Thursday Thirteen #9: Thirteen Things About Me

Angel Mama from Pearls of Wisdom tagged me last week to participate in the “Eight Things About Me” meme. Things have been so crazy for me that I haven’t had a chance to respond until now. So since I was having a hard time coming up with a topic for Thirteen Thursday, anyway, I decided to present “Eight Thirteen Things About Me:”1. I was baptized as an infant in a congregation of the American Lutheran Church (one of the predecessors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America that was formed in 1988).2. I began attending Sunday School as a preschooler.

3. I amassed ten years’ credit for “Perfect Attendance” in Sunday School. We were given pins with a “1″ the first year we achieved “Perfect Attendance” and a new number each subsequent year that we racked up. I still have my pin that boasts a “10.”

4. I have never had a “conversion” experience, i.e., a specific moment in time when I “accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.” I have just always been a Christian . . . born to a Christian family, baptized, raised and confirmed in the Lutheran church.

5. I have never had a “crisis of faith.” Even though I have had my share of ups and downs in my life, I have never gone through a period of time when I either questioned the existence of the Divine Creator or believed that I had been abandoned or forsaken. I have always believed Matthew 6:25-27:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

6. I say “Divine” or “Divine Creator” because I am uncomfortable with and offended by the concept of God which permeates the male-dominated, patriarchal, institutional church. I don’t believe that God/the Divine has a gender, nor do I support a literal interpretation of Genesis (I believe it is an allegory, i.e., a symbolical narrative). Some people say “Godd” to acknowledge the feminine, but I can’t seem to get comfortable with that version. I love Sandy Carlson’s outlook on the issue:

You don’t have to say God if you don’t want.
Say higher power or Being or Spirit or Light.
I say God because it’s the name I grew up with.
It’s how I know I’m home . . .”

I don’t really think God/the Divine cares what title or label we use, so long as we communicate!

7. And on that subject . . . every waking thought is a prayer, an ongoing dialogue. The Divine knows all of our thoughts, prayers, fears, secrets . . . nothing is hidden from the Spirit.

8. I do not speak in tongues nor do I believe that the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” is a requirement in order to be “saved,” as some folks do. Rather, I believe that the Spirit gives different gifts to each of us. That is not one of the gifts I received.

9. I did receive the gift of music and am a classically trained instrumentalist and vocalist.

10. Since January, I have not been a member of any church or denomination — for the first time in my life. I have not set foot in a church since January 9, 2007, nor do I have any desire to or intention of doing so.

11. My favorite Biblical passage is in the right sidebar. This is my second favorite:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

John 3:1-4

12. I am pro-life and only vote for candidates who identify themselves as such. Why? I believe that life is full of shades of gray and there are many areas in which answers are not clear-cut, making compromise appropriate and acceptable. The question of preserving human life is not one of those areas and “viability” should not be the legal touchstone. I believe that abortion on demand should be illegal and the decision to abort available to a woman only in narrow circumstances, in consultation with her physician. I believe that there is no such thing as “potential” life except before conception occurs.

13. I learn something new or am reminded of a previous life lesson each and every day from so many of my fellow bloggers! I am thankful for all of you and the richness you bring to my spiritual journey.

Here are the “Eight Things About Me” rules:

Each player posts eight random facts/habits about him/herself and then tags eight other bloggers to participate. In turn, the folks who are tagged write a post listing their own eight facts/habits, along with these rules, and then tag eight more people . . . and so on.
Each blogger must list the eight people they are tagging, and visit their sites, leaving a comment notifying them that they have been tagged and inviting them to read your entry.

I am tagging an extremely diverse group of eight wonderful female bloggers that I would like to get to know a bit better. I’m only sorry that we can’t all have dinner together . . . can you imagine the conversation this group could have?

1. Amy at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31
2. Biker Betty
3. Patty (aka Autumn) at Autumn’s Meadow
4. Shelly Kneupper Tucker at This Eclectic Life
5. Kuanyin at The Art of Living and Dying
6. Holly at Holly’s Corner Blog
7. Viola Jaynes at Spiritual Things Matter
8. Starrlight at Here Comes a Storm in the Form of a Girl

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More information: Thursday Thirteen