A little more...

Okay, I'm not really trying to knock The Celebration Centre - I think I'm just trying to work through what it is about this particular Church that bothers me. The term that came to mind just now was Shock and Awe - the fantastic strategy the good old US of A employed in the war in Iraq. It seems like a good phrase to describe the Celebration Centre's services. Big loud music, a message that's fairly consistently about the expansion of the church and fighting the spiritual evils of the world, and an interesting delivery approach from the main preacher [or whatever he is]. I guess he gets excited, but I don't find that speaking faster and shouting are good ways to convey important points. They are good methods for provoking a stronger emotional response from a crowd, but not more effective communication tools. At least, that's how I see things. I feel like some sort of spy at this Church - a stranger in their midst, absorbing the structure of what they do without actually becoming part of it. Then I go away and deconstruct it here for anyone to read [well, probably just my brother, but anyways...] But as I say, I'm not against the fundamental ideas of the Church - togetherness, sharing of faith, celebration - that's all cool. But some of the negative stuff - like telling the whole congregation that basically if their life isn't going the way it should, it's because they aren't praying right, or aren't making enough sacrifices for the Church, that stuff sucks. Which is the core of why I don't dig organised religion. And that's another thing - I don't think that praying for material wealth and things is cool, but they keep telling us that we can, if we do it right. I would suspect that the correct form for prayers for personal gain would be something like "Lord, please grant me riches/ show me the way to a better job/ help me find a new car/ whatever so that I may share my good fortune with others, and advance Your works and help the church. Amen." if that is how it works [and it's only speculation - I can't be arsed going to one of their prayer meetings to find out], it still seems basically wrong. Prayers to the Lord for good fortune don't seem any better to me than gambling and playing a hunch, or carrying around a lucky totem like a rabbits foot. Not that there's anything wrong with lucky charms, it's just that I know that some very Christian people don't approve, because its not right to put your faith in anything other than the Lord...

Waiting

Hooray - it's Easter. I get to sleep like a regular person when it's dark for four nights - excellent...

I'm going up north to visit my Dad and stuff for the weekend. I'm supposed to be sorting out more of my stuff to bring down or get shifted, so that my parents can have their beach house back. But I'll be surprised if I get much of anything done. I'm only going to be there from Friday lunchtime till Sunday morning, and there's a wedding to go to on the Saturday. And given that it's Good Friday and easter Sunday, there'll be bugger all open. But never mind, it'll be good to get away for a couple of days...

I have another little comment to make about The Celebration Centre [the church I've been going to with my sister]. They don't have traditional hymns - I think the music they have is written locally. It's all sort of rock/pop stuff. The first 15 to 20 minutes of each service is like a rock concert. They have a full band, and are very loud. I think that the music at church is doing my hearing as much damage as the noise at work... But anyways, this is all good - the songs are quite inspirational [if a little militant - armies fighting for God and things] but I don't quite see how wanky guitar solos are a necessary part of the Church service. They have lead guitar breaks peppered through most of their songs. And I guess that perhaps it's a matter of celebration - showing how much you love the Lord by playing your best for Him - but it still seems a bit much... The other thing I don't like is the whole tithing deal. Passing a collection plate around is fine, it's a necessary thing I guess to maintain a Church or similar organisation - but at this Church they always make a very big point of how much you should tithe. It's ten percent of your weekly wage. Frankly, if it comes to a choice between buying a couple of DVDs [or petrol for my car] and making the proper donation, I'd rather keep the cash for me and let God be a little disappointed. I mean, eventually, He'll forgive me...

Oh, I fixed my washing machine. I got the back off it and found that two of the wires to the motor had broken. Is that weird? I don't know if most people would do that, or if they'd just call their landlord or a service person. I just generally find it easier to just fix stuff than to deal with people. Machines are easy, people are far more complicated...

Good morning, I'm off to bed...

Okay, this'll probably be a short post as I just got home from work and should really go to bed. I gotta say that it's a bit weird going to bed when most of the world is just getting up. Well, I guess most people with regular jobs would be getting up around six or seven, so it's more like I'm going to bed when most folks are going to work... Not that it really matters, the point is I sleep during the day. Not that that is mouch of a point to make... It may become apparent that I don't really have much to say right now - I just felt like writing something.

My washing machine is broken. Well, the washing machine that came with the flat is broken. I should really call the landlord and get it fixed. But I can't be arsed... Although I'm running out of clean clothes - I gues that a trip to the laundrette will be in order if I don't call the landlord soon... Fascinating stuff, eh?

I watched an entire anime series in two days over the weekend - Texhnolyze. It was really cool, if a little weird and somewhat confusing. Some excellent ideas, and an awesome story, plus it looked nice, as most anime does. I'll probably watch it again sometime - I suspect that some of the confusion I suffered stemmed as much from my falling asleep during one or two episodes as from the show itself. I didn't fall asleep becuase the show was uninteresting - I was just knackered, and could probably have slept through the most interesting movie ever, whatever that might be. That's one really good thing about not being a projectionist any more - I won't get people asking me what my favourite film is as often. I hate that question, because no matter how often I've been asked it, I always have trouble thinking of stuff. I mean, there are some basic standards taht do come to mind, like Fight Club, or American Beauty, but then there are others that I love but don't think about when asked. Like Breakfast Club - it may be a teen angsty-comedy thing, but it's still way cool. Or Heathers, or Pump Up The Volume... There are a whole bunch of awesome films from the late eighties and early nineties that are awesome, but that don't feel like movies, I guess... They are mostly things taht I saw on video, way after they originally came out, so they don't register in my head as proper movies. It's a bit stupid, really...

Yaarrghh...

Okay, so that last post was a bit heavy, you know? On a lighter note, or several lighter notes, here's some other stuff...
I'm settling into my new flat okay - it's not exactly huge, but it suits me for the moment...
My job is horrible, but only in the same way that anything you have to do for cash is horrible. It's certainly no worse than what I used to do, and the money's better... I hate it, but I can live with it...
It's cool being able to see my nephew on a regular basis - he's growing up so fast! It seems amazing that even week to week he changes...
And it's good to see my sister more, too. It's not something I'd really thought about, but when me and my brother moved to Wellington, she was still in High school, and really, I haven't seen that much of her over the last ten years or so... isn't it unbelievable how fast time passes?
There may be more, but i can't be arsed right now, so good night...

Hey...

Well, I'm back in business. Which is to say that I now have a phone line and internet access again, making this whole dealy easier... I have had use of an internet enabled PC over the last few weeks, but it's not cool to be visiting someone and try to write a blog entry - especially when the person you're visiting is tallking to you, and your 9 month old nephew is crawling around and trying to climb your trousers...

Anyways, it's good to be able to do this again. I should admit straight up that I've had a little to drink - a bottle of redwood scrumpy cider , and a glass of vodka and coke. I felt it was worth mentioning this now, as when i looked back over my last entry i found that (a) I can't exactly remember writing it, and (b) that last bit makes no sense to me, even though I apparently wrote it.

I've just hacked off a big chunk of this post, as it felt like a big wank, really... I would like to say that... what? I don't know... I was just going to say something about the nature of belief, and the difference between belief, faith and adherence to an organised religion. Because i have an absolute belief in God, and Jesus - and a certain degree of faith in their intentions for this world of ours... But I really don't dig organised religion, because every faith I have any understanding of seems to promote segregation, the superiority of one gender over another, and a need for followers to sit in judgement on others. Frankly, while I know some very cool people, I don't know anyone who I feel has their life together enough to tell me how I should live... I know my life is kinda a mess, but it's my mess, and I still have a reasonable degree of confidence that at some point I'll work out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing, and get my shit together... I guess that I'm a "life is a journey" kinda person, and that limiting what your life can be, where it can go by adhering to archaic teachings from a period way back when men were entirely in charge and set the rules of society accordingly, is just a bit sad... faith and belief are good, but I feel you have to be willing to interpret Gods message in context, you know? That it should enhance your life, not restrict it...