Un-funny Jokes

I was watching the end of "The Burn" on Comedy Central, waiting for "The Daily Show" to come on. At the end of the show, the host started joking about the death of "Top Gun" director Tony Scott. I am not familiar with actually what happened with Tony Scott's suicide.  I am sad for his family and wish them the best.

However, that is not the point of this post. The point of the post is "The Burn." The point is the "jokes" the host was making about Tony Scott. He was making fun of his death. I was horrified by the things he was saying. When did joking about death like that become funny? Especially just a week or so after the event.

I know that we make fun of a lot of things in American society. And I feel that I have a pretty good sense of humor. But I do think there is a point when you go to far. Joking about a tragic event or somebody's death crosses that line. Why do people go for the shock value? What is wrong with coming up with a clever original joke? Or is that too hard?

Just thought I would put my two cents in.  Thoughts?

Q is for Quiet Moments

Quiet is wonderful. I like when it is quiet because I find it easier to think. I think that sometimes we get to caught up in the day to day. We don't always find a time (or a place) where we can go just to be quiet and think. I find the quiet, calm moment to be important.

In that moment we have time to reflected on the things that are going on in our lives. We have time to deal with problems without the interference of others. We can listen to our own thoughts without them being drown out.  We can decide if we are happy with the way things are going. During the quiet moment, we get to find ourselves again.

I think that everyone, everyday should take some time out and have a quiet moment. Maybe people would be less stressed. Maybe people will take time to think.

Spoken Prayers

I have pretty good at performing a morning and nightly prayer everyday for a bit more than a month now. It has become part of my everyday. And it is great. I had been saying them in my head. For some reason I felt shy about saying the aloud. Just this past week I gathered up my courage and started saying them out loud.

I found something that I had not expected.

I got butterflies in my stomach. I felt more of a connection. It felt more real. It is scary and wonderful all at the same time.

I wonder if that is something that others experience. Do other feel a difference speaking to the Divine out loud?

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On a side note, I have made it to twenty posts. I wasn't sure I was going to make it this far. But having this blog has helped me figure somethings out. Here is to twenty more.(Hopefully a bit longer than this.)

P is for Paths

I think that one of the wonderful things about paganism is how everyone comes to it in a different way. Some come from a difficult situation in another religion. Some come out of a search for a world view that fits with their own. Some now are being born and raised in a pagan household.

All of our experiences are a little bit different. We all believe slightly different things. We are all in different places in our practices. It is wonderful that paganism allows us to walk these different "paths".

But now the question becomes, "Where are these paths leading us."

I am not referring to what happens when we die. That is part of the believing different things.

I wonder if we can ever pull our paths together to create a community. That appears to be a hot button issue right now across the pagan blogs and websites. And it is something that I think about. I have to admit I don't have a lot of real world experience in this area. Right now I am looking at the pagan community through the computer screen. And some of what I read about makes me nervous. I know with all groups there will be bickering. I know that not everyone will agree with everything. And I know that what I see through the internet is just a small part of what is going on.

What I hope is that people are going to be willing to work together.
I hope that we are going to be working toward a future where people are not afraid to "come out of the broom closet".
I hope we are headed toward a place where bickering is put aside to work toward a common goal.
I hope we have a group or groups of people that are willing to stand up and take charge when needed.
I hope we don't only focus on the spiritual side of things. We should do things here in the physical world. Build things (centers, business, etc.) and show positive character to world around us.

It is going to take time. It is going to take commitment. It is going to take money. It is going to take some people learning a new set of skills. It is going to take people (including myself) coming out from behind computer screens and their own personal bubbles. It is going to take those people saying "I am pagan (or what ever your 'path' is). I am here. I am ready to put the little things that separate us aside. I am ready to create a community and a future for us."

I hope our paths eventually converge. And when the do, I hope they have lead us to a place where we are all still individual, but united toward creating a wonderful future.

P is for Polytheism

When I first started exploring paganism, I started of with a picture in my head of a male god and a female goddess. That's what I had been reading about and thought that was it.

But that just didn't fit. I just could fit my mind around the all gods are the Lord and all goddess are the Lady.

I truly believe that all gods and goddess exist. They are each individual. They have their own personalities and stories and domains. You have to work on forming relationships with them. Those relationships are special and should not be taken lightly. I believe that they can be offended and get angry. But I also believe that if you show them respect and love, they can guide and help you.

I am still working on forming these relationships. It is going to time. But I look forward to getting to know the gods and goddess better.

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