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I have a few different ways of trying to get my mind off of my pain, but I'm getting bored with them. Anybody have any new ideas? I read a lot. I also am on the computer almost every day. I've played hundreds of games on there. I read the news on there etc. I watch TV almost every day. I walk my dog when my pain levels are low enough to do so. My problem is that I'm getting bored and need new ideas on what to do. I don't have a lot of extra money so I need to do something that doesn't cost much. I can't do very much physically. Sometimes the pain is too severe to do anything, but when my meds actually help I need something to do. I'm going stir crazy. Before the pain I was very active. I used to do volunteer work but find it hard to committ because i don't know how I'll feel that day.. I need something new to do. It would be great if I could get some ideas.

What are Your ways of getting your mind off your pain????

The battle is over. Everyone knows who they will vote for. It's over!

Do you understand me, we have to wait for election night to know who won, but NO ONE"S MIND IS GOING TO BE CHANGED NOW.

You are wasting YOUR ENERGRY. Trying to talk anyone over to your side is a waste of your energry.

Now is a time for solutions to the issues facing OUR COUNTRY,

Yes our country, no one group owns the RED, WHITE, AND BLUE.
We are all Americans that love our country, Obama and McCain and all their supporters love this country. We just see things from a different view. We are not each others foes. Only if we disrespect each others do we damage our country. All views MUST BE HEARD!

My holiness shines bright and clear today.

It feels like my mind is split cleanly down the middle with the Holy Spirit on one side and the ego on the other. The Holy Spirit says that my mind is holy and that I and my Father are one. He says I am meant for joy and happiness, and that I am never alone. The Holy Spirit says there is nothing to worry about because I am always exactly as I was created. The ego says just the opposite of everything the Holy Spirit says.

I know that the split is not down the middle. The ego part of my mind is not as fully developed as the Holy Spirit. It is just a tiny splinter in the mind of God’s Son, a single thought awaiting my forgiveness so that I can, again, experience myself as I am, whole and complete. The ego side only seems large because in my myopic vision of it, I see little else. If I were to shift my attention just a little I would see the vastness, and the beauty of my Self.

Evidently I don’t want to do this. I seem to be afraid of it, so I just cut my eyes over to the side, and briefly, I see something glorious and my heart soars. Then I think about something sad or frightening and my mind is off and running toward the ego. I caught myself doing that yesterday and pulled myself up short. I reminded myself that I have enjoyed all the dramas I care to and that there is something else to life. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me hold to my new vision by reinterpreting this latest ego trauma drama for me. It is so much easier to do this if I don’t let myself get so caught up in it, if I ask for help right away.

Acceptance of all things just as they are is proving very helpful to me. As I, more and more, become willing to simply accept whatever is in my life as perfect for my awakening, I am more joyful and more willing to accept my holiness. At first the idea of accepting those events that seem painful as being perfect was a real stumbling block. I could say the words, but knew full well I didn’t mean them. What I wanted was to ask for release from the pain.

I put my faith before me, though, and kept practicing. Now I say the words with more conviction, and even when I wish for easier lessons, I do not doubt the value of the lesson and am willing to continue. I am also willing to experience it with more detachment. I really do not believe this has to be painful…ever. I am getting little glimpses of the possibility of all experiences being joyful because they are either experiences of my Self, or experiences of awakening to my Self, and so are cause for joy. I am not there yet, but what I can see, I can reach with just a little consistent willingness.

Ever since I had ALL my teeth pulled.I havent felt pretty or sexy.I look in the mirror and see my moms face.I dont look in the mirror alot these days.My self esteem has gone waaaaaay down the tubes.Now I know I will be getting dentures in a few weeks.But I am embarrased I guess I could say.I dont want any one to see me like this.Only place I've gone is the short walk to the drug store.and I did get groceries the other day.
I have been told before I think too much.I just want to cry.
What if the dentures dont make me look like me?IWhat if I cant wear them? I just want to look like ME.
I am having a good cry as I type this.
Ususally I can get past anything bad and move on.But this situation has me REALLY down.
Thank you for reading my words.I needed to get this out.I dont feel I am good for any one else when I am so down.
doreen

I'm missing miles for the following people. Please let me know if you had or didn't have any for the following days. I just don't want to miss anyones miles after they walked them. Thanks

Alaskamommabear - Oct 9th and 10th
flyingstandby - Oct 10th and 11th
Irishblue - Oct 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
Ldeb - Oct 11th
shoregal - Oct 10th and 11th
sueberry - Oct 10th
stace50 - Oct 11th
amylou - Oct 10th
ddt - Oct 11
dani326 - any for last week????
Dancinman - Has anyone heard from dancinman. He usually doesn't miss and I haven't heard from him for over a week?
I am concerned.
light of day - Oct 11
scarlettchic Oct 8, 9, 10, 11
Willitsgal - Oct 9, 10, 11

I know I usually PM everyone, but this week has been busy and this week isn't looking any better so I took the least amount of time way. Hope you all understand.

How superstitious are you (on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being not at all) and what are you superstitious about?

Specifically, Molotov cocktails. They were hurled at a McCain/Palin sign in a private yard and risked burning home. If a McCain supporter did such a violent act, the mainsream media would go into a state of emergency. They spent 3 days showing footage of a woman calling him a Arab. Where's the coverage of this violence by his followers?

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A LITTLE LESS MISUNDERSTANDING
(What Christians Don't Understand about Neopaganism)
By J. Brad Hicks

Q: Are you a witch?

A: That's actually a tricky question to answer, so let me go about it in a roundabout way. What I am is a Neo-Pagan. Neo-Paganism is a beautiful, complex religion that is not in opposition to Christianity in any way - just different. However, some of the people that the Catholic Church burned as “Witches” were people who practiced the same things that I do. In identification with them and the suffering that they went through, some of us (Neo-Pagans) call ourselves witches. One expert, P.E.I. Bonewits, says that there are actually several kinds of groups who call themselves “Witches.” Some are people whose ancestors were the village healers, herbalists, midwives, and such, many of whom had (or were ascribed to have) mental, psychic, or magical powers, which were passed down through the family in the form of oral tradition, and Bonewits calls them “Traditional Witches.” Some are people who have deliberately used the term to oppose themselves to Christianity, are practicing “Satanists,” and practice (deliberately) most of the practices invented by the Inquisitors. Bonewits calls them “Gothic” or “Neo-Gothic Witches.” Of a different kind are some radical feminist groups, who call themselves Witches because they believe that the original Inquisition was primarily anti-female; some of these also practice magic, many of them do not - Bonewits calls them “Feminist Witches.” But the vast majority of modern Witches are harmless people who worship God in many forms, including the Lord of the Dance, the Lady, and the Mother Earth. These are the people that Bonewits (and I) call “Neo-Pagan Witches” - and this is what I am. I hope that this helps more than it confuses.

Q: Are you a devil worshipper?

A: I'm tempted to just say, “No!” and leave it at that, but that probably isn't enough. Devil worship (including Satanism) is really a Christian heresy. (If you don't believe me, ask an expert - say, any well-read pastor or theology professor.) In order to worship Satan, you have to believe in him - and there are no references to Satan outside of the Christian Bible. So to be a Satanist or a devil worshipper, you have to believe in the accuracy of the Christian Bible, then identify yourself with God's Enemy, proclaim that you are “evil,” and then try to “fight against Jesus” or similar nonsense. Neo-Pagans do not accept the Christian Bible as a source of truth; as a source of some beautiful poetry, sometimes, or as a source of myth, but not as a source of truth. Emphatically, we do not believe that God has an Opposite, an evil being trying to destroy God, the world, man, or whatever. So it is nonsensical to say that Neo-Pagans worship Satan. Of course, many people insist that any god other than JHVH/Jesus (and his other Biblical names) is a demon or an illusion created by Satan. Well, you're welcome to believe that if you like - but over half of the world's population is going to be unhappy with you. Jews and followers of Islam are just as confident that they worship the True God as you are, and resent being called devil worshippers. So do me.

Q: What do Neo-Pagans believe about God?

A: Neo-Paganism is a new religion with very, very old roots. It harks back to the first religions that man ever practiced (based on the physical evidence). Neo-Pagans worship a variety of symbols from the Old Religions - the practices of the ancient Celts, the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Romans - and differ with each other over what those symbols really represent. What I (and many others) believe is that they are all aspects of God (or maybe, the Gods) - some kind of beautiful, powerful, and loving being or force that ties all of life together and is the origin of all miracles - including miracles such as written language, poetry, music, art ...

Q: Do Neo-Pagans have a Bible?

A: Not most of us. The closest analogue would be a Witch's Book of Shadows, which is a sort of notebook of legends, poetry, history, and magic ritual, which is copied by every newly initiated Witch, then added to. But on the whole, even a Book of Shadows isn't what Christian’s think of as a Bible. It's not infallible (couldn't be, they've been brought to us via hastily-copied texts under trying circumstances), it doesn't prescribe a specific code of morality (except for a few general guidelines), and it doesn't claim to be dictated by God - except for a few, debatable parts. Those of us who aren't Witches don't even have that much. Neo-Paganism is a religious system that relies more on the individual than on the Book or the Priest. One of the principal beliefs of Neo-Paganism is that no one, not Pope nor Priest nor Elder, has the right to interfere with your relationship to God. Learn from whomever you want, and pray to whatever name means the most to you.

Q: Did you say magic? Do Neo-Pagans believe in the occult?

A: Cringe. What a badly worded question - but I hear it all the time. Neo-Pagans as a rule don't “believe in the occult” - we practice magic. Magic is simply a way to focus the mental abilities that you were born with, and use them to change the world in positive ways. Magic can also be mixed with worship; in which case it differs very little from Christian prayer.

Q: But I thought that you said that you weren't a demon-worshipper?

A: That's right. Magic and demonology are two different things. Magic you also know as “psychic powers” or “metallic’s” or even as “the power of positive thinking” - in essence, the magical worldview holds that “reality” is mostly a construct of the human mind, and as such, can be altered by the human mind. That's all there is to it.

Q: How do you become a Neo-Pagan?

A: In a very real sense, nobody every “becomes” a Neo-Pagan. There are no converts, as no conversion is necessary. Neo-Paganism is an attitude towards worship, and either you have it or you don't. My case is not atypical. All of my life, I have been fascinated by the old mythologies. I have always found descriptions of the Greek Gods fascinating. If I had any religious beliefs as a child, it was that somewhere, there was a God, and many people worship Him, but I had no idea what His name was. I set out to find Him, and through an odd combination of circumstances, I because convinced that his Name was Jesus. But seven years later, I had to admit to myself that Whoever God is, he answers non-Christians' prayers as well as those in the name of Jesus. In either case, true miracles are rare. In both cases, the one praying has a devout experience with God. After searching my soul, I admitted that I could not tell that I was better off than when I believed in the Old Gods. And in the mean time, I had found out that other people also loved the Old Gods - and that they call themselves Neo-Pagans. When I realized that what I believed was little or no different that what they believed, I called myself a Neo-Pagan, too. The common element for nearly all of us is that nearly all of us already believed these things, before we found out that anyone else did. “Becoming” a pagan is never a conversion. It's usually a homecoming. No one ever “brainwashed” me. I finally relaxed, and stopped struggling against my own self.

Q: I've heard about witches holding orgies and such. Do you?

A: No, that sort of thing doesn't appeal to me. Most of the crap that you've heard about “witch orgies” is nonsense made up by the National Enquirer to sell magazines. But I shouldn't be flippant about this, because it underlies a serious question - what kind of morality do Neo-Pagans hold to?

“Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An it harm none, do what thou will!”
- From an old Book of Shadows

That about sums it all up Neo-Paganism teaches that it is harmful to yourself (and dangerous) to harm others. It also teaches that trying to impose your moral standards on somebody else's behavior is (at least) foolish - and probably dangerous, as you run some serious chance of hurting that person. Perhaps in a sense Neo-Pagans don't have morality, for as R. A. Wilson said, “There are no commandments because there is no Commander anywhere,” but Neo-Pagans do have ethics - standards for behavior based on honor and mutual benefit.

Q: I saw on the news that Neo-Pagans use a star in a circle as their emblem. Isn't that a Satanic symbol?

A: A pentacle (that's what it's called) is a Satanic symbol in precisely same sense that the cross is a Nazi symbol. The German National Socialist Party used an equal-armed cross with four flags attached to it as their emblem. (Yes, I know - that's a swastika. Well, before the Nazis made the word common knowledge, people just called it a “bent cross” - it's an old heraldic symbol, and it means the same thing that a normal cross does). That doesn't make the Nazis good Christians, and it doesn't make Christians into Nazis. In the same sense, Satanists (and some rock groups) use a type of pentacle as their emblem. That doesn't make them Neo-Pagans, nor does it mean that Neo-Pagans are Satanists (or even rock-and-rollers).
Q: Are Neo-Pagans opposed to Christianity?

A: Some Neo-Pagans are ex-Christians, and I'm not going to deny that some of them have a grudge against the Church because of what they perceived as attempts to control their minds. Further, many Neo-Pagans are suspicious of the Church, because it was in the name of Jesus Christ that nine million of our kind were murdered. Neo-Pagans are opposed to anyone who uses force to control the minds of others. Does that include you? If not, then it means that Neo-Pagans as such are not opposed to you. Do you work for the benefit of mankind; are you respectful to the Earth? Then it makes us allies, whether or not either of us wants to admit it.

- - - - - - - - - -

There are many other misconceptions in the popular mind about the Neo-Pagan religion. Unless you've studied it, read about it from sympathetic sources, and then you really don't know anything about Neo-Pagan history, beliefs, practices, customs, art, science, culture, or magic. But it would take several entire books to teach you, and I already fear that I will be accused of trying to win converts (despite what I've said above). If you are curious and willing to learn, try some of the following books:

Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon
Starhawk, The Spiral Dance
P.E.I. Bonewits, Real Magic
Stewart Farrar, What Witches Do.

**Personal Notes: Most of you all would probably not be quite as out-of-the-Broom Closet and that is perfectly fine. For many years I lived where the KKK had a pretty good idea of whom you were and what life choices that you lead. All anyone knew about me was a little bit of nothing, heck no one even knew I had owned a computer until I was packing up to leave town for good knowing that once I am one the road out west that I will never look back. And I have not even thought for one moment since I settled in and around the Denver area ever given it a second thought.

That does not say that there are others that actually live the kind of life that was described in the article. Those folks tend to be a very small minority so I nor anyone else can even answer for those people. This would also mean that the set of answers presented here could not answer exactly how you feel about the entire subject matter at hand. What this will do is give yourself a chance to review you own thought if confronted with this line of questions about your own personal thoughts about your path in general.

Look at the picture.
Name the episode.

Hint: La Forge falls in love with a woman accused of murder.