Road Trip: Day 3

[cptntiller]

The morning came early, but for the most part with great rest! We were up and at 'em, ready for battle and exploration. Joe, my gracious host, is a UU minister-in-training, and it was time for my first ever UU Service. As Joe was playing a part in the process, we got to service a bit early, and I got to explore the beautiful church. I was particularly taken with a display of paper cranes. And I then shot them for far too long. Now I will bore you with those photos:









I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the service, having been raised upon loads and loads of catholic services, loaded with boredom. I'd label my UU experience a good one. A very friendly, welcoming crew of people. Interesting service too.

From service, we maneuvered towards a loverly lunch with Joes friend and former Housemate. Kyohei was a lovely person to meet, and we had a grand luncheon before Joe was shackled off to work near Hyde Park, leaving me free to explore and examine the area, which was a lot of fun. I wandered across the park area to stare at the frozen lake:


and then made my way around, wandering through the open exhibits at the museum of science and industry, and then just kind've exploring the neighborhoods. I love doing this. I learned that Chicago's nickname of The Windy City is CERTAINLY well earned, but I greatly enjoyed wandering and exploring.

When Joe finished work, we traveled into the suburbs to meet the friend of Joe and another one of my friends, Ben. We gathered pizza at Giordano's before I was brought to karaoke at a gay bar nearby. I don't often involve myself in karaoke, but I ended up having a great time, met alot of fun people, and even sang. [Sodomy from HAIR, Papa Loved Mama by Garth Brooks, Mr. Cellophane from Chicago] No one died from my singing, which is a miracle of science, and we made our way home having enjoyed the day.

A bit of relaxing and talking at Joe's casa was the nightcap to a wonderful day in Chicago, and we headed off to sleep-land.

Comments

[bardcat.livejournal.com]

Chicago is a great town. The cranes are quite colorful. I personally think there is a lot to be said for the UU and I know there is a lot to be said for road trips! I think they kinda open up our spirits in ways nothing else can do.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

psst, bardcat! can i photoshop out the two whatevers coming out from behind your head and send you the retouched jpg? this image makes you look like Ray Walston when he was starring with a very young Bill Bixby in "My Favorite Martain"!

...

[toddpage.livejournal.com]

I 100% intend to live in Chicago at some point.

I love that city.

I find myself with a great amount of respect for UU

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

my feeling (almost completely uninformed feeling) about the UU is they're far more into Spirituality than Religion. they borrow from all sorts of organized religions for insights, but they to subscribe to any of the hard-and-fast doctrines of any of them.

(that having been said, i'm not surprised you felt welcomed and somewhat intrigued)

i think of the UUs as the Bruce Lee of Religions. Lee went around the world asking some of the best martial arts instructors of all disciplines to teach him. Lee wasn't interested in being the best at any one discipline, instead he recognized the truth in the idea that every master had something of value to teach him.

...

[toddpage.livejournal.com]

They are - and that sounds like a great fit to me. I'm really just over the church thing.



That sounds like a wonderful description of UU.

I may pursue them here. We'll see...

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

i see a very distinct difference between Religion and Spirituality. to me, Religion is doctrine, dogma and rules, rules, rules; Spirituality is about an individual's connectiveness to something far greater than themselves.

anytime an organized religion puts dogma over the actual teachings of it's spiritual leader, they've lost me. for instance, at the heart of Christianity are two very simple ideas: (1) love God; (2) love each other as you love yourself. Seems to me this is about as "Love is all you need" simple as it gets. And, in fact, that quote from the bible is Christ's reaction to all of the bickering and hair-splitting that had gone on for years and years over the Ten Commandments. Christ, in essence, said, "Look, people -- Ten Commandments were too many for you to wrap your heads around without arguing over? Fine. Let me make it really simple for you: Love God, Love Each Other. Period. Think you can handle that?"

and, well, sadly, the answer for most Christians, is "No."



me, i was raised low church episcopal and was the Good Little Acolyte for many of my early-teen years. finally i hit a point where the contradictions of Religion got in the way of my Spirituality and it took me a few decades to get over all of that.

now i prefer to sit in the quiet of a room and talk to God.

looking back over my life and the people who have stood out the most, i think the majority of them are people i would classify as very loving, giving and spiritual. not religious so much (although a few were also religious) but their connection with me and with others was not superficial. there was an appreciation for other people, a refined quality to the love they gave that i attribute to being spiritually attuned to the world around them.

(ramble ramble ramble...)

...

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

oh -- and i forgot to include this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_and_the_Thousand_Paper_Cranes

it's a great kids book.

...

[toddpage.livejournal.com]

Will read!

[leafshimmer.livejournal.com]

I really love all those shots of the Cranes--simply magical.

[toddpage.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Shimmer!