Maybe Some Things Don't Change After All!

It's so nice that some things don't change much in this world. I live near a large park, and this week is Field Day week at the park, evidently. Monday there were three buses from Raytown School District and one from Independence there-- Tuesday there were kids from a private parochial school, and Fort Osage there, and today, there were at least two hundred kids from my neighborhood school there, all participating in Field Day.
I remember when I was a child, and Field Day was the day we all looked forward to-- it might have topped the day we had our Christmas Party or Halloween Party at school. It was always warm, and we always picnicked outside, getting to chase each other, and playing games to our hearts' content.
It's comforting that this still goes on, in an era where inflatable moonwalks aren't allowed by the local school district because of insurance issues, background checks have to be done on volunteers, and homemade treats are not allowed at classroom parties. These field days had teachers, kids, and adults who appeared to be grandparents or parents-- I even saw strollers on Tuesday and Wednesday. (As one can tell, I walk through that park nearly every day.)
I'm just finding reassurance in these events, as the world continues to experience global warming, devastating earthquakes, cyclones, mass shootings, and all other such evils.

Thoughts on General Conference and the Neighborhood Nut

Once again, I have neglected writing. I just can't seem to get in a daily habit. It's a good thing I am more conscientious about my kids and hygiene, or I'd be really icky. I've been thinking about the church, and specifically General Conference, which ended last week. It's hard to tell whether any new thing was accomplished from what I can research so far. Maybe that's a good thing.
What I do know is that the Church declined to change it's view on homosexuality, still calling it "incompatible with biblical teachings," while still saying basically we should "love the sinner and hate the sin." I realized a long time ago that that isn't accepting, but still condemning talk, only prettier. Evidently this resulted in a protest in the middle of the general assembly the next day, during which among other things, a bunch of clergy and laity came up and circled the altar and dressed it in black. Outside there were more protests, and the last day of the conference there was a same-sex union across the street, in which a clergy person blessed the sacraments which were used in the ceremony. Who knows whether that's a chargeable offense or not.
In other words, in that area very little changed. On another front, the assembly refused to give District Superintendents and Bishops the ability to change the status of "ineffective" clergy from full-time to part-time if their evaluations deemed them ineffective three years straight. That's probably a good thing, because it might open things up to get political, I guess.
I think the assembly refused to let the African delegation take over the denomination, from what I can tell, though some of the petitions were granted-- but not all, I don't think. One of the things the African church wanted was a recognition of the devil as a real entity, which doctrinally the UMC doesn't actually do. I don't think that part passed, though I could definately be wrong.
On another note, the neighborhood psycho is at it again. On Thursday alone she came up to the school five times between 9 a.m. and 11a.m., and called about ten times, including 3 times in 5 minutes. She was mad this time because the principal refused to cowtow to her. Hopefully he has finally had it with her insanity. The entire neighborhood is up in arms now and on watch to see what evil thing she will do next. She's definately proof evil exists, and a good example of demon possession, in my opinion.;-) I still think throwing Holy Water on her would be a fun science experiment, but nobody will do it so far. I guess I'll just have to be on watch until she gets back on her meds or gets taken away...