...the dog would stop barking i'd have anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of pure and utter blissful quiet.

damn living in a condo anyway. (i know, stop complaining - it's better than being out in the cold)

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so i've been doing a lot of soul searching and internet searching and i have a question: what are your thoughts on Unitarian Universalists, if you have any on that subject, that is?

i saw a bumper sticker today about UU that just made so much common sense to me, but damn if i can remember what it said.

anyhoo, i googled same and found some veddddddy interesting stuff there.

i was raised presbyterian. i have attended either christian or baptist churches all my life (when i've actually gone) and yet it always seemed like something was missing. i think those particular branches of religions are bland. there were rarely any people of color there, and they certainly didn't welcome folk of any alternate lifestyle choices.

well, ok, that may not be a fair statement. they were welcome, if they didn't mind being bashed, made to feel ashamed, and coerced into changing what was "wrong" with them.

the folks i've gone to church with claimed to be full of the goodness of god, loving, self-sacrificing, forgiving, helpful, etc., yet i always found soooo many hypocrits. and i know i can find those everywhere, it just seems to be rampant in the christian and baptist churches i've gone to. i guess i get tired of people looking down their nose at me and others because we're human and make mistakes. i in particular have made and will continue to make a lot of mistakes.

i am a very tolerant person, and i find it hard to believe that this god would condemn a person because of their sexual orientation or their curiosity of knowledge of other beliefs.

the UU's embrace so many different things. christianity, buddhism, hinduism, paganism, etc. and i believe that all of these things have a place and make people what they are. i have seen my life accidentally following parts of tenants from all of these belief systems at different times without me even realizing it, so it makes sense to me to not disclude any of them from my life.

does that make sense???

i love to learn about new things as well, and if i'm learning about new things that have a positive effect on me and those around me, then more's the better.
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(btw, it's snowing. a little. again, a little.

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but i digress.

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UU seems to be a very "active" group from what i've read. socially conscious, fair, just, committed to preserving the environment, bringing up children without prejudice, and ready to explore new boundaries. this is kind of exciting to me. i know i can do all of these things in my own home without the help or benefit or participation of a group of others, but i rather enjoy a kinship of spirit, or i think i would, if i could find one.

i'm not the social butterfly i once used to be, but i think it might be fun to get back out there, to maybe make a new friend, to do something outside of home for a change.

aside from family i have one friend. one real friend. i see her maybe once a week or every other week. she and her family attend a church sort of like this. there is a knitting circle, a group learning sign language, a scrapbooking group, all sorts of things going on. i've never been to a church that did any of this stuff.

i dunno. i think it might be fun, eye opening, encouraging, insightful, inspired, horizon-broadening, and i can think of numerous other positive descriptives that might apply.

like i said, i know i could do it on my own. i'm not sure i'm that organized tho.

hmmmm, i guess they're not going anywhere. the UU's i mean. i think i'll do some more searching and see what i come up with. there is a meeting place here on sunday mornings, so it's always a possibility i suppose, to go and have a look see to find out what they're about.

sometimes it just seems that things kind of fit, ya know???