opinions are like senior pastors at united methodist churches
(every"body" has one)
((and maybe that's the problem))


here is this blog's dirty little secret. if there are children listening right now, you may want to turn down the radio. ok. are we ready? good. most of what you read on hannah and caroline and (kevin) is...shhh...opinion.

on top of that? a lot of my opinions are based on...shhh...second-hand information. sometimes third-hand. sometimes, fourth. sometimes, more than that. sometimes, way more than that. all of it depends. all of the inspiration is relative. now, there are those of you that understand that. there are also those and will continue to be those (i hope) that are new to this particular fold. they might not get it at first. they will read a post. they might be offended. they might think it's stupid (they'd probably be right). they might think it's worth their time (it's not.) but those are the facts. these are my opinions. by definition, they "rest on ground insufficient to produce complete certainty." and i am cool with that. are you? from time to time, it's healthy to remind "you" of this, what should be common sense. from time to time, it's healthy to remind me of the same. no use getting all bent out of shape over one person's opinion, right? you may agree with them. you may not. if you don't, keep this in mind. you can add or subtract from the "point" of certain posts here. in fact, i love it when you do. you can even tell me what passage of scripture you think would help me work through my and that post's issues. but don't be bothered. why? don't you have enough to worry about? than my opinion? who am i? i am nobody. i am everybody. and everyone has one. take a deep breath.

opinions. "that's what makes the world go round." (sing to the melody in disney's sword in the stone.) one of my favorite tv shows, pardon the interruption, thrives because you are either a fan of tony's opinion or wilbon's opinion. or you are making your mind up while you are listening to them. are you for the bailout? are you against the bailout? mccain? obama? alabama? auburn? coffee? coke? meth? or heroin? hispanics? no hispanics? organization? chaos? where do you fall? what do you think? why do you hate me? who do you love? why? why? why?

as i've spoken thousands of times before here, the "why" is what's important. and it's always the "why" that gets us in trouble. because my way is not your way. and usually, it's your (my) way or the highway, right?

"this is not the right forum". why? because you (i) said so. don't vent in e-mails. speak face to face. "you should come to me." why? because you (i) said so. in your opinion, that's the way it should be handled. romans 12 doesn't address internet ethics. i can't find a passage that does. but we can make it say what we need it to say. so can i. because i am right and you are wrong.

we are all ridiculous.

i love hearing from readers. i love talking to them. knowing that they care. knowing that some of what is important to me is important, on some level, to someone else, even if you don't agree with me completely.

to those of you that i have absolutely lost with all of this rambling, i am reflecting on this. last week, a "concerned" (you know how i love that word) member of our congregation at humc sent out an e-mail expressing her opinion on certain subjects in the church. these subjects included the church's leadership (or lack thereof), the structure (or lack thereof) and the lack of transparency that she felt, in her opinion, could use improvement. well, people went apeshit. why? because they didn't agree with her opinion. they didn't feel that she knew what the crap she was talking about. and thus began hurricane internet. nevermind "why" she felt the way she did. nevermind that she is following, in the best way she knows how, the same christian guidelines as we all are (for those of us that are). she must have been wrong, because she did it in a way that "they" would not have. who cares about the "why"? someone must be wrong. "inflammatory". "insensitive". "disrespectful". blah-by, blah, blah, blah.

church people can be silly sometimes, right chris (perry)?

if you want to be catholic, do it. if you need someone to speak to god for you, cool. i don't judge you. in my opinion, i don't see it that way. i am methodist. i am serious about it. i have it blazed (literally and figuratively) on my person. and i believe that "you" and i are on level footing. you share with me. i'll share with you. but your thoughts, your opinions, the way you interpret scripture, the way you go to church, the way you see fit, the way you think is right...they don't mean any more to me than what all of my thoughts on those subjects mean to you. if we are on even footing, then we can work together. if you think your shit smells slightly more rose-y than mine, then we are going to have issues working together. and that's not opinion. that is a fact.

i "hear" that last night (the "emergency" meeting to end all meetings) went pretty well. softball went well, too. thanks for asking. i asked sarah how she would rate the night, 10 being positive and 1 being negative. she gave it a "7". i can live with that. i was bracing for a "3". "7" leaves room for much, much worse. and i can live with that. can you live with me? i bet you can. i don't have any reason to dislike you for more than a moment. there's a good chance you don't know me well enough to stay mad at me. we can talk, right?

you can read my opinions, and you can share them or not. as i've said before, i cannot express to you (especially you, hannah and caroline) how truly blessed i feel that you would spend any of your time with me here. there are surely better things to do in a day.

if you do choose to, though, don't be silly. don't be offended. this isn't the right forum for that nonsense. and that's an opinion.