each day an adventure in alaska: some reasons why....

these are all from the iphone in August. mix it up i guess. i should be out walking the dogs, i am between shifts and slept in. all showered but i think I'll write this and then just toss the tennis ball outside. that seems to satisfy them some days. they are pretty accommodating really. above is a bull in the bog. it would have been a better shot if I'd been able to get my real camera out before the geese flew over him and he took off.

Skelly and Skelly cat. was tempted at Home Depot the other day as they have super sized skeletons of horses, dogs and dinosaurs. don't think they would fit on the deck. i may have to add a female friend for Skelly...calling her Skellina.

the yard finally gets green and then the fall comes. it's mud right now. twigs and branches are all over as the wind we had brought down a bunch of stuff...of course, it's nothing like the wind that has devastated some islands in the Atlantic and that is bearing down on Florida.

Irma. hurricanes look pretty scary. happy to not live in a hurricane zone. people like to say there is no global warming or climate change....terms that are used interchangeably. not sure where the idea that it was switched as some sort of plot or to confuse issues. i think different catch phrases come about. they sometimes stick. perhaps someone figured using a different term may bring some around to what is happening. easier to just believe it's not happening but as someone recently said...if it is happening and you do nothing people will die. if you do make adjustments for potential rise in sea levels and storm surges maybe you protect some during these big storm events.

someone posted that these storms in Florida and Texas are a way to somehow cleanse the earth of sin or some such silliness. don't think the poor child that was ripped from a woman's arms on one of the islands that was devastated and later found dead; was a sinner needing to be cleansed.

i think the earth ultimately holds the power in these natural events. the earth doesn't choose between good and evil, it takes those in it's path without judgment. sometimes i think people like to make some sort of religious meaning out of that which doesn't make sense. life isn't fair. when these disasters hit it shows how unfair and random things really can be.

i also don't think these are necessarily signs of the rapture. a friend posted that she was ready to be taken. i thought it odd really. mostly odd to me is that people of many faiths seem to have this belief that they are of the correct faith and that they have a pre-determined place in heaven. i just said i couldn't imagine myself rising to heaven in joy while others suffered. i would think those that would be plucked and selected to be taken would probably be not the ones sitting waiting to be taken but instead would be people who thought not of themselves but who were out there risking their lives in the service of others. that they may even be taken to heaven kicking because they would want to stay and help others.

i have long suspected that many who believe that their religion will protect them or cause them to have a superior position in the next life may be sadly fooled. religions have become corporations in many cases and if you look at those who run them and live extravagant lives...i just don't see this in keeping with the basic tenets of that they supposedly preach. they take the money of those who are less fortunate and claim it's for God and yet for some reason apparently this God desires that these leaders of so many religions live in mansions with millions of dollars profit.

the need to be right, to feel that we alone have the answers to the unanswerable questions. it seems arrogant to me i guess. i have no more answers than anyone else. there is just much that i don't know, and I'm okay with that. i really believe less and less that we are expected to know the answers to the big questions. i think all that is really required is the basics that were taught when Jesus was on earth. kindness, love, not judging others.

it can be fun to discuss theology and ponder what may be true or not true, but in the end i feel it's best to just let those big unanswered questions remain unanswered and focus instead on the simple message.

was speaking to a patient last night, she goes to a small community church. i mentioned that if i returned to a church it would have to be that...a small community church.

the larger the church the more it seems the priorities get lost. i think that is true with most stuff. the more organized it becomes the more it loses it's core. the cookie cutter mentality kicks in and humans just don't fit in neat little boxes. religions shouldn't either. the larger a thing is it also seems the more possibility it will be corrupted.

governments are the same. bigger governments equal more red tape. government/religion/larger corporations. they are all subject to the same mess the larger they get. it becomes an uphill battle to not lose the core message and the core values. we see this all the time in large non-profits too.

so many things start out with good intentions but the larger it gets the more lost those good intentions become. suddenly things like money and greed take over. power...these are all dangerous.

maybe I'm not making any sense.

why is it so impossible to believe the science of climate change but to believe that these hurricanes are stronger because it's signs of the rapture? the earth is warming, the sea levels are rising. in my mind these are provable facts...the question can be then...is man hastening this, is man responsible? is this different than other heating/cooling cycles of our earth? pretending it isn't happening will only mean we are less prepared when it does...no matter what the cause is.

faith....facts....

why are issues of faith so much easier for many to hold tight too and issues of facts so hard to believe? it would seem logic would make facts much more easy to believe than faith. faith is based on belief, on unknowns. facts are based on logic and testing.

why must people be made to choose between the two? why can't you have faith in that which you believe but also trust the facts as presented. find a way to merge the two rather than see them as polar opposites. God works in mysterious ways. why couldn't humans be held responsible for global warming just as we are held to the damages of war?

ultimately i will be gone from this earth long before the worst of it comes from the climate..but we could destroy ourselves long before that by wars.

seems we have a radical Christian element to our society that is emerging. much like the Muslims have had to deal with a radical element to their society. i find it interesting that many over the years have slammed the Muslims for not coming out more strongly against the radical element that bastardizes their religion...but then i think, will the Christians stand up against the radical element that seems to be moving forward to bastardize their religion. it seems not.

you see the history repeat itself. battles over which religion is right, more true. as with governments those that supposedly lead sit back in safety while the followers or little guy gets steam rolled and killed.

i tend to think they all are right and they all are wrong. there is truth in all and they have all been corrupted. each individual must find the truth and reject that which is corrupted. each member of any religion must hold those in the roles of leadership accountable.

any leader who is living far beyond their means while collecting monies should be suspect.

look for the helpers...that was what Mr Rogers said. it's true. those who quietly go about helping others with no expectation of return. i watched some young men out helping others in Houston...the only thing that i found odd was this desire to wear cameras and film themselves helping. they say those who are selfless in helping would not desire to be made out to be a hero for doing what they feel is their responsibility.

waiting to be swept up to heaven in the rapture is useless. if it happens i suspect God will be seeking for those who aren't waiting but who are instead out helping others without concern for themselves or their futures in heaven. they aren't doing good to score points with God, they are doing good because good needs to be done. they will be plucked to heaven screaming because they would rather stay and help than be lifted to glory. that is what it is to be humble. not sure i have true humility in me. not sure i have had the opportunity to put another's life over mine in this world.

i save lives at work but not at risk of my own. still we all choose to do the extra or not. to serve others in our day to day lives or to just do the minimum required.

we choose each day. we have that opportunity. do we greet everyone we meet with a smile. you never know what small gesture on your part can brighten a day of someone who is struggling. you never know what small compliment you give may mean to another. what tiny kindness shown will matter. i always love the quote, "practice random acts of kindness and senseless beauty".

pick up that litter, smile, hold a door open. step in when you see someone being treated unkindly or unfairly. help each other.

the rapture...if it happens, it happens. don't assume because you go to church or donate money that you can just plan on standing and waiting to be taken straight to heaven. don't assume that you and your chosen faith are necessarily the only right answer.

if your religion brings you happiness and helps you to be a better you, then i have no qualms with it. be happy. if your religion makes it seem that you and only you hold the hand of God, that only you have the truth, that only you have the right answers...well i urge you to ask more questions to meet more people of different faiths and beliefs. you can't all be right and you can't all be wrong i guess. perhaps you are all right and you are all wrong. allow that you may be wrong and allow that others may be right.

it's almost 5...i will have to get off this and get ready for work. boo. i have been in RCU last 2 nights. they apparently let a good percentage of their staff vacation at the same time.

turned out to not be too bad out there today...probably should have gotten motivated to walk. will walk tomorrow. the pups will be raring to go then.

from a painting class.

was looking at tile last night...in between patient cares and trying to read the large manual for this class i have this week.

always love those funky hand painted tiles. Italian, Moroccan, Mexican. will keep looking and see what i decide to do in the kitchen. don't want to make it too crazy.