Unintended Consequences

Vacation time is slowly coming to a close, and so I'm trying to squeeze in as much family and friend time as possible. Tonight, my sister and I went to my brother James' house to play Settlers of Catan with him and his two kids, Kai and Raj. At first, my sister Dianne didn't want to play, but the game caught her attention as she watched us play and she finally jumped in. Needless to say, we all had a really great time.

While we were playing, we somehow got onto the topic of church. I noticed this happens quite frequently around me, go figure. My brother mentioned that he's been getting further and further away from the church, and now that this thing happened to me, it only justifies his belief that the church is full of bigots. I tried to explain to him that everyone has flaws and that it's human nature to be divisive, but he had a point. I didn't have a lot of firm ground to stand on, especially in light of what did in fact happen to me because of the church.

I love God and have pretty much always loved God. For most of my life, I have equated this love with loving and caring for and being a part of the church. Is this incorrect? Obviously, I still want to be part of the church: I haven't dropped out of school and fully intend to graduate and become the senior pastor at a cafe church someday, but it is becoming increasingly hard to tell people that attending church is a good thing. A lot of the people there just aren't giving me very much to work with.

So, how do you explain to people that church is a good thing? Do you in fact believe that going to church is a good thing?

I think church is good for us, because as human beings, we are designed to worship God. It's kind of like how cars are designed to run on gas. This "argument" works for me, but I can see how it might not work when looked at from the other side.

How do you tell someone to hang out with a bunch of hypocritical bigots who have relegated someone you love to a level of second class citizenship?

Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 22 (Settlers of Canaan)

Last day before classes start. It was pretty lonely today actually; I guess I'd gotten so used to running around like a chicken with its head cut off that I forgot how to be by myself for a longer than a few hours. I've always thought of myself as an introvert, and I suppose if I had to categorize myself, that's what I would be, but I actually do need to have people around me. It can't be too crazy, like when I'm trying to host a party of over a hundred people, because that gets me wound up for sure, but it's nice to just have people around.

I found myself getting really drained actually around 5 o'clock. I knew the Labor Day party was at 6, and I was looking forward to actually doing something active. Just before the party, I was totally going stir crazy, but I think because I knew the party was coming, it was like my brain wasn't able to deal with anyone until the party actually started. A few of my friends had come down with a cold, so I made wild mushroom soup for them, which I was glad to do, but for some reason it was like the social interaction part of my brain had been shut off and I forgot how to make conversation when I delivered it and when one of them brought the mug back. I guess it's like I hadn't activated that part of my brain yet because I knew I had thought I wouldn't need it until later.

When I finally got to the party, I was my normal self and was able to interact with people very nicely, which was good because I was starting to get worried that I had become socially retarded. Afterward, a couple of us played "Settlers of Canaan" which is a version of "Settlers of Catan," neither of which I had ever played before or even heard of. We got totally wupped by our seminary friend from Hawaii, who apparently plays this game all the time. It was really fun though, and I look forward to playing it again. Plus, I learned that one of them is a former Magic player, so I just might get the chance to break out the ol' Magic decks. I'm getting way more excited about that than I should, but I truly love that game and it has been way too long since I dueled someone.

Alright, that's enough of me being a nerd for tonight. Four classes tomorrow, I'm gonna need my sleep. Keep me in your prayers everyone!