Doubt within Doubt

Whenever I'm in the waiting room at the doctor, I pick up O magazine and search for any article written by Kelly Corrigan. Her writing style and interesting family anecdotes always engage me.

In this piece picked up by CNN, she discusses her parents' faith alongside her doubts. Inasmuch as genuine faith cannot really be understood by outsiders, it's really easy for nonbelievers to claim that faith and reason (or logic) are mutually exclusive. At least it was for me. Close book. End of story. It took a perfect storm of personal experiences, coupled with sermons from a hyper-intellectual pastor, for me to grasp that intelligence and faith can co-exist. (Or maybe I'm just telling myself that to make myself feel better!) However difficult it may be at times, I'm glad that my faith journey continues.

Given all of my initial concerns about a relationship with God, I haven't yet been asked to travel on the short bus singing Kumbaya. Nor has God prompted me to give up everything and serve in a mission in Kenya. Neither seem likely at this time but as Romeo Void once sang, "Never say never." I'm open to anything.

Maybe I'm reading between the lines too much in the aforementioned article but, to me, it sounds like Kelly is embarking on a faith journey of her own. While intellectually she may be where I was years ago on this topic, spiritually she appears to be much more open minded than I ever was.

"Regardless of where I am on the spectrum from atheism to theism, I'd rather my girls be grounded in something, even something that seems too good or crazy to be true. This is why, when the girls ask me about God, I say that people believe all kinds of things and no one really knows, including me, but that I hope."

But that I hope . . .

I hope that she finds what she's looking for.

"From there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 4:29)

The Shallowing of America (Myself Included)

Full disclosure: I get my "news" from the Daily Show.

As the daily news across America is losing relevance, advertising revenue is dropping and newspaper closings are accelerating, I can't help but hope that my New York Times, delivered to my door every Sunday, remains viable. So what if I only read the "Style" section? (Sad but true. And somewhat ironic given what I'm wearing right now . . . )

In a world more focused on sound bytes, I find it interesting that Ashton Kutcher has over 3 million followers on Twitter compared to CNN at over 2.5 million. That's 500K more people, larger than the population of the greater Rochester metropolitan area, that would rather tune in to read a line item about Ashton playing skee-ball with Jimmy Fallon than view boring news updates such as "police search pharmacy in Michael Jackson probe." (As an aside, Son #2 and I played skee-ball just last week. It's my favorite arcade game. And Son #2 is just as cute and funny as Jimmy Fallon. Well, close. Pretty sure I can kick both their butts.)

At 2 million followers, even our nation's favorite mogul, Oprah, has a smaller Twitter audience than Ashton.

So what gives? What is it about this dude that makes over 3M people want to tune into his life every moment of the day? Inquiring minds wanna know. (But not enough to follow him.)

What's Goin' On?

"I don't think of myself as a poor, deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good."
(Quote from Oprah Winfrey)

What makes some people miserable with carte blanche to blame everything/everyone for their state while others take full ownership for their lives and their futures? What makes some clients jump on the "down economy" bandwagon to justify their company's declining revenues while others rally the troops?

To quote 4 Non Blondes:
And I pray, oh my God do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution