Baby Blankets

Does anyone else get a thrill out of seeing pictures of quilts you’ve made with the babies they were made for? I love them.

The other day my sister-in-law emailed me some pictures of my nephew taken with the baby blanket I made for him. I love the fact that he actually uses the blanket. Yes, that means it will get stained and might fall apart at the seams, but at the same time it is being loved. I know there are those who feel like some of these quilts should be wall hangings only, but my thoughts on the matter are that I made them for the kids not the adults.

I still have my baby blanket. It is now threadbare and probably could only physically take only one or two more washings before it completely unravels, but I love it nonetheless. It has been with me since birth and I can’t see departing with it even though that was way back in the day when Elvis was still alive, Jimmy Carter was President of the United States and Star Wars hadn’t even been released yet.

What are your thoughts on quilts made for babies? I’d love to hear about them.

The Animals

This morning it seems the animals are all much needier than usual. What’s that all about?

I have a morning routine, which, with the addition of Dexter has meant another quirk to fit in. Wake up, make coffee, give Lucy her pills before feeding her, feed the cats who will only eat separately and not the food they’re given because Tuesday is a bitch and Dexter is a stubborn little bastard, feed the fish, let the dog out to go potty, take out the compost bowl to the composter, let the chickens out if it isn’t raining too much, collect eggs, let the dog back in, turn on the bathtub faucet for Dexter to drink out of since he refuses to drink from a bowl, forget to turn the water off. Every once in a while, like today, they all seem to want me to give them complete, undivided, individual attention… even the chickens. Of course, I wonder if they think something is going to happen to them soon since the neighbor’s chickens all disappeared a couple days ago. Then again, they are going to be rehomed within the month, so perhaps their concerns are warranted.

The dog and cats on the other hand all seem to be vying for me to choose which one of them I love the most or something. Our normally bitchy Tuesday is all cuddly and purring, something I don’t think she’s done since the nineties. Stubborn Dexter, who is already playful and cuddly, has actually ventured into the living room to rub against my leg, walking back and forth like the cats in cartoons do when they want affection. Lazy Lucy kept giving me kisses and wanting me to keep petting her when normally after breakfast she just goes back to nap for a few hours or until dinner. Crazy chickens followed me and were all submissive and wanting me to pet them too, even the Mean Girls and one of the Wild Girls (Harmony is still skittish, so not her.)

I often wonder if it’s true that animals have a sixth sense about the future. If so, I hope their love and affection they all seem to be showering upon me this morning is a good sign and not some apocalyptic warning. Either way, I love them all and am going to miss the chickens when we have to move and they have to go live on a farm and get used to the fact that the roosters will have their way with them once again.

The Unification of Church and Gay

The rash of recent suicides from bullied teens who either were gay or perceived to be such has pretty much made it obvious that we need to have an LGBTQ support group at our church. Hopefully sometime in the next couple weeks we’ll be able to make that happen.

Yesterday, my partner talked with our church’s social justice cheerleader (a nickname given to her by our pastor) about getting together this week to discuss what we can do to start up a group within our church. While PFLAG is a great option, we feel that our church should have a group for members and visitors. But what the goal of this group will be I’m uncertain, hence, the reason we are going to have a meeting. Most of the time when you hear of churches discussing the issues around homosexuality, it is primarily focused on “saving” them or trying to convert them to the heterosexual lifestyle. Our church is focused on welcoming everybody, regardless of who you are.

About ten years ago I wrote an article about the origins of homophobia, most of which stemmed from religion, and the fact that the basis for this hatred was off of mistranslated words. Further research led me to believe that even taking what is currently accepted as a suitable English translation from the original Hebrew and Greek, still doesn’t warrant the kind of outrage and bigotry associated with the Religious “Right’s” attack on homosexuality unless they also attack menstruating women, children who refuse to be prostitutes because their parents told them to be, or anyone who wears a cotton/polyester blend shirt. Go ahead and read Leviticus… it’s fun. I just find it interesting that there weren’t any words for homosexual in the Old Testament and the two words used in the New Testament, “pornea” and “akatharsia” (which translate as fornicate and uncleanness) have nothing to do with homosexuality. And mind you, this wasn’t for a lack of words in the Greek language to describe gays, because there were roughly 45-50 different words to choose from at the time the New Testament was written.

I think it is time for some healing to begin. I think it is time for churches to realize that marginalizing a minority will only alienate them from mainstream society. But not only that, marginalizing any human being sets a precedent that intolerance, hatred and bullying are accepted, which as a Christian, goes against the core values of the faith. I think it is time for so many churches who have used their platform to spread hate to turn it around and spread love instead. Seriously people, what would Jesus do?


The Vancouver United Church of Christ website:

http://www.vanucc.org/