Moving. In a. New. Direction. MIND

A FEW THINGS--

I celebrated a Birthday in the month of June. Every year I get a little older and I appreciate more and more with what I have. This year I turned 47--yes--I am getting close to 50. YIKES. It was a great birthday--three of the four kids were home. It would have been perfect if all four kids were home but work schedules don't always work out. For my birthday I felt it was time to update my camera. The camera I have has been all over the world and was a great asset for me when I was stalking Peyton Manning safely, from a distance, while he played for the Denver Broncos. Thousands of wonderful pictures and so many adventures I feel it is time to pass the camera on to my son to use for 4-H photography projects and I update to a camera that might challenge me a little bit more. The other gift I am giving myself is Chanel Perfume. I have loved Chanel since I was knee high to a grasshopper. And I have never owned one item from Chanel. So I decided to treat myself to some Chanel. 

Besides the Parental Guilt I am experiencing (Check out last week's blog). My life feels good. For the first time in 25 years my life is mending, my marriage is mending, our financial situation is mending. God has truly blessed me. And then I look at the world and I feel nothing but heartache and confusion. 

I became a Christian not so very long ago. My husband is Methodist and I decided to sign up for a Disciples Class through the Church and it consisted of learning the Bible from front to back. I had a very patient Pastor as I had a lot of questions. And during that class I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I became a huge part of our church including helping with Sunday School, VBS, teaching Bible Study classes and even being a substitute Pastor. I really liked God. I really did. And I LOVED preaching. Now--I don't know what the hell is going on. I am like an outsider looking in. And I am not sure where I stand in this movement we call Christianity.

There is a global movement going on and it is all in the name of God. And I sit here watching this movement get stronger for the last 4-5 years and wonder if it really is God. Well--it has to be right? I mean it is a GLOBAL movement. This movement is described as a strong right movement. Am I a fan of describing anything "right" or "left'? Not really--but for some reason if you say "right" or "left" people know exactly who and what movement you are talking about. We have spent the last 40 years defining what the "right" and "left" is and now--God is in this madness like flies on a shit wagon. And it makes me question the God that I got to know from the Disciples Class I took not so very long ago. 

I think there is a lot of shady shit going on behind closed doors with our lawmakers and our churches in the name of God. It is has been extremely strong in the last few years. All Christians want is to KNOW they are getting into heaven. And with this global movement they are believing that this is the right way to get into heaven. Especially when you have the churches saying "this is the way."

The one thing I loved about the Disciples Class is that I was able to question everything. And my Pastor was educated enough to guide me along through that process. In the church we are no longer questioning anything. We don't challenge the Pastor on what he/she is saying because we have put them in a power position where he/she should not be questioned. We can get a second opinion from a Doctor but we can't question our Pastor. Doesn't make much sense. My amazing Grandmother was very dedicated to her church and when I started studying scripture I asked her what her thoughts were on certain passages in the Bible and I will never forget what she said "I have never read the Bible--I don't need to--if I have questions that is what the Pastor is for." THAT is a very dangerous belief  in my opinion. We tend to believe that Pastors have a much closer relationship with God then we ever will because they are Pastors. I question that all the time. We don't need to go with the flow when the flow doesn't feel right. Not everyone deserves to have followers. Not every Pastor is a Pastor. Not everything is a movement for God--even when the church is pushing for it. As I write these thoughts I am once again saying--but what if what is going on in this world right now is really what God wants? 

This is why I say I am on the outside looking in when it comes to God. But what I do know is that I will risk my ticket to heaven and refuse to be a part of the Christian movement that I am witnessing throughout the world. It isn't in my heart. It doesn't feel right. I don't feel God in this movement. This decision was made on my birthday. I have made peace with this decision and will go on hoping that I am still looked down by God and smiled upon. 

One of the most important things I learned in the Disciples Class is that I can read a scripture, you can read that same scripture, my neighbor can read the scripture, and my mom can read that scripture and we will all take something different from that scripture. The Bible is a guide that works with our heart, and our soul. It is not the job of a leader to take a scripture that spoke to them and make it law for all of us to follow. And it is not the job of our leaders to be bought and use their leadership to promote a belief. The laws of this country should not be based on who paid what politician how much to push a scripture that isn't looked at the same way by others. The church--and church leaders are crossing lines. Now I am not talking about just the organized religions--I am talking about Evangelical Leaders, I am talking about the small churches unaffiliated around the country who are NOT in the pulpit to preach the word of God but to talk about politics and policy. The lines are blurred. I see it. And I will not participate in it. 

While sorting through these feelings...MIND was put on my heart. MIND means Moving In a New Direction. That is what I need to do. I was kind of excited. I was thinking MIND Ministries--but because Ministry is a word that makes me cringe right now (sorry that is how I feel)--I decided to make it MIND Movement. 

This MIND movement is just about kindness. Just be kind. Wake up every morning and think about what you can do on social media to be kind. What can you do in public to be kind. I let people cut in front of me at the grocery store the other day. I sent out some happy mail. I sent text message to someone and told them to have a great day. Do something simple. Do something kind. If you want to commit to a charity make sure you research it. Make sure it is a charity that makes your heart full. The little things is what we need right now.  Kindness spreads. I have no idea where this movement will go. I might make a Facebook group so we can gather and share our kindness ideas with one another. I might just leave it here and maybe it will be written on your heart to share some love and kindness in your community. 

I have no idea if this global movement is Gods will. I seriously question it. I question it a lot. But I don't have the money, or the influence to change anyone's mind. Money and influence in the name of God...who knew?  

This just isn't my God. I prefer what Jesus spoke about while he was here on Earth: Treat others how you would like to be treated. The Golden Rule is so quickly forgotten in the world today.

I am willing risk my eternal ticket to live by that rule. 

Until Next Time,

Kristi