Ian Scott writes:
Well, we’ll give credit where credit is due. James Bow writes, “Sometimes, some Christian groups make me embarrassed to be Christian.”
Go read his full post. This is one of the reasons why I respect the ideas that James Bow communicates, even though we don’t always agree. And I have respect for “faiths” that some folk hold - even though I may not share the same faith - when those folk are agreeable to thinking and not attempting to posit that their faith is the only “right” faith, and all others are damnable in this world we live in today.
(link)
I think it is important to realize that religion and God are not the same thing. God is what we worship, religion is what we worship him with. The two are separate. The former is perfect, and the latter is human.
Which means that we need to be careful how we view this tool, if only to maintain our requisite humility. Because, in the end, organized religion has no more status in the cosmic scheme of things than our baser desires: money, power, sex. All of these things are fine in moderation, brilliant in the right hands, but their misuse has been at the root of most of the evil on this planet since civilization began.
The Bricklayers of Alexandria
Virginia, that is.
I snapped this shot at a coffee shop (June Coffee, I think it was) at a very pedestrian-friendly development in Alexandria, Virginia near the King Street Washington Metro station during my trip. It was here that the Night Girl passed 30000 words. The entire pedestrian colonnade of this open air office/shopping complex was being rebricked, and it was interesting to see the men at work.
Heading back from Washington later that day, we pulled off the road a few exits before Breezewood, Pennsylvania (the chain restaurant capital of that state) at Vivian’s behest (read: get us off the highway or I’ll shatter your windows with my voice), and we ended up having dinner in this general store/restaurant near Crystal Spring, as homey a place as you could ever want run by this young family who’d just taken it over. The restaurant and the adjacent garage were possibly the only flat piece of land around, as mountains loomed over us. I snapped this shot of the sun going behind a mountain as ominous clouds approach. Later that evening, we passed through a mountaintop thunderstorm.
Erin just come off of a very bad cold that has been dragging her down for about a week (which means it’s probably flu). Fortunately, neither Vivian nor myself have been affected, though this evening Vivian’s molars really started to make themselves felt as the entered our little girl’s life. I suspect we won’t be getting much sleep.
Writing is going well. Erin is editing a final draft of her upcoming book, The Mongoose Diaries, and I should have another article at Business Edge to show you. [The NIght Girl(/writing/the-night-girl/index.shtml) is currently at 32500 words, and the promotional preparations for Fathom Five are proceeding apace. On that last point, I hope to have an announcement to post here and at The Unwritten Blog early next week. Stay tuned.