Thoughts On The End

I’ve recently had a dialogue with a reader regarding a recent post. My friend is a Christian Scientist, while I, obviously, am not. The discussion centred somewhat around end-of-life issues, and it’s prompted me to think about this rather uncomfortable subject.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

“Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
There’s a land that I heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”
~From the movie “The Wizard of Oz” (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg)

Praying for a healing in Christian Science is sort of like chasing a rainbow. You feel like you can almost touch it, get close to it, but it remains ever elusive.

No True Christian Scientist

Image credit: Imgarcade (www.imgarcade.com).

This is another in an occasional series of posts dealing with contradictions within the practice and/or culture of Christian Science. For other posts, check out the topic ‘Contradictions‘.

Among my ex-Christian Scientist friends, I’ve seen discussion of the “No True Scotsman” informal fallacy as it relates to Christian Science, Christian Scientists, and of interest to me–ex-Christian Scientists. This discussion also applies to former Christians (of any other Christian denomination) as well, and you can read an excellent discussion of that here.

Just Because You Can, Should You?

Morality can be a shifting line, and there are definitely some gray areas. For some, living in a sexual relationship outside of marriage is absolutely immoral, for many others, it’s not. It’s not illegal to have sex outside of marriage, or for couples in relationships to live together outside of marriage, but just because it’s not illegal, is it right to do this? Many will argue that it’s not ok. I don’t care either way. But, I have a different issue in mind here outside of sexual morality (a very weird subject in connection to Christian Science, by the way). My issue relates to the raising and protecting of children.

Ignoring the gorilla in the room

Recently, this news story came across my Facebook newsfeed courtesy of one of the ex-Christian Scientist groups I’m in. I ask that you give it a read before continuing with this post. Go ahead…I’ll wait.

There–finished the article? Great! What did you think? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, via e-mail–or if you’re up to it, go ahead and write a guest post. I’ll take a few moments now to share some of my thoughts, since this is my blog, after all.

Stages of Departure

Many have heard about the Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I’ve also written about this a bit in relation to my own experience with grief in a previous post. In this post, I want to apply this model in parallel way to look at my evolving feelings about Christian Science as I began to leave it initially starting around five years ago to now, as I leave it further and further behind and become more detached from it. I’ve found that many of my ex-Christian Scientist peers that I’m in touch with via Facebook seem to go through similar evolving stages of “leaving” as well. This became starkly apparent to me during a recent visit with an old college friend of mine who like me, grew up in Christian Science (3rd generation as well), but left Christian Science several years before I did, shortly after we graduated from college.

Standing By

Image Credit: Bryant McGill (from his Facebook Page) (see: http://www.bryantmcgill.com)

One of the toughest things in life for a former Christian Scientist is dealing with friends and family who are still in Christian Science. Fortunately for me, I have no family members who are still in the faith, but I do have a number of friends who are, although I am not in close or regular contact with most of them outside of the occasional Facebook interactions. For those who still deal closely with people still in Christian Science, these relationships become especially tough if the Christian Scientist friend becomes seriously ill, and especially if that Christian Scientist is a close family member like a parent or sibling. All too often, the non-Christian Scientist gets shut out.

Metal and Christian Science

My musical taste is very eclectic. I enjoy almost anything from a symphony by Mozart or Beethoven to the guitar riffs of AC/DC, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, or Van Halen. About the only kinds of music I don’t care much for are country, folk, rap, and hip hop. Music has tremendous power to change one’s mood, or take you back to a specific place and time. It can evoke deep emotions, and make you forget the worries of your day. A nice guitar riff can lift my mood instantly.

Savour Every Moment

“If we remembered every day that we could lose someone at any moment, we would love them more fiercely and freely, and without fear–not because there is nothing to lose, but because everything can always be lost.”
~Facebook meme (Womenworking.com)

Thoughts On Fathers’ Day

Today is Fathers’ Day. As many on Facebook have done, I posted as my profile pic, a picture of my Dad. Unlike many others I’ve seen posted, I don’t share the camera space with him. My cousin does. It was taken during a visit she and her husband had with him the summer before he died. It is also the last known picture that was ever taken of Dad. He died later that same year. I’ve looked at this picture often, and even posted it last year on Fathers’ Day. Even nearly five years since his death, it still brings a tear to my eye when I look at it.