I feel farther from the church now than I have in a long time, but there are good Christians…. A lot of people are basically like—not that there’s only only mistake, but certainly there’s the most common one, right, which is “I’m a Christian because I’m an American”, right—to put it very, very politely: and even without trying to worst-case it, (ie settling the country by torch light), it can be hard not to see the church as a symbol of the unfree part of the American consciousness, you know.

But there are good Christians. Joel is just as optimistic, kind, and moral as anybody else….

(suspicious religious person) But maybe religion isn’t about morality; maybe it’s about Immorality—in the Name of a higher power….!

~ (shrugs) Maybe ‘with God all things are possible’ mean that we should do the apparently impossible, right. Some people almost seem attached to their lack of success, and basically think that the “Gnostic heresy”, so to speak—super-spiritual things without any obvious effect, is bad because it’s (bullying a child) Nice Things That You Are Not To Have, Junior!

Wait until your father comes home! 🤪

So yeah.

But there are good Christians. I wouldn’t want to do to them, what some of them do to me, right.

…. I mean, here I am trying to save money—do you remember that story that George Eliot told once, about the doctor who never took “cheap fish” instead of “dear” every once in a while, and what happened to him?—and then at work they tell me that they don’t hand out checks on Fridays necessarily anymore; it’s when the bookkeeper is here, like ~ 🤪~ and then I go home and I have to sit through two cycles of lights red to green, almost, because there’s this like monster truck doing the wrong thing and that wasn’t even clear because you can’t tell what it’s doing because it’s so big—eventually I just had to go around it….

And it’s like, I know, I know; just don’t fume and fret, right—it doesn’t help…. And I’m trying to remember some of Joel’s stories of his own Earth voyage, right: because it’s funny…. And how I am now, Joel-type books matter to me a lot more than, “The Science and Religion Story of Christianity, When Did The King of Glory Has Been Crucified In A Stable, Begin?”—you know?

It’s like, I’m trying not to get wasted; and I can’t find, my way home…. (Eric Clapton sounds) 🤪

…. And I wanted all that stuff once—knowledge of heaven; knowledge of earth; knowledge of history—but I wanted it as part of a real life of knowledge of my life, and I was confident that it would work…. But now I think that things will have to change a lot, before that’s possible, you know. It’s like it was never designed by these churchmen and schoolmasters to work the way it’s supposed to, you know. “Oh that’s not a bug; it’s a feature.” It’s a feature that my life doesn’t work as a unified whole? “Yes, little one…. Because, now!…. You’ll be a philo-soph-er….” 🧙‍♂️

…. Because as wonderful as Knowledges and such are, you can’t just delegate everything to do with money and emotions to unworthy people, and then attack them for being unworthy; that’s not what…. “If I were a sculptor, but then again, no: or the man who sells potions, in a traveling show”—in other words, that’s a little cliche right, and just makes people More sure that you’re not entitled to use that phrase like they are, right. But it’s not something that people should do outside of the psych ward, or perhaps ‘assisted living’, of one form or another.

…. He’s a good guy. He gets how to be a good person.

(In a cliche—but important—way, it’s about forgiveness and love. I also love what he says with that really familiar Psalm 23 verse which in my woo-woo & abstract way I’ll summarize as saying that this plane of existence is about blessing-amidst-opposition.)

…. People say that Enneagram Threes can be deceitful, but by a strange relation of opposites, they can also be unusually honest, you know. The Churchman has traditionally stigmatized the Three, going back as far as you like, going back to Plato, the First Christian—but the Churchman could learn a lot about honesty and consistency from a developed Three, right.

Instead of: ‘God is the helpless, passive little infant and the helpless, passive little man, and the hyper-passive, hyper-helpless little woman, and he’s also…. (snaps) Death! Death for my enemies, death for all—death forever! (breathing weird)

Or: Shucks, I’m just saying that if we were all happier, we’d be doing alright. (smiles) You know, I had the attitude a long time before I had the money…. (Black screen) Honey, that man’s shirt says ‘acid rap’, on it. Do you think he’d be open to the ways of God? Maybe that man will come to Lakewood….

Or: Yes, such a white folk, and so obedient. There will be peace in our time…. Well, eventually.

Or: Honey, that man didn’t like me. Maybe I need a voice coach…. (beat) Although, of course, people generally don’t like other people…. Oh well! Shucks, I’m happy.

…. “Don’t apologize for God’s goodness”.

This is an author/person that you either like or you really don't. He really preaches more postive than you hear on a day to day basis and that can be very refreshing. ( )

I like Joel Osteen. He gives practical advice with a God tilt. Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week was really good. The stories and examples he gave with his 26 tenets were heartwarming and uplifting. I am a morose sort of melacholy person. But every time I read Osteen or see him on TV, I automatically feel better.

What I liked about Friday is while Osteen encourages a reliance on God, he still promotes independence. God can't do it all for you. You have to get up and try. For someone who is a semi lapsed Roman Catholic who is both an agnostic and an atheist, this makes sense in my mind, I like the promotion of being self sufficient.

Osteen also emphasizes soft religion. I took it as that God realizes that there are gray areas and how you deal with them is ultimately is how God will deal with you. This opposes hard religion where there is the definite separation between black and white, good and evil. There is no leeway.

I did enjoy the Shay, Denzel Washington, John Maxwell, and Billy Graham stories.

I love Joel Osteen. Sometimes when I hear his sermons on TV, it helps with whatever I'm dealing with at the time. He makes me happy. Most of all, he makes me hopeful. ( )

Although I don't buy into all of the bible-based interpretations Joel Osteen uses as examples, his message of being responsible for your own joy and happiness is well presented. He reminds us of the importance of living a positive life, developing gratitude and being an uplifting person. He writes exactly as he speaks, so if you enjoy him on TV, you'll like this book. ( )

Very uplifiting! ( )