A Christian Nation

Prepare for blasphemy and controvesy.

For the record: I am NOT a Christian (at least not in the traditional/accepted sense). I do not believe in a single "God" (with a capital "G") who is omniscient and concerned with the individual lives of 6 billion people. I especially do not believe that such a being placed "his" "son" on this planet to teach the rest of us how to live and then sacrificed himself to "save" humanity from its own sins.

Ultimately, I guess that I am an agnostic with potential animist leanings. As trite as it may sound, I'm more inclined to buy into the George Lucas view of "The Force" than anything else articulated in the last two thousand plus years. I kind of believe in Karma, only because I've seen both good and bad actions in my life come back to me.

So, let's get down to the title of today's theme. It is inescapable. We live in a Christian nation. Regardless of the placaters and the rallying of the leftists, Christianity might as well be the national religion in the United States of America.

Fine. Go ahead and keep the Fundies from having the Ten Commandments prominently displayed in front of court houses. But, dear friends, don't kid yourselves. We live in a nation which mightily acts and espouses on the Christian religion.

While the evidence surrounds us daily, there are a few "in-your-face" factors that bring it home for me. This country is blatantly driven by materialism and profit. However, virtually every retail outlet in the nation closes on both Christmas and Easter. Most close on Thanksgiving, which isn't a Christian holiday, but is embraced by the vast majority of Americans as a day to be 'thankful' in a spiritual sense (which is typically (at the very least) monotheistic in practice. Really, can you envision an Atheist bowing her head in 'thanks' to the universe for the past year's blessings?

I am not against observing Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving. I am not complaining about the lack of shopping options on said holidays either (after all, there is always the Internet). What I quibble with here is the delusion by my left-leanng brethren that the United States of America is not, and should not be, a Christian nation.

Folks, wake up and smell the coffee. Even if the constitution tried to protect the rights of individuals to practice their own religion, we are a Christian nation. The beauty of the Constitution is that it gives the freedom of its citizens to practice whateve religion they are inspired to follow. However, as a Nation, as a Culture, GET OVER IT:

The United States of America is a Christian Nation

Even if it's Constitution does not dictate or encourage the practice of that specific religion.

Believe me, it gives me no great joy to state this. However, I live with Christianity every day.

I have found that it is in my best interest to understand the basic tenets of Christianity, and to know when the major holidays are (whether they are observed by large organizations or not). I am also trying to familiarize myself with the Bible more deeply.

If I lived in a Muslim country, I would do no less. As an Agnostic (Unitarian Universalist, by label) I know that I am a faith-minority. In order to survive, and not be marginalized, it is always better to understand the beliefs and thinking of the majority. While this country is quite inclusive of all creeds (at this time), you never know when the situation might change.

So, I implore all those who are not followers of the core Christian faith: Honor your own traditions. However, learn as much as you can about theirs. They are the majority. At minimal, the knowledge may improve your stature with a few of them. Then again, you never know when that knowledge may help you understand and work with them, the majority of your fellow Americans.

[ Sorry, I hate discussing religion or politics, but it seemed unavoidable today when everything but the movie theaters were closed. It did remind me where I lived. ]

When exercise is bad, shoot me

Last weekend, I did something to my lower back that made it painful to walk. My right hip became inflamed. Normally, sitting has been my enemy. This week, standing and walking became my enemy.

I broke down and contacted a chiropractor friend of my husband's. I was looking for any kind of fast relief. And, after two visits, I was feeling a lot better. The pain was still there, but I could actually stand solely on my right leg without feeling like screaming. So, the real question arose: Should I go to the gym and do my normal routine on the eliptical machine. His answer was non-commital, encouraging me to do what I felt was best.

OK. Exercise has been my friend this last year. So, I opted to go for it. BAD MOVE!!! The hip and thigh pain are back. Mind you, they are not where they were on Monday, but we are not a happy camper right now.

After I got back from the gym, I had my dinner and my evening cocktail. Then, I got out the ice pack. Tomorrow morning will be the real tell. If it is painful to get out of bed, I'll really know what a bad idea going to the gym was and I won't go tomorrow. If I feel 'better' than I do right now, I may go for the recumbent bike, since that has not appeared to aggravate whatever injury I earned last weekend.

I have really enjoyed adding exercise to my life. Exercise has almost always made me feel better over the last year. Plus, it helps cover my food sins. My weight has been relatively stable over the last eight months. While I wish that I could lose another fifteen to twenty pounds, I know that I would have to give up WAY more than I could maintain in the long term. In the mean time, I really have been enjoying the jones that I get from my cardio workouts.

If this injury ruins that for me, even for just a couple of weeks, I will NOT be a happy campre.

Is it spring yet?

OK. I KNOW that I live in New England and that "spring" officially starts on Mother's Day weekend. However, I wasn't following the weather forecasts, so I was more than a bit peeved when I walked out of work this afternoon to blinding-heavy-wet snow. Apparently, we are destined for at least five inches before morning.

OK. UM.... GRRRRRR.... YUK!

I am beyond tired of this crap. I think one of the major contributing factors is that my place of employment does not recognize snow days unless the city of Boston all but shuts down. So, if I do not feel comfortable driving into work, I have to take a vacation day. And, while I get a fair number of vacation days, I do not want to squander a bunch of them on precipitation. I have already used two days this winter for 'snow'. I am running kind of short on leave right now because I have actually taken a few days off for my own reasons and plan to take a few days off in April, and then again in June, with my family.

It's not really 'horrible' per se. Fortunately, my employer lets you go up to five days in the negative. And, come August, I will be earning vacation at the rate of four weeks a year. So, though I'll be in the hole going into July, I'll climb out of it relatively quickly.

I haven't mentioned this lately, but I think I may be hanging out at The Center for a while. While I still think my boss is a disorganized, self-promoting, witch, I kind of like what I'm doing and the overall environment at The Center. I still am not fond of my hour-long commute. However, I think I am growing used to the down time again, by listening to books.

Right now, I am listening to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. So far, highly recommended.

Maybe Barney can pay your fare?

Out of all the things to catch my (nigh unto ADD type) interest this evening: "Colorado Bus Driver Snubs Preschoolers".

Apparently, the bus company lets preschoolers ride for free, except during rush hour. So, the bus driver, by policy, had to collect fares from the kiddies and their teachers or had to kick them off the bus. Sheriff's deputies had to do the dirty work, but they give the babes some stickers to help soften the blow.

These kids could be scarred for life! Kicked off a public mode of transportation. Pretty soon, they'll be learning the words to "We shall overcome".

Sorry. I went away for a little while. Maybe I'll be back to normal tomorrow.

Incompetents R Us

On Tuesday, 3/13, I had an MRI of my spine. The technicians told me that it would take about three days for my doctor to get the results. So, to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, I waited to hear back from my doctor. When I didn't hear anything by the following Tuesday, 3/20, I called my doctor's office. They told me that they still didn't have the results, but that they would call the MRI unit to find out the hold up. They then said that they would call me back after they got to the bottom of the problem.

By Thursday, when I hadn't heard back, I called my doctor's office again. They said that they still didn't have my MRI results. I told the person I was speaking to, let's call her "P", what had happened Tuesday when I called. She then asked went through my medical record and asked if Dr H was my primary care physician. I said "No" that Dr K was my physician. She put me on hold for less than a minute and came back on the line saying that they had received my MRI results on Thursday, 3/15. (Dose of incompetence #1) And, that she would have Dr K review them and someone would call me back.

About half an hour later, P called me back giving me a summary of my results. I have two lumbar and one thoracic vertebrae out of alignment, some arthritis, and two bulging disks, however I have no herniated disks or spinal stenosis. Dr K recommended that I see an orthopedist to go over my MRI and discuss next steps. So, I set up an appointment for this Friday, 3/30.

Then, this morning, I got another dose of incompetence. Nurse T from the doctors' office called. T informed me that they had received my MRI results and that Dr K recommended that I work with a physical therapist.

Ummm.... OK. I have been seeing a physical therapist since September (this time around). I have even had to have my referral renewed twice since September. Do these people even look at medical records???

I pointed out the PT referral to T and the fact that I had received the verbal results last week. She immediately realized that their office looked bad, so she tried to song-and-dance her way out of the incompetence jungle. She said that though my records showed that I had had PT referrals in the last six months, there was no indication that I actually went since they had not received any reports back from PT regarding my progress. We decided that her office needed to contact the PT office, one flight up, to request a summary of my progress since September.

We also discussed my frustration with the two differing messages I received from their office. She back pedaled very well, and agreed that the best course of action for someone with my chronic back issues would be to discuss my MRI with the orthopedist. She noted that the initial interpretation came from the radiologist at the MRI facility, and that an orthopedist might have different insight into what the films were showing.

Believe it or not, I am truly soft pedaling the idiocy of the above encounter. I am looking forward to my appointment with the orthopedic physician assistant on Friday. Though she is not a 'doctor', I have had productive encounters with her in the past in relation to some other, more minor, issues. I definitely have more faith in her than in the people I've dealt with in the last week regarding this issue. Then again, I would have more faith in the Easter Bunny at this point.