Hello, · friend!

....Ok so here it is:

Dollhouse is in trouble due to the ratings it's currently getting. If they don't improve it will be cancelled! If you live in the good 'ol USA ond have nothing better to do on Friday night please, please, please put on the Fox channel. You don't have to watch it but will be in for a good surprise if you do.

Any help would be greatly appreciated and if you feel really generous ask your friends or post on your own journal.

There would be a whole host of Dollhouse fans who will be forever in your debt along with me of course.

Thank you for reading.

BTW if you have watched, apparently this weeks episode is based on Victor and involves a serial killer. Does it get any better than that?!!!!

Considering the fate of both Angel and Firefly, do the guy a favour and let him know he's appreciated, will you? ;)

For the past week or so I've been listening to my local Christian radio station - Life 101.9 - on my way to and from work. I grew up on Christian radio, and so it feels a little like going home when I listen to it. They even still play some of the same songs.

This evening on my way home they were playing a program called Turning Point, with Dr. David Jeremiah, and this particular episode was about doubt. And it was one of the things that really struck me, because he approached it much differently than I've heard it approached by Christian leaders, and I found myself agreeing with him. I've heard so many times the quote from the Gospel about having the faith of a child, faith without doubt or question, but Dr. J. (as I will call him for short) said that doubt is a necessary part of faith. In fact, he said that doubt, when followed through to its conclusion, will only strengthen faith. He said that had the apostle Thomas not doubted, he would not have been given the physical evidence Jesus provided him with when he told him to touch his wounds and see that he had truly risen.  Our doubts, when we invest time and energy and prayer in following them through, in researching them and thinking them through logically and with open minds and hearts, will only bring us closer to God.  And that is where I agree with him. Raised in a conservative Catholic family, going off to a liberal college in another state was bound to test my faith. He then said that many people are conflicted when the Bible doesn't have the answers to their questions. I love what Dr. J. said next: "All truth is God's truth." He said we need to accept the limitations of the Bible. It doesn't have all the answers. This is what struck most true with me. I was raised by two Catholic scientists. (That is Catholics who were scientists, not scientists of Catholicism.) I believe that to be one of the main reasons my faith has stood the test of Cornell College.

I know so many people who were raised with some degree of Christian faith, only to fall away when they were out on their own without their family and their home church to nurture it. I have struggled a lot with my faith the past few years. I even have struggled a little bit with my belief in Jesus as any more divine than you and me, but mostly the conflict has been with some of the specific teachings of the Catholic Church with which I was raised. I have had trouble with the teaching that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin all her life, and with the teaching that Jesus himself died an unmarried virgin. Especially since there is, arguably, evidence that Jesus had siblings and was married to Mary Magdalene. I've had trouble with the belief in the transubstantiation of the Eucharist, that the bread and wine at the Last Supper and at every celebration of the Mass are changed into Jesus' true body and blood. But I think thanks to my upbringing, where God was the truth behind all truth, where we cannot possibly understand the mysterious ways in which God works, I have no doubt that we are all loved by the wonderful God who created the universe and each one of us. My parents didn't necessarily teach me to question my faith, but my dad especially taught me that science and logical thinking only provide further evidence of God. This is where I depart from Dr. J.

He put forth evolution as something that challenges the faith of young people today, that it taints not only science classes but history and everything we learn in school. But the theory of evolution, which has millions of years of evidence behind it, has strengthened my faith in God an incredible amount. My dad, followed by my theology teachers at my Catholic elementary and high schools, taught me that the creation stories in the book of Genesis are there to tell us that God created the world. They were written in a time before people could understand the complexities of genetics, natural selection, and evolution. Like the creation stories in Gilgamesh and in Greek and Roman lore, they are myth. The truth is that God created the world and made us in God's image, with unique souls, to love God and to care for each other and the world God created. Science tells us that God didn't mold us in a day from the dirt. God molded us over many million years through evolution. And a God that can do that is more powerful than a God who exists only in the gaps left by intelligent design. The God I know is a big, glorious God. A God who loves us all, whether we are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, or Pagans. Whether we are ministers, salespeople, lawyers, professors, thieves, prostitutes, or politicians. God loves us whether we are black or white or purple, gay or straight or sponges, whether we believe God or love God or not. And knowing that such a big, wonderful God loves me gives me hope and energy every day of my life. And I only hope I can share that love with those I meet, though I usually choose to do so subtly, through smiles and kindness and trying to be a good, supportive listener and friend.

And as usual, I'm always open for discussion. :) Peace!

Peace and good night!

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