31.7.08

JUICE

J8 U1 I1 C3 E1 - Double letter score, double word score 17 points



I have this cousin who we will call Jesus Juice (JJ).

Now, mind you I don't have NOTHING against Christianity...I believe in a lot of what the Bible says and the resurrection of the man that many call the Son of God aka Jesus. But what I DON'T believe in are the people who push Jesus Juice on you and ain't had a drink themselves. I liken them to pimps: they try to sell it to you but don't use or sample their own product.

My cousin, who by the way is at LEAST 20 years older than me, decided to call me on a Sunday to tell me how she saw in a dream the 'wrong' way I was living my life. She went on to tell me about how I shouldn't have had a child out of wedlock and that I was basically going to go to hell because I'm not a Christian and how I need to start living my life right because if I didn't nothing financially (the main focus of her too damn early on a Sunday morning rant) will come to me.

Since she is 20+ years older than me, I didn't disrespect her by calling her out on her own out of wedlock child she had some thirty years ago...even though in retrospect I should have to shut her the hell up 10 minutes into the conversation instead of her hanging up over an hour later. So her hypocrisy wasn't welcomed at 8 something in the morning...early enough for her to have had some of her 'juice' (you know, do not judge others and what they do as well as let he who is without sin cast the first stone...she couldn't even locate a stone if it were sitting in her hand telling her to toss it).


Since the SBB (Sunday Bible Bashing) event she hasn't talked to me at all. Instead when she sees me, which is usually over at her mother's/my aunt's house, she says a fake 'hi' and goes on about her business and ignores me in a room of 2 or 20. But her ridiculousness has increased dramatically...the other day me, my mother and my other aunt were at her mother's house...she came in, said the FAKEST 'hello' about three times, abruptly did an about face and told her husband 'let's go.' I swear JJ got mental problems.


Let's not forget about her 'visions' that she has either. Now, I don't have anything against folks who say they have visions...I totally believe in people having the power to see things in the future or to have interpretive dreams that are meaningful to someone in some aspect of their lives. But to have nothing but negative dreams and visions all the time about certain people is a personal problem IMO. She's constantly calling my mother, (who for some reason JJ is on the fence about liking or not) and telling her about how I'm pulling her down financially (again with the money obsession) and that my mother needs to 'let me use my wings to fly on my own.' Or some bullshit like that.

So instead of her having visions that will be useful to my newborn (which she has YET to acknowledge. Hasn't asked me her name, how's she doing, nothing. Since I'm the devil in her eyes, my child might as well have 666 tattooed on her forehead) or something that will be anyway related to being good news for my baby or a vision about how my mother's health will improve or something positive...she INSISTS on always calling folks with nothing but bad news...of course according to her own JJNR (Jesus Juice News Reports).


To be honest, I wouldn't have problems with her calling me and talking to me about the word of the Bible and whatnot...I remember my father sitting in the living room with two white boys from the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints crew discussing the Bible and it's word. I've even had Jehovah's Witnesses come to my house who were nice and cordial and sat in my living room with me and discussed the different religions without judgement towards those religions. And let us all say the phrase that pays: WITHOUT JUDGEMENT. THAT my friends is the problem my cousin JJ has. If she had the ability to talk to me about her faith without damning me and my soul because I do not practise what she practises, life would be fine. But once again, since she not sampling her product, she insists on going against a whole lot in the Bible when she bears false witness, judges me, makes me and other family members (oh don't think I'm the only one in the family that she's done this too...she's going for records) feel like shit when she comes around.


But I have decided that I am going to give JJ a pass...because there is NO WAY on God's Allah's Jah's Buddah's (whoever your higher power is) green earth that she can be happy. She has a wonderful husband, a beautiful granddaughter and foster child (I have to admit that was a beautiful thing that she did for that child) living in her home (which by the way is gorgeous), a wonderful job, and is financially set. However, I said it once and I'll say it again: money ain't the answer to everything. For some reason unbeknownest to me, JJ is utterly miserable and unhappy and I guess she is making herself feel good about herself by bashing and damning others to hell on a regular basis.

As a child born into Christian values but later chose another path to religious nirvana, I have nothing against Christians and their faith. As a matter of fact, I still use the Bible to make points more valid and to help others with their problems and issues. I quote Bible scriptures and follow the Ten Commandments to a tee. I respect Christianity as a faith and those who use their Christian faith to better themselves instead of belittling those who are not of their faith. I take time to continuously learn about the teachings of Jesus and other messiahs in other faiths as well (Muhammad in Islam for example) because we all have a story and it needs to be told and shared; not damned and denounced.

My newborn baby was born into the religion of living. She doesn't know who God is or what Islam is or how to practise Judaism. Her faith will depend on what I teach her and what the world shows her of said religions. I already have a small collection of Bibles, books on Judaism and traditional African religions, Vodun, Jehovah Witnesses Bibles, and the Book of Mormon just to name a few in my house as we speak so once she is old enough to understand and ask questions about religion and faith, I can not only give her answers and discuss that information with her but I can also give her the freedom to scour my bookshelf and allow her to learn herself.

The biggest lesson I want to teach her is that we are not put on this earth to judge someone's path to righteousness and religious harmony. We can have opinions about other religions and faiths which is perfectly fine, but I refuse to instill in her the ugliness of judgement of others. I'd rather have her following her path of religious freedom and enlightenment instead of bashing others and not seeing anything at all.

Hopefully, Jesus Juice will take a drink from her chalice because she has gots to be thirsty right about...now.

1 comment:

Naapali said...

Came here by way of SBPH. Wish you well with raising your child. Hope you teach him/her the importance of asking questions.