Sundays - Truly Days of Sunshine

Well, it's another glorious Sunday. I thought that I would celebrate it by working 8 hours...because that's one of my preferred methods of celebration. The best part about Sundays is that, no matter who you are, you can always seem to find something to help bring you peace & tranquility. Whether it's kicking back & watching sports (or golf) on television, participating in sports, spending quality time with your family, doing upkeep on the homestead, working at a job that you enjoy, even planning the upcoming week, you can always find something to do (or not to do) on Sundays. One of the best parts about this Sunday...is that tomorrow is yet another day off for a lot of people (yes, I will also be working tomorrow in celebration). There is also a great part about Sundays that a lot of people participate in...and that's going to church.

As far as my religious background, I'm one of those people who say silly things like, "I'm more spiritual than religious." Essentially, my father was raised Catholic & my mother Mormon (No, she doesn't have horns...and frankly I'm curious as to why that's even a stereotype. I have yet to meet ANYONE who has horns.) I went to LDS church until I was about eleven...then we kind of stopped going & did outdoor things or work around the house or watch basketball on the day of rest. Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for people that go to church every Sunday and uphold the teachings & morals that they learn there. I just choose to do so without going to church. I still pray every night (see previous blogs) & spread happiness & love whenever possible...but I am not without sin. To be honest, I'm about as pure as yellow snow...but that doesn't mean that I'm going to a very warm place in the deep South (still hoping for Purgatory). Also, to all those people out there that have served missions, whether 2-year commitments with a church or the Peace Corps or something, I have nothing but respect for that. God knows it would take a lot of personal sacrifice for me to do that...and I'm not quite there. Anyway, that's my background.

Religion is the most extensive institution in the world. It's larger than any government or league of nations or anything of that sort. Wherever you find people, you'll find religion. The cool thing is that most of the main moral values as basically the same - Love & help your fellow man, don't kill, moderation in everything except your compassion, stuff like that. Yet there is still a lot of conflict over which religion is real or true. Personally, I don't think it matters which one is real as long as the morals are just & it helps the people who practice them. Then again, I'm the kind of guy who has tried out & seen many different religious institutions and never made a real, dedicated choice. I also love movies like "Oh, God!" & "Bruce Almighty" as well as written my own movie script about the subject...so take my ideas with a bit of salt if needed...but I'm sure there are other people that feel the same way. In my Lennon-esque Utopian future, I hope that we can all put our religious & nationalistic views aside & just help one another to make the world a better place...but I suspect that it will take more personal sacrifice & compassion than divine intervention...though the teachings of the divine will obviously play a key role. Anyway, enough about my rambling about church. It was a Sunday, what can I say? I felt inspired for a few minutes.

Also, I'd like to apologize to Lizfan, the Smart Family, & anybody else that I might have offended with my remarks in my last blog concerning Elizabeth Smart. I obviously didn't know all of the facts...and was basically talking out of my ass. It's certainly not a laughing matter. I thank you for keeping me in check. I realize that it's no consolation for what was written, but I feel horrible for doing it & I will be retracting the remarks. Have a great Sunday everybody!!!