph in about the glories of floral prints I might have sussed this straight off. :)

[ourdramaqueen.livejournal.com]

ROTFL!!! I had about the same reaction as ladysunrope!

[hunnyfreak.livejournal.com]

The whole time reading it I was thinking, "This has to be a April fools joke...right?!"

[pieslut.livejournal.com]

Oh, so relieved. I had an inkling from the "rabid feminism" line, but I had to make sure.

[green-ghost.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Fucking A+! *pwned*

[foxykc.livejournal.com]

Purpose makes sense. I know what my purpose is.

You can't change minds by fussing. You change them by leading people with questions. It's what I do in my business. Same thing. Your Baptists learned from Tom Hopkins, top sales trainer in the universe how to engage people and find out what they want and get them thinking in new ways.

It's what makes a top sales person.

If I say it, people don't listen, if they say it's true.

I'll never buy the Judeo Christian thing. It's too wrong on so many levels, starting with a basic misunderstanding of the history of religion.

However, I am all for a purpose driven life, common courtesy and whatever makes people happy

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

Honestly, my real purpose/goal in life is pretty simple: do what I can to leave the world a better place than it was when I found it.

I didn't actually talk to any missionaries yesterday, though they did leave an ad on my door that made me roll my eyes.

Some evangelists use that tactic--the questioning about whether one can have morals/purpose without religion--and it has always irritated me. Though I do think that some elements of religion aren't a bad thing, and are understandable for some (built-in community, benevolent Dad in the Sky, etc.,) my opinion has always been that if you need the promise of an afterlife, and the rewards or punishments thereof, to get you to behave well, you're not exactly leading a moral or purposeful life in the first place. Good behavior that's coerced doesn't count, IMHO.

Me, I do what I can to behave in a manner that is compassionate and benevolent to people and planet, not because I'm afraid of frying in hell if I don't, but because it's the logical thing to do.

[rebeccama.livejournal.com]

I knew this was going to be April Fool's something, but I had to see the rest of it and how far you would go with it. :)

[monkey5s.livejournal.com]

Awesomeness, truly. I was already primed for April Fools, since one community of fanfic I read started an "anti-[pairing they promote]" tack yesterday (people getting an early jump on it).

But still, this was very well done! (But I will admit I was hoping you'd string it along more with the cut.)

[sheistheweather]

*dies*

[halophoenix.livejournal.com]

You...you're good. You're REALLY good.

you had me going! don't DO that to me!

[nasus221.livejournal.com]

Haha you had me until you said "I'm going to church."

[bratqueen8.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I believed it, cause I think you can be open minded, but also it could come in handy with your journalism, as an expose` of sorts.

I didn't hit the link though. I hit "comments" to see if peeps wrote things like "AHHHH! NOOO! They'll suck you in!!" or "Praise Jesus!"

[thefirstalicat.livejournal.com]

I think it was the "weird feeling in the back of my head" and the "rabid feminism" line that totally clued me in, although the "I'm going to church tomorrow" was the clincher. Had to click the cut, though, to see how you'd say April Fools {g}....

[digitallux.livejournal.com]

*snort*

It worked - even on the 2nd of April!!! I did not hit the link - I too went for the comments to see if I needed to ride in on my white horse of common sense or if someone else had already done it. Heh. That was a good one!