Embarrassing Relatives

Yes, it is embarrassing to have such dippity dumb relatives, especially when they are my own grandparents on my mother's side. They sold the property with mineral rights and all back in the 1940s and then later, in the 1950s, it was found that they had not sold the mineral rights. They were sued and lost and an arrangement was made of which I understand very little, just that it is embarrassing for us to think about that because it was so dumb and we would prefer to forget that it ever happened. They should have practiced what they preached, but sometimes these adults forget what they are talking about from one day to the next. It gets very annoying. Also, the arrangement applies only to one of the properties, not to the other one, so the creepy Sultan of Central Texas is not going to gain anything from this ill-aimed fishing expedition except to solidify the suspicion that we are being deliberately harassed by him and his evil associates. So thanks for the additional evidence of harassment.

Of Monasteries and Convents

I was talking to that girl at high school shortly before I left and somehow that subject of monks and nuns came up, perhaps because she was taking a class from the nun or something like that. Like I was saying, we don't have monks and nuns in Protestantism. We don't believe in that cruel and wicked system of enforced slavery of which the Catholics are so fond, that coddler of a pretentiously monastical pseudspirituality that means nothing ultimately as we all get to heaven as long as we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, single or married. It matters not. Sadly, there are just not enough men to go around statistically speaking but anyway we single women ought to be able to work our jobs without this continual harassment from obnoxious foreigners, mostly ignorant Tibetans whose religious system is basically meaningless, without form and void, a sad waste of human potential. Sadly, Europe's church of medieval times was sometimes bogged down in irrelevant controversies so was not able to do much with the China of Marco Polo's day, but anyway God is gracious and merciful. Better late than never when it comes to turning China around.

My Papers

Which reminds me that my first water baptism was at the Evangelistic Center in El Salvador. My papers that I received at the time have the stationary of the Assemblies of God of El Salvador which is a separate entity but anyway what we believe doctrinally is basically the same so it really doesn't matter very much that I was water baptized there at about age 16 or 17, as opposed to after returning to the U.S.. If I could find those papers I would post them and I cannot seem to put my fingers on them at this moment. Still, I am pretty sure I still have that somewhere.

Family Jewels-More

I seem to remember that the girl from choir who I was talking to was saying that Ann Campbell had made some comments about the "family jewels" and was making some issue about that subject matter. Like I said at the time, I don't know anything about Ann Campbell's angle on the subject. I have never discussed that subject with Ann Campbell and was not planning to start doing so ever. I don't really know what issues some other people had with Ann Campbell. I only know that Ann Campbell always did hate my guts and seems to want to pick a fight with me even now but I really don't know why or how to respond to her provocations as I really don't know what the issue was or why I should care.

Because You Asked

Your question reminds me that not long before high school graduation I was talking to that girl from choir and she was talking about the "family jewels" and saying that sometimes fights between guys involved hits to the "family jewels" and sometimes there are various jokes or comments about the "family jewels" and do I know what the "family jewels" are? In response to the various contexts into which she placed the term "family jewels," I could have responded that I do think that I sort of know what she is referring to. I think that we are implicitly, not in so many words, agreeing that the "family jewels" is a veiled reference to certain male functions. So that is about all that I remember about that conversation, just that the "family jewels" probably is a reference to certain male functions. So obviously there was no need for me to explain anything as these little brats at such a young age already know what the "family jewels" are.

Oh, yes, we also discussed a book I read about Marco Polo, his autobiography being in the MK library.

Boxes

Which reminds me that at my high school graduation party one of the gifts I received was a wooden box with decorative carvings typical of Central American curios in which it was said I was to place any love letters from my future husband. I never received any love letters so it contains nothing so interesting, just some other old junk mail that does not mean very much. I do wish the Buenos would realize what a curse they are on my life because everything about means disaster for me.

The Plot Thickens

As the stomach churns, so does the plot thicken. Next, this is the part where I am required to acknowledge having read Norman Vincent Peale's book about positive thinking, in which everything positive is accentuated and everything negative is overlooked or forgotten or denied or something like that. I did read that book, and like cotton candy clouds so fluffy and white, I don't remember a thing about it. Yes, Peale's writings inspired those of Dr. Schuller and so many other purveyors of positive thinking. And when were the purveyors of good-news-only newspapers ever successful? In the long run, it is the bad news that attracts attention and sells books and newspapers. A Bible with all the bad parts cut out would be very slim indeed. Inclusion of the negative accentuates the fact of man's sinful nature and need for a redeemer, one to bridge this gulf between God and man, which was the purpose of Jesus' mission on earth. Jesus is the only mediator between God and man but many would perhaps prefer to ignore or overlook this point. So while we agree that the positive may be good, it doesn't tell the whole story.