OT: religion

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=flyer][quote=scaredyclassic]I used to go to church with my wife every week when we first got married. Hated to be apart. She laughs when she thinks about the pained expression I’d make when she’d occasionally put a 20 in the basket. I still remember the discomfort. I wanted that 20 back. Why not a fiver baby? Please? Here’s 2 bucks. I learned the more I resisted and complained the more she gave. She was teaching me to obey…. Sometimes she’d let the basket just go by! Ahhh! A freebee! Thank you Jesus!. I was so crazy crazy crazy about that girl.

It was so fun taking my little wife to church!

Today I’d be OK w a 20. But 100 is pushing it. It might be worth it to assuage guilt during fund drives for public radio though..[/quote]

Great story, scaredy. Young love IS great.[/quote]

it is still prudent not to speak of the Father’s Day i went to church in bare feet, like Jesus might have done, in my mind, and got in an argument with the usher who demanded i be shod and who claimed i was presenting potential liability from being barefoot and basically threw a fit over my bare ffeet.

she did not like that. she told me so.

i myself felt they were out of line in giving me the boot for no shoes. seemed Jesusy to me to be barefoot. i thought i might even get a shout out from the Priest. Ha! what a nut..

laibility?! how am I more likely to have an injury than the women teetering on heels? my feet are tough. i look out for obstacles.

they also said it was ‘disrespectful”.

harrumph!

WKOFWJW, i said?

what?

what kind of footwear would Jesus Wear?

would you go to synagogue like that? she retorted….

well, no, but they don’t glorify being downtrodden and the simple minimalist lifestyle, i replied.

dress shoes for men, they replied. dress up nicely.

i guess i was looking for an exit plan to not be invited back.

WWJD?

He’d definitely say, screw the dress code, baby!

[scaredyclassic]

hell, who knows, if the Priest had seen my barefeet and done an impromptu sermon rif on it, he mighta just won my heart and soul over to the Church. but it wasn’t to be.

[NotCranky]

I am not really down on weightlifting or experimenting on a some fountain of youth lifestyle. Funny how it is as possible and even easy to make anything look kind of foolish or even kind of “sinful” as it is to make them look like they are superior things. I guess that is because life is absurd in the first place.

[CA renter]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=scaredyclassic] I was talking $ w my wife recently … we pretty much decided more money wouldn’t add at all to how much fun we could have at this point. We are pretty much maxed out on the money pleasure curve. It could go up a tiny bit…but not significantly. Not that we are off the chart happy. Just more money probably won’t impact it.

Yeah I could pay someone to unclog the toilets or spend hours knocking down weeds, but then I’d have no purpose![/quote]

Not that you should put a lot of effort into becoming richer, but richer is always better. Don’t pass up when opportunity knocks on your door.

It’s always satisfying to be richer than those who are spreading the gospel. Somehow it means that god is on your side. I know god would disagree with that, but it helps you win arguments in the real world.[/quote]

Richer is not always better. I’ve seen plenty of “rich kids” who amounted to nothing, and a disproportionate number of them have committed suicide.

I think it’s important to have enough money that you don’t have to worry about shelter, transportation, clothing, food, medical care, and a decent retirement. Some extra “fun” money to take the odd vacation and go out to eat on occasion, plus some extra savings, is nice to have, too. But anything beyond that tends to cause more problems than solutions, IMO.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=CA renter][quote=FlyerInHi][quote=scaredyclassic] I was talking $ w my wife recently … we pretty much decided more money wouldn’t add at all to how much fun we could have at this point. We are pretty much maxed out on the money pleasure curve. It could go up a tiny bit…but not significantly. Not that we are off the chart happy. Just more money probably won’t impact it.

Yeah I could pay someone to unclog the toilets or spend hours knocking down weeds, but then I’d have no purpose![/quote]

Not that you should put a lot of effort into becoming richer, but richer is always better. Don’t pass up when opportunity knocks on your door.

It’s always satisfying to be richer than those who are spreading the gospel. Somehow it means that god is on your side. I know god would disagree with that, but it helps you win arguments in the real world.[/quote]

Richer is not always better. I’ve seen plenty of “rich kids” who amounted to nothing, and a disproportionate number of them have committed suicide.

I think it’s important to have enough money that you don’t have to worry about shelter, transportation, clothing, food, medical care, and a decent retirement. Some extra “fun” money to take the odd vacation and go out to eat on occasion, plus some extra savings, is nice to have, too. But anything beyond that tends to cause more problems than solutions, IMO.[/quote6]

financial pressure does suck, but success after financial pressure is kind of satisfying. As tevye sang to his cows in the barn in fiddler on the roof. Lord who made the lion and the lamb you decreed I should be who I am but would it spoil some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man.

apparently it might, so I plug along…

[NotCranky]

Follow , or at least navigate towards your bliss , if it makes money, good, if it doesn’t, make the adjustments you have to to live within your means in a way that is responsible to your conscience. Do this with skilled foresight as much as possible, so that hindsight doesn’t bite you in the ass. That’s it.

Do your fair share. A lot of people don’t come from places or have personal blessings that make achieving the american dream as easy as falling off a bicycle, I see and have seen a lot of people in life who could do better for themselves, their families and their communities, if they were only willing to take the attitude of doing their fair share. It helps if families would embrace that attitude for the other members too…less of those suicides from the well to do class and less of other social ills across all class lines.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=Blogstar]Follow your bliss , if it makes money, good, if it doesn’t, make the adjustments you have to to live within your means in a way that is responsible to your conscience. Do this with skilled foresight as much as possible, so that hindsight doesn’t bite you in the ass. That’s it.

Do your fair share. A lot of people don’t come from places or have personal blessings that make achieving the american dream as easy as falling off a bicycle, I see and have seen a lot of people in life who could do better for themselves and their families if they were only willing to take the attitude of doing their fair share. It helps if families would embrace that attitude for the other members too…less of those suicides from the well to do class and less of other social ills across all class lines.[/quote]

That’s good advice.

I also think that it does a person good to once in a while have to do what you don’t want to do. It helps build character.

I never thought I’d like to do home improvements. But I didn’t want to spend the money to hire someone, so I learned to do lots of things over the years. It turns out I’m pretty good at it and it gives me a purpose. Plus it’s a workout that does my body good. I don’t have back pain so that in itself is a plus.

I’d rather buy a place and fix it up instead of going to the gym (as long at it makes financial sense, of course).

Humans are meant to do physical work and not sit on their asses. I now understand how artisans like carpenters get satisfaction from their craft.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=Blogstar]I am not really down on weightlifting or experimenting on a some fountain of youth lifestyle. Funny how it is as possible and even easy to make anything look kind of foolish or even kind of “sinful” as it is to make them look like they are superior things. I guess that is because life is absurd in the first place.[/quote]

I think that at least 95% of people facing death would want a miracle to save them.

There is no fountain of youth, only the body that we’re given. Take care of it if you want to live long.

It’s absurd to take cholesterol and blood pressure drugs and pain killers if you can avoid them. but humans are kinda crazy. We create new things that create new problems for ourselves.

Ok, I do take propecia for my thinning hair. It works! It would suck to go bald. I believe vanity is a sin that could send me straight to hell… but oh, well…

[CA renter]

[quote=Blogstar]Follow , or at least navigate towards your bliss , if it makes money, good, if it doesn’t, make the adjustments you have to to live within your means in a way that is responsible to your conscience. Do this with skilled foresight as much as possible, so that hindsight doesn’t bite you in the ass. That’s it.

Do your fair share. A lot of people don’t come from places or have personal blessings that make achieving the american dream as easy as falling off a bicycle, I see and have seen a lot of people in life who could do better for themselves, their families and their communities, if they were only willing to take the attitude of doing their fair share. It helps if families would embrace that attitude for the other members too…less of those suicides from the well to do class and less of other social ills across all class lines.[/quote]

Agreed.

[svelte]

[quote=FlyerInHi]
Ok, I do take propecia for my thinning hair. It works! It would suck to go bald. I believe vanity is a sin that could send me straight to hell… but oh, well…[/quote]

I did many things to slow/cover/ignore my receding hair line.

Then one day it could be ignored no longer and I said f*&* it I’m shaving my head. My wife was shocked. And it felt so out there, so exposed. Like I was walking around naked, only in a legal manner.

And it really was shocking the reaction. I feel people treat me differently. Some are a little intimidated I think because it is such an extreme look…they think I’m capable of just about anything – in the positive and negative direction. Until they get to know me then they realize I’m just laid back. 🙂

And contrary to what Hair Club For Men and other financially motivated endeavors would have you believe, there appear to be more women who think a shaved scalp looks virile and brave than who think it is a negative. I’ve had many compliments and hands rubbing my head. They never ran their hands through my hair when I had it!

The maintenance…I think I’ve gained a half-hour a day…no shampooing, drying, combing, barbers, all that other nonsense. Run a razor over my head in the shower and out the door I go…

Finally, those men my age with a full head of hair…it’s all gray now. They look sooo much older than I do (I hadn’t noticed until my wife pointed it out!).

[flyer]

[quote=svelte][quote=FlyerInHi]
Ok, I do take propecia for my thinning hair. It works! It would suck to go bald. I believe vanity is a sin that could send me straight to hell… but oh, well…[/quote]

I did many things to slow/cover/ignore my receding hair line.

Then one day it could be ignored no longer and I said f*&* it I’m shaving my head. My wife was shocked. And it felt so out there, so exposed. Like I was walking around naked, only in a legal manner.

And it really was shocking the reaction. I feel people treat me differently. Some are a little intimidated I think because it is such an extreme look…they think I’m capable of just about anything – in the positive and negative direction. Until they get to know me then they realize I’m just laid back. 🙂

And contrary to what Hair Club For Men and other financially motivated endeavors would have you believe, there appear to be more women who think a shaved scalp looks virile and brave than who think it is a negative. I’ve had many compliments and hands rubbing my head. They never ran their hands through my hair when I had it!

The maintenance…I think I’ve gained a half-hour a day…no shampooing, drying, combing, barbers, all that other nonsense. Run a razor over my head in the shower and out the door I go…

Finally, those men my age with a full head of hair…it’s all gray now. They look sooo much older than I do (I hadn’t noticed until my wife pointed it out!).[/quote]

I’ve noticed this trend with guys I know in my age group (50’s) too. Makes a lot of sense. My locks are still intact, with a touch of gray. Since the wife prefers the hair thing, we’ve talked about color. If we ever go that way, I hope it’s waaay down the road.

[svelte]

[quote=flyer]
My locks are still intact, with a touch of gray. Since the wife prefers the hair thing, we’ve talked about color. If we ever go that way, I hope it’s waaay down the road.[/quote]

A touch of gray looks distinguished. If I had a full head of hair with a touch of gray, I’d probably keep it too.

Where I would make the jump is a full head of gray hair or a bald spot. In either of those cases, I think most men are better off shaved. Depends on the shape of the face and head of course.

One problem with coloring your hair is keeping the roots touched up. I tried shaved head and a beard for awhile and that is the problem I started to run across. It got to be more work that it was worth as more gray crept in.

I guess what I’m saying is don’t live in fear of going bald. There are more advantages to shaving your head than you’d think!

[NotCranky]

Since my conversion is so recent I am wondering , ” what does a Pantheist Rastafarian do on a Sunday morning?”

[njtosd]

[quote=FlyerInHi]

Ok, I do take propecia for my thinning hair. It works! It would suck to go bald. I believe vanity is a sin that could send me straight to hell… but oh, well…[/quote]

From what I can see, the only side effect of Propecia that they list is a decrease in sex drive. Maybe that’s a road sign on the road to hell?
http://www.rxlist.com/propecia-side-effects-drug-center.htm

[NotCranky]

[quote=njtosd][quote=FlyerInHi]

Ok, I do take propecia for my thinning hair. It works! It would suck to go bald. I believe vanity is a sin that could send me straight to hell… but oh, well…[/quote]

From what I can see, the only side effect of Propecia that they list is a decrease in sex drive. Maybe that’s a road sign on the road to hell?
http://www.rxlist.com/propecia-side-effects-drug-center.htm%5B/quote%5D

Did you read a few paragraphs down on that page. There are a lot more warnings and a notice that this may not be the complete list of side effects.

Even though warnings are not actually side effects( maybe it takes time) , injesting anything that comes with those kinds or warnings isn’t going to happen for the sake of my hair, it’s pretty darn serious in my mind.

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