Losing My Religion part 1

My name is Res Ipsa and I've lost my religion.

I'm not in anyway sad or upset about that at all.  Although in some ways its absolutely terrifying.  By terrifying I mean in a head spinning, dropped off a cliff, is this parachute ever going to open, sort of way.  In another way, its kind of cool and peaceful.

To understand where I'm at, its helpful to know where I've come from.  My father grew up in a very bible based church in the 1950's.  We're talking KJV only, unless you've got it in Greek, and then, if there is any difference ya'll better error on the side of the KJV.  Cause "The Authorized Version" isn't a subtitle, its a fact of divine revelation.  If they didn't exactly think that, the basic attitude was there.  I know because growing up around the same people in the 1970's I picked up on that attitude and adopted it myself.

Frankly there is a lot of good that comes from knowing (believing) you have the right answer.  I'm not knocking someone who has a certainty about knowing why they believe what they believe.   Back to my dad.  He was one of those rare individuals who decided in his youth that he was going to dedicate himself to a religious life.  Not only that, but he did it.  Think of Daniel and his friends.  That was my dad as a teenager and in his early 20's all the way through the 60's.

I'm not exaggerating.  I've never heard my father use any kind of bad language, take the Lord's name in vain or do any of a number minor "sins".  If he or my mother ever romantically kissed another person no one has said anything about it in the last half century. He never held me to a standard of behavior that he had not successfully held himself to first. Therein was my problem, the standard was perfection (or Jesus as it was claimed), but it was a Jesus that wasn't kind, or understanding, or forgiving.

Back up the post a bit I said, "there is a lot of good that comes from knowing (believing) you have the right answer".  That's true.  There is also a danger in believing that you have all the answers and that you got it all figured out, when you don't.  It's worse if you can't do the things you know to be true. What happens is you know it all, but can't live it.  Being convinced of your self righteousness isn't the same thing as being righteous.  Being a hypocrite is even less enjoyable when your own conscience won't let you rationalize away your guilt.

The long and short of it was that I grew up in a religious environment.  I learned lots of stuff about religion, but wasn't much on putting it into action.  I could tell you all about it, and I could almost do some of it.  Well at least I could do some of it in Sunday school and on Wednesday nights for about an hour.

Changes

Changes happen all the time.  Sometimes the change is for the good and sometimes not.  Sometimes we don't have a clue what's going on.

That's where I find myself today.  I don't have a clue what's happening in my life.  Since I last posted about my life, a lot has changed.

1. I lost my job last August 1st.
2. The Dread Ilk steeped up in a big way to help find me work.  I never realized how many cyber friends were concerned and eager to help out fellow Ilk.
3. My house sold and my wife left me taking the kids with her.  She says we should get back together but I have no idea if she is genuine about that.  I've not seen them since Christmas. 
4. I was homeless for a time sleeping in my truck and cheep hotels.
5. God gave me a new job making more money and with a higher position than I ever had before.  Literarily as I finished praying I received an interview for a opening that I never knew about or applied for.  Then I was offered the job inside of 30 minutes of starting the interview. Maybe that's worth a post.
6. I had to leave Wyoming to live in a liberal cesspool. 
7. I've been grumbling and complaining instead of being thankful.
8. I've been wondering if the new job will be going away soon and if I should try to bail out before it does.

One thing is certain, things will change.  The other certain thing is that I better get off the blog and on my taxes.

Hello Again

It's been a long time.  I have regained control of my Blogger account again.  Soon I hope to fill up the BJW queue and at least produce that much content. 

It's been a tremendous couple of years.  I've not posted much, but life has been extremely full of challenges, heart aches and blessings.  With a bit of luck, some of that might get typed up and make its way into a post or two.

One Liner Wednesday:

If there's anything I can't stand, it's intolerance.

BJW - Naughty?

BJW - Grooooner

There was a father and two sons. The sons were called Ikey and Mikey.

They stayed in their apartment while their dad went to the store. Unfortunately, their dad forgot the keys to his car. He shouted to Ikey, "Throw my key out of the window!"

And then Ikey threw Mikey out of the window.