There are certain topics I have written about over and over again on this blog.  Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) would be one.  Moxie would be another.  There are other topics on which I have only skimmed the surface, mostly divisive topics like political parties and candidates.  My mockery of Tee Vee must be offensive to some, as well as my occasional disregard for cheap bleep from China.  If a reader is offended because I see no point in voting in anything but local elections and I’d like to buy shoes made by a neighbor, we can part in peace.  There are lots of other blogs in the inter-clouds; some might even offer coupons for free Tide.

I think my readers probably know how I feel about cheap sentiment, e-blasts, and spam.  Wait…I haven’t written my blog post about spam yet, but one of these days I will.  I am not a fan.

I’ve even written about the unpleasant topic of economic collapse from time to time.

One topic I have written about obtusely is God.  Long discourses on The Divine open the door for all kinds of crazies and hypocrites spouting Bible verses they’ve read under the eyes of professional football players.  I’ve been a hypocrite about these things from time to time, too, and that’s why I haven’t written much about God here on this blog.  I’m trying to pare down the things in my life which don’t honor The Divine and I’m trying to avoid hypocrisy, as much as that is humanly possible.

Last week, I got an e-mail I thought was spam.  It was for some internet promotion and it included a ten dollar coupon I could use on with my first purchase at a website which apparently offers everything I love for less.  I’ve seen some of my Facebook friends “like” this site and I’ve always wondered about it.  But I’m not a big “joiner.”

I deleted the e-mail and assumed that was the last of it.

Yesterday, I got another e-mail about the promotion.  It was a friendly reminder that my $10 coupon would soon expire.  I looked at the e-mail more closely this time.  The sender’s e-mail didn’t seem like a spam bot.  Let’s say it was something like crazy4jesus4eva@blablamail.com.  I did some research and was shocked to realize that this note had come from someone at the church I previously attended in New Hampshire.  I didn’t know her well, but she seemed like a perfectly lovely person.

I was troubled and I contemplated sending her a long e-mail about how the pursuit of worldly goods is antithetical to the spiritual claims of Jesus Christ and that there was a certain stink of hypocrisy in her sending me this particular garbage.  I thought about the trouble that might ensue and perhaps the hurt feelings.  I’m no divinity scholar; who am I to take on the legions of people who profess to believe in something and then behave in a way that makes that belief system a joke.  The truth is, I’ve been troubled by my own boatload of worldly goods lately and have felt more like the rich young ruler than Mother Theresa.

This is not a new dilemma for me.  I’ve shared it with Reggie before and he’s presented a few logical facts.  Today is Friday and I don’t have a lot of gas left in my spiritual tank for taking on the world.  I’m going to delete the e-mail I got from this woman and share some words I got from Reggie about religion and Jesus:

‘You should remember the origins of the word “religion,” which are in ligare, to tie together.  Religion is what which ties us together.

America has a religion, but Jesus isn’t part of it.’

These are tough words for a Friday; I send them in peace.