I don't vote for most democrats(though I've voted for some), & I don't want to (nor can I) see the light that leads to Christianity. I have plenty of concocted conceits myself, but I try not to pass them off as The Word. I'm more likely to consider your opinion if it isn't on an altar.
I consider it outrageous camp when some bloggers pretend they should be sought-after experts on important issues of the day. I initially give a few points for not trying to make me feel superficially comfortable, but we wind up in the minus column again when the blogger implies(& I recognize not all do~I'm writing about the ones who do) that the reader suffers from some form of profound incomprehension if he/she doesn't agree with every freakin' thing the writer puts forth.
If I want that sort of discourse, I'll trek to a mountaintop(or, more likely, the Chateau Marmont) to consult with the latest self-aggrandizing celebrity guru, not bust open my Google Reader.
You might not care about holding my attention, but if you do, no social worker tone. Please don't turn your observations into reprimands. Don't preach to me, transport me into other lives. Acknowledge a loss that is still present as an empty hole or show me an aura of a transformative sacrifice. Pull me in with the allure of the good & bad & in-between choices that you've made. Don't expound on your absolutes, sidle up to me & whisper your contradictions. Reckon with an ugly truth. Crack out of the flow to which you are accustomed.
What pushes you past control & controlling?
Wednesday evening I had a disagreement with a client I was helping on the food pantry line. Suddenly her voice went from very angry to choked with hurt. I gave in. I gave in because I was sure that I was so right. And at that moment so right was the very worst thing to be.
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Well said; in a sense you have provided an excellent and oblique blueprint for blog post creation. Although it must be said the kind of people who create a blog, myself included, tend terminally towards the didactic.
ReplyDeleteUh oh, checking my last couple of posts. Blogs are about opinions. And you know what they say about opinions. Fran Liebowicz said of blogs "your life is just not that interesting."
ReplyDeleteThe need to be right comes from a childhood where one was not heard. Where your feelings and emotions were contradicted, ridiculed, invalidated, or dismissed.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
You know most of my inconsistencies.
ReplyDeleteI've never been one to cling to the old domicile.
Hz
LOL... I have way to many opinions on my blog... but not about Church or Politics. You have stated my thoughts almost to the T when it comes to both of those. I hate having religion shoved down my throat and I will NOT discuss politics because it can get UGLY.... fast.
ReplyDeleteAs far as healing goes... I know what helps me, If it helps someone else... YAY!!
Oh ho, another one I had to chase my tail. Sometimes you make me think too much. My votes have gone all over the ballot. Some I voted for and won, I wished hadn't.
ReplyDeleteMost of us Christians are that because we were born that, and funny most don't know it. I despise mixing religion with politics. Even though my daddy was a preacher and I followed his example as a Christian, he never tried to force his beliefs, he was one of the best men I have known. Many times gave his last to someone more hurting. I have seen that, he never expected anything in return.
There is good in both Politics and Religion. Problem is, both are the most prostituted subjects of the day.
You know I enjoy chasing your words around,because there I always find a gem, this time it is:
And at that moment so right was the very worst thing to be.
Sometimes thou canst sound so insightful and of course intellectual. LOL
Love ya! From North Carolina
I know my posts can be on the dramatic side and yeah I prefer people who agree with what I say so I can feel validated and of value. Such is blog life. We are much like we are on our blogs in real life. I think.
ReplyDeleteI don't vote for the party, I vote for the man and sometime I can't find a man to vote for.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby always says for elections (here in Germany) that he hates to vote -- one bad or the other.
ReplyDeleteAs for opinions, I hate writing them in my blog because I know I'm not always right. I have opinions (oh, I have them :) ), but they can only be derived from my own knowledge and experience, which isn't all-encompassing. It's important to state opinions, but also to be ready to accept that others might know more.
Dear Mary, your final paragraph so put in perspective the way we need to be with people. I have a piece of thick rectangular glass that has a card taped on the bottom and so I read it through the glass. The card says, "To understand is to stand under, which is to look up to, which is a good way to understand."
ReplyDeleteThis profound reminder of our relationship to all beings was written by Sister Corita, a sculptor who lived in a convent in Covington, Kentucky.
The sculpture/card was given to me when I left the convent on Christmas Eve in 1966. And it has stayed with me all these years as the lodestone that I tried to use to guide my life. Often I forget the Oneness that connects and binds us together. It is then I must hold this sculpture in my hands and center myself in its message. Thank you, Mary, for reminding me of this. Peace.
If everyone knew that being right can be so wrong then none of the issues you raise above that would matter. ;-)
ReplyDeleteOpinionated? You bet I am. And I also know I'm right.
ReplyDeleteThat goes for everything from politics to religion, and all points in between.
The thing is, I don't care much about the opinions of others; they are welcome to them and I'll never attempt to change their minds.
But they also need to leave me mine, otherwise I'll turn my back for sure.
I'm old enough not to care very much about anything but genuine injustice and unkindness. I might even rouse myself to have a row if I come across either of them.
I have a Brother in Law who feels when he speaks, we all should bow down and kiss his asp. He totally believes he is right and no one else should have an opinion. He will start arguments between people with just the right placed words. Personally, I don't like him but put up with him because of my sister. He is a total aspole. I only nod my head in agreement to keep from telling him what I really think of him.
ReplyDeleteMary, Mary... why you buggin' (line from an old Run-DMC song).
ReplyDeleteI don't know why there are so many knowledgeable people on the topics that seem to bed fraying in their own lives...
I cannot say that I have ran into many blogs or individuals on the internet who struck me in this way... nearly everyone I read seems to realized that they are flawed... so while some are passionate, there is plenty of salt to take with their entries.
The ones who are self-righteous to the point of arrogance are the EASIEST to ignore. If they were sooo smart, why didn't they do better in high school?
People who do get to me are those who seem constantly beset by problems of their own making and cannot see themselves through the thicket that they find themselves in... I mean, who CARES about hearing of you and all the troubles with the unrelatable "this and that", which resembles the same "that and this" that you were involved in last month and bear a fair resemblance to the "this'n and that'n you are headed towards in the near future??
I enjoy being one of the few, the proud, the regular readers of Mary's blog... I love your observations and your incredible with... the way that you have empathy for everyone no matter their station... the bloggers of whom you speak are still in search of something... that is why they pontificate in such a way that even the fruits and the vegetables are bored to death...
Contradiction: I have Lean Cuisines and Godiva Gems iin my freezer. Bahahaha@Celebrity Guru. Been there, done that - threw out the T-shirt.
ReplyDeleteI am not a controlling person and I have no ideological dexterity, so I am willing to submit to another's compelling expertise, if it is compelling. Still, the older I get the more I fear being tedious, soporific, or annoyingly self-important.
I love your voice on the page, it provokes and entertaiins. You wear your learning lightly.
-Jess
Mary, I love reading your words. I've never known such musical lilt in fury.
ReplyDeleteMy contradiction: I clear things out with a vengeance and I miss everything.
I'm back. I know you do not go there but if you have time check the video out here on her Sunday entry:
ReplyDeletehttp://chattycrone.blogspot.com/
I have seen the video before and I always think of you. Good stuff, I like warm thoughts.
Love Jack & Sherry
The video is the one featuring the blind guy!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that helps me stretch is writing Babs's political views, which are opposite of my own. (I'm also definitely not rich!)
ReplyDeleteI'm with you...I'm more interested in hearing what a person's genuine views are, not something that's dressed up as Divine Truth, or parroted from Fox News or MSNBC.
ha...got into a bit with another blogger not too long ago...well like a week who made a statement that there was no way a believer could be a democrat....after a bit of lamb basting by a healthy group of people and then was change to can a believer be a democrat...no note to say the change had been made which started up the other side of all the attackers attacking a question not a statement....ha...it was mess...i love to challenge people on their beliefs...because a majority of the time it is not even their belief but what they have been told to believe...
ReplyDeletethat being said, i try to keep it in sand...able to change and grow...i love to learn about people and their real beliefs...and realizing i can be wrong...
i have zero tolerance for the church of politics, either :(
ReplyDeleteDee--I loved that.
ReplyDeleteMary--I don't particularly mind opinions, as they accompany thinking which I believe more should actually do--but opinions masquerading as authority...that level of self-delusion leaves me as nauseous as it does grieved.
Your awareness and vulnerability are beautiful. Thank you for reminding me those two things should be found together more often...
very good thoughts... i hate when people think they have eaten wisdom with a big spoon and know just everything...i prefer to stay humble and open and weigh before i judge someone...
ReplyDeleteMary, my great-grandmother was a very smart woman. When women won the right to vote, she refused to tell a single soul (including my mother) who she voted for. I thought about digging into ancestry.com to see if I could get answers but elected to let her be.
ReplyDeleteMaybe more of us need to just that...let everyone be.
P.S. About religion, the most offensive thing I heard was "Are you sure you will see Nicole in heaven?" When I expressed my shock I was told "...but you two are of different faiths".
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ReplyDeleteFrankly I am learning the advantage of adopting my wife's MS short term memory loss ... if I find myself having to listen to something I don't like listening to - I let them finish then explain I have short term memory loss and could they repeat what they just said. :) Guaranteed to drive them batty everytime.
ReplyDeleteCaregivingly Yours, Patrick
glad i could tickle a brain cell...smiles...but dont vote for me i dont want the job...lol...hope you are well...smiles.
ReplyDeleteI like you even though you don't vote for most Democrats, Mary. You are unlike the ultra-conservative, hateful people in my family who I cannot stand who all vote Republican and consider themselves saints. And you are unlike my Democrat friends who think they are right on everything. So I like that about you.
ReplyDelete