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I go to church with the family; it’s a good family thing to do.  It’s a catholic church; the mass can be very beautiful and moving at times.   I was raised catholic but somewhere along the line my mind got warped.  Was it all those Twilight Zone episodes I watched as a teenager?  At certain moments during the mass strange images and thoughts course though my head.  One thing that I really struggle with is the virginity of Mary.

For catholics, it is very important that Mary, the mother of God, be a virgin.   Strange how she is still referred to as the Virgin Mary even though she was married.  So Mary and Joseph were never intimate?   They never sleep together as husband and wife?  Of course they did.  Why catholics refuse to recognize this almost seems to me as an insult to them.

Catholics refuse to recognize the sexuality not only Jesus’ mother, but of his father as well.  For after all, if Mary was a life long virgin, and married to Joseph, then Joseph was celibate as well… unless he was unfaithful, and, as Jesus’ father, an unfaithful Joseph is even harder to accept than a celebate one.

Is this the link for the catholic church?  Is it really a message to catholic priests?  In our minds force Mary to be a virgin, therefore so is Joseph and if he can do it so can you!

But then we see that this backfires for some and they resort to secretive, twisted, unhealthy and abusive sexual practices.  Of course Mary and Joseph can be virgins; they’re dead.  Much harder to do for the living.

At the ”Just For Catholics” website the discussion on topic of Mary’s virginity (after Jesus’ birth ) begins not by focusing on the question at hand but rather by claiming that it is a ”curiosity” that we are even asking the question; in other words we are in the wrong for even asking the question.   Obviously they don’t want the virginity of the woman questioned and to no doubt, if I were a catholic priest endevouring to remain celibate I wouldn’t want the celibacy of two of the most revered religious figures questioned either.

Good links: http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/virgin.htm

http://maranatha777.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/did-mary-remain-a-virgin/
http://www.tbm.org/didmary.htm (see bottom)

One interesting thought would be, to tally up the counts of some events; that is, the number of times they’ve occurred since the beginning of time.  Which events must really add up to huge numbers.  I wonder the counts for the following:

1. Number of rain drops that have fallen on the Earth.
2. Number of snow flakes that have ever fallen.
3. Number of leaves to have ever sprouted, grown, withered and fell since the beginning of time.
4. Number of CPU cycles since 1975.
5. Number of spark plug firings in internal combustion engines since 1902.
6. Number of steps taken by ants (all species) since the beginning of time.
7. Number of orbits of all electrons on all atoms in the universe since the beginning of time.

Counts for these events are big numbers.  Do they reach or surpass a googol, googolplex or skewe’s numbers?  #7 probably out ranks them all, but has it reached a googol? googolplex?

I know of nothing in the natural world of which there is just one.  Just one flower? No.  Just one bear? No.  Just one cloud? No.  Tree? No.  Mountain? No.  City? No. etc…   So why would there just be one life sustaining planet?  It makes no sense.

There are thousands, perhaps millions of life sustaining planets in the Universe.   And there’s life out there; lots of it.  It’s just too far away for us to see or hear.

Do you realize that by our best educated estimates there are at least 100 stars (in the universe) for each grain of sand on Earth?  Astronomers believe most stars have planets.  So there are trillions upon trillions of planets orbiting stars out there.   You still think the one beneath your feet is the ONLY ONE CAPABLE OF SUPPORTING LIFE?   I definitely think not.

It’s analogous to prehistoric man here on Earth; each tribe living in isolation, separated by thousands of miles of ocean, unaware other peoples even existed and having only very limited means (hollowed out logs) of navigating space (ocean).   Very little has changed.

In the grand scheme of things, our Space Shuttle is comparable to that hollowed-out log used by ancient peoples to navigate the immediate ocean and rivers around them.  In time we’ll develop great ships to quickly navigate space (AKA starwars/star trek).

Unfortunately it is possible for other life forms to find us before we find them.  Think Europeans landing on North America about 600 years ago.  Like wise, those aliens may posess superior weapons or host deadly germs and we, Earth humans, may not stand much of a chance.  Scary stuff.  But there is NOTHING that guarantees this can not or will not happen.

Imagine the native American’s long ago; going about their daily life, foraging for berries, hunting, war parties, etc… going about their business completely oblivious to the events transpiring thousands of miles away and the devistating consequences (MILLIONS OF THEM DIED) .  Some things could come here and put us in the same shoes.  It’s possible.

Have Americans forgotten how to form lines in fast food restaurants or what?  I go in to McDonalds, or Chick ‘Filet  and there’s a cluster of people in front of the registers.  There might be three registers but there aren’t three lines; there’s just a cluster of people and no one knows who’s next or where the end of the line is.

On top of that, when the first person in line is served and moves away from the counter  (like to go sit down) and there’s a big gaping space at the counter (in front of the register),  NO ONE STEPS UP TO FILL IT.  NO ONE STEPS UP TO BE SERVED!  They just stand there, at least 3 feet back from the counter,  and wait for the clerk to say “May I help you?”.  This just kills me.

Am I the only one who notices this?  Is this a new trend? Because I remember the days long ago when, if there where three cash registers, then there would be three lines and when you went in you got in one of those lines.

Is it because people don’t want to get close to one another?  Because that’s the only thing I can see that’s preventing the lines from forming; people wait like about 3ft behind the person before them.   I’ve seen this in other situations to; like buying tickets for a movie.  There were two ticket windows  and a mess of people in front of them.

When you enter McDonald’s stand behind someone, make it clear you are in a line.  When the person in front of you has been helped and takes their lunch to their table and there’s a big gaping space between you and the counter move up and fill it, it’ll make room for the people behind you and it will help organize the situation.

Ride your bike to work? What a joke.  In most cities, you ride your bike to work and you’re going to get slaughtered.  Especially since traffic’s getting worse which makes people more rude and more full of road rage than ever.  And you want to be on a bicycle in the middle of all that?

I’ve seen people all over the bike lanes; big SUVs, all over the line.   I’ve even done it myself a couple times (In my monster SUV);  didn’t mean to, but the car just swerves down the road, you know how it is.

Cities ought to be ashamed of themselves expeciting and encouraging people to ride their bikes along side 2000+lb cars whizzing by at 40+MPH.  it’s a recipie for disaster. Let me tell you; a 4 inch wide strip of white paint on the ground isn’t going to save nobody!

How many more have to die before cities abandon the “bike lane” thing.  Bikes should be no where near cars.  A coworker’s friend was killed recently; she was riding her bike to her job.  It’s true.

Look, our transit system is based on the car; fast heavy cars.  Now if, in the future, that changes, (or cities install bike paths away from traffic) then, if I live close enough (which, at the moment, seems highly unlikely),  I’ll ride my bike to work.  But for now give me the biggest SUV I can get.