The real holiday season
Posted on: December 24, 2016 - 10:12pm
Offline
The real holiday season
I know every one here knows the argument. However on this evening while my family goes to a church to worship a false god, I enjoy listening to documentaries such as this one.
While not every thing in it I agree with, it is closer to the truth for me than the lies the church preach.
I find it more logical to celebrate the season rather than a spirit.
- Login to post comments
Noone in my immediate family goes to church. Personally, I work if I have the option. I game if I don't. Lot of gaming today, as work is closed.
And I celebrate this place, as it was on this day that I found it. 10 years now. Where has the time gone?
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
where indeed. i came on spring of '08. personally, i enjoyed church this year. the kids put on a nice nativity play.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I'm fond of the kids choir which wasn't in church but at an outdoor event put on by the local church.
I played a lot of games too but still had to work from home a bit.
Yeah, it seems like yesterday I was getting married, graduating and being a kid. However my memories are getting blurry. I used to have a really strong memory but I'm seeing moments which make me realize I might end up like my dad with Parkinson's and dementia.
This forum is one of the only safe places I can go where I know what to expect from the others when I post a message.
stay active, good buddy, and feel free to talk about your wellbeing whenever you like. my wife's grandfather went that way (minus the dementia). he died almost a year ago. now her grandmother is declining rapidly with both. since they were our next-door neighbors for seven years, we took a big role in their care. i can't count the number of times i was woken at 2 a.m. by grandma pecking on our bedroom window, asking me to come help put grandpa back into bed because he fell. now she lives with my mother-in-law.
i hope you're only getting absentminded and that's all, but should it prove otherwise you have a sympathetic ear here.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Seasonal celebrations are psychologically rooted in the myth motifs of the cycle of birth and death and harvest and the antisipation of a rebirth of firtile land and the hope for bountiful resources, and are not unique to monotheism but have been independently created by humans worldwide with different details and characters and spirits and dieties.
For the same reason we can see in human history the ideas of constilations in completely independent societies of antiquity.
Celebration of life or apreciating togetherness or even just the apreciation of seasons changing don't need a religion or a diety.
The idea that one religion or one day is special or that humans are special on a 4 billion year old universe in a 13.8 billion year old universe is absurd. It may be comforting to many to think there is some cosmic security guard, or our passed on relitives watching over us to protect us, but what should be far more important is the time we know we have now, not the narcissism and tribalism that the dark side of religion produces.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog
Parkinson's is one of those diseases that puts me straight. It is an example of "you aren't super man and you will die" moments after watching my father who was a strong healthy man his entire life, eating almost a perfect diet of fish, veggies and fruit, get smacked down and crushed. The only thing worse could be ALS maybe, or a slow uncurable cancer.
Staying active. That's a smart thing. I think I'll try it.
mentally active, especially. read, do sudoku, watch documentaries, play words with friends. a huge part of grandma's problem is she just gave up on mental activities for so long. now it's too late.
stay socially active too, and i mean in the real world. as much as i love debating ivory tower stuff on the net and teaching my students, i make it a point to walk over to the village bar at least once a week to talk to any patrons there i know, or at least to the old barwoman, about shit like the weather, how our gardens are doing, local and world news, and i intentionally avoid heavy topics. it keeps me grounded and also keeps me feeling like i'm integrated into the community. of course, this is doubly important for a foreigner like me, and an added bonus is i get to exercise my language skills.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I need more activity. I've begun to walk my dog more. I used to be extremely active when I was in the Marines.
I do some mental activities like games, we do games once a week with family, once a month with friends.
I don't drink much but I used to go to trivia night at a local bar until they moved it to a night which is not optimal for my schedule.
The best thing really is to keep learning things. Forcing your brain to keep making new connections keeps your brain relatively young and healthy. Learng new languages especially can make a significant difference, but anything difficult will help.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
Yeah. Language is a difficult one for me. If there was any thing to stimulate my brain it would be learning to speak a different language.
My wife speaks three languages but she grew up in a 3rd world country where the schools are better than in America. In her school they learned a minimum of three languages.
I find in America students are ignorant because they think since people overseas speak English there is no need to learn something new.