Trailing Thoughts

It has been a wonderful holiday season. Yesterday, we had our extended family come over for dinner. Soon pictures will be posted in my gallery ( either Friday or Saturday). I also went to church. We attended mass at St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church on LaGrange St. in Toledo OH. This is the church were I grew up. At one time, I was an extreme devout catholic, but some things have changed. I am not so sure catholism is totally right. I was raised to think that God is a loving God and everyone is important in the eyes of God. A few years back, I went through a disagreement about the importance of other religions. I was told only christians will make it to heaven, which I disagree, because we are only humans and we do not have the final decision to make. Anyways, to make a long story short, I changed from good catholic girl that lectored, ministered and attended church faithfully to a good girl that believes in a God that loves everyone and I believe in salvation for everyone, whether they be catholic, jew, hindi or muslim. Where am I going with this– well Father Marek, the pastor of St. Adalbert, had an interesting homily welcoming everyone home and that every one has a place there, that there is always room. He mentioned that among the crowd there were people that attended weekly and people that attended twice a year, but whoever you are, you are a member. This struck me because going to church felt good… as a homecoming. I do not believe that it is necessary to go to church every weekend, or even regularly or on holidays. God knows our hearts and He loves us, but going back to traditions is a comfort when needed or desired, either in times of celebration, like Christmas, or in times of sorrow. I strongly feel that a strong religious background while growing up gives the child a strong foundation for their adult life. This does not necessarily conveys that it should be an extreme education, but something that gives fundamental beliefs where comfort in faith can be found.
Well enough about that, so we went to midnight mass and then came home. Matt and Justin were still up, and we decided to open presents then ( that means that we could sleep in during the day) My brothers Matt and Justin, and I were treated nicely by my mom. My mom gave me my puppy ( of course) and a scarf and a garnet bracelet. Garnet is my birthstone. My Busia gave me a coat tree ( why this, I have no idea), a sweater, and a air filter for my car ( which according to Madhujit, should improve my gas mileage.
We woke up later today of course, and Madhujit and John came over and we ate left overs ( We always over do the dinner on Christmas eve. Our traditional dishes include Oyster Stew, Ham, Turkey and Kielbasa and pototoes and pierogi and of course, the shrimp cocktail — which I do not like– and then all the desserts.) and we watched some movies, including the Christmas Story and Freaky Friday.
I have a new phone. It is again the same one Madhujit has. This time he got the phone first, though I had service first. It has a camera in it and it is a flip phone… I will have to see how I do with this, because I have had bad experiences with flip phones…
Well, it is time to go to bed, for I have to work again tomorrow.