The crazy lady strikes again

This question was asked by babe_rocks in the comments section in one of yesterday's blog entries. I thought it would be a good idea to expand on my own comments in a separate entry. I regard the "seeker church" as a subset or small portion of the megachurch movement. The term "megachurch" is applied by secular media to churches with very large membership rolls - often churches with thousands or tens of thousands of members. I find that the term "megachurch" is also applied indiscriminately by... Sign in to see full entry.

Lately, I've been reading a lot of negative press about so-called "seeker churches," such as Willow Creek Community Church in a suburb of Chicago. "Seeker churches" offer services specifically designed to appeal to - what else? - what church staffers call "seekers." Instead of offering services with a definite liturgical structure (such as the singing of hymns and then a sermon, or a liturgy such as the Mass), "seeker churches" will often have performers up on a stage, acting out skits and... Sign in to see full entry.

Today is the 25th anniversary of MTV's first broadcast. MTV logged on the air on August 1, 1981, at midnight; the first video played by an MTV veejay (remember them?) was Video Killed The Radio Star; I don't remember the name of the artists performing that video right off hand. My daughter used to just adore MTV when she was a preschooler. As what I hope is a responsible parent, I screened every video she watched, changing the channel whenever an offensive video (such as those produced by Billy... Sign in to see full entry.

Just now, I was racking my brain for something to write about. We need the money right now that I earn from clicks on Blogit, and every little blog entry helps generate clicks. The problem is that it seems as if I have finally run out of topics to write about. This creates a dilemma for me, for at least one reason I can determine. All morning, I've been very tense and worried, as I discussed in my last entry. I've been able to trace that worry to only one cause. We've had repeated power outages... Sign in to see full entry.

This is not one of my better mornings. As has become usual, I'm tense, jumpy and nervous. Only that infamous cure called "tincture of time" will cure what ails me currently. I also need a new perspective on my problems. This current heat wave doesn't help matters any. Due to my kidney disease, I always have been particularly susceptible to heat-related nausea and edema. I understand that otherwise-healthy people can develop these problems in this weather, but these symptoms seem to hit me first,... Sign in to see full entry.

I watched today's press conference updating the media on Francis Cardinal George's condition. The pathology reports have apparently come back from the pathologist, and it looks as if the cancer was basically limited to the bladder and the lower end of the right ureter. They did remove some lymph nodes - that's routine in any surgery designed to remove a tumor - and all the lymph nodes they took out were reported as being negative for cancer. In other words, there was no evidence of cancer... Sign in to see full entry.

Ariel70 provided me with an insightful comment on my last entry to this blog. Apparently, she's not an American, so she isn't as familiar with the Founding Fathers as are most Americans knowledgeable about history, but she did have some insights about them that I didn't know about. For example, I knew that many secular historians consider Thomas Jefferson, whose credentials as an American Founding Father are beyond dispute, a Deist (as I understand the term, that's someone who basically believes... Sign in to see full entry.

I've noticed an interesting phenomenon in American fundamentalism and evangelicalism. Ever since the Religious Right became politically prominent just before I got married, these Christian communities have felt implicitly that one must be a political conservative if one wants to be considered born-again. It is not at all unusual for pastors of such churches to receive requests from members of the congregation regarding the placement of tables in the lobby containing, say, anti-abortion... Sign in to see full entry.

I've had to face the question I ask in the title twice just this year alone - in February when I was rendered incompetent by bacterial meningitis, and in April when I needed a ventilator during a bout with pneumonia and was unconscious for a few days. I read an article in this morning's Chicago Sun-Times which deals with this issue. One-third of the people surveyed for a professionally-conducted study stated that they'd rather have someone other than their spouses make health care decisions for... Sign in to see full entry.

Garfield has not let me out of her sight the past 24 hours. She insists on at least being within visual range of me at all times, apparently so she can monitor my clinical condition. She's being a good feline nurse. I can't blame her for being concerned. Last night, I woke up with acute abdominal pain. Fortunately, it cleared up, but I felt obligated to stay away from Mass on yet another Sunday. I don't want to get back in the habit of slacking in my Mass attendance. In fact, I'm beginning to... Sign in to see full entry.