Well, I just can't . . .
By now almost everyone has heard of the ice bucket challenge. Two days ago it reached the staff and faculty on our campus on my Facebook feed, and of course last night I was challenged. The context: A dear friend of mine died of ALS in 2006, after about three years of debilitation from it. I essentially "got her job" when she had to retire. So another professor challenged me and two other communication teachers. She doused herself (as did her husband) and posted it.
Well, I don't have time today to douse myself, film it, and put in on Facebook, although it's so hot outside that the idea of being drenched in cold water is pretty good. In these weeks after my mom's passing, I just have limited emotional energy, and I have certain commitments this weekend that are calling my name. So I posted that I would make a donation. But I didn't say to what.
I have always been a little iffy about disease organizations. I've been reading posts about how ALSA does embryonic stem cell research (and therefore kills babies, which makes for a startling headline), and I'm not entirely comfortable with that, to say the least. Secondly, I work hard for the money and I don't know what ALSA's track record is (how much on actual help versus "overhead"), so just handing them $100 is a stretch. I am more inclined to give it directly to a person with ALS or their caregivers to pay medical bills, which can be overwhelming. I saw what Karen went through.
I also don't think a lot of these people (especially kids) who are dumping ice water on themselves know anything about the disease. It's a fad, one that seems like it is helping people. This is not true of many, I know. I am not trying to justify my lack of desire to be doused; my being cold just won't help anyone.
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In a related way, I noticed that a fellow Christian recently posted about her yoga class. I cringed. This person is very public about her service, her mission trips, her family, her "self." I am perplexed why Christians get "into" yoga. Yoga instructors, real ones, know that it is a Hindu worship form. Anyone with an open heart and mind who researches this will have to see the truth. I would love to get some good stretches in for my sciatica, but I am not putting myself under the teaching of a person who denies, directly or indirectly, my world view and Christian theology. Of course, I teach in a public college and some would say I support that system. Maybe. I am even more appalled by churches that have yoga classes. No wonder we are powerless.
As diatribic as it sounds, I believe we are being judged as a nation for a variety of sins, and no, not same sex marriage (that is a symptom, not a cause).
Well, I don't have time today to douse myself, film it, and put in on Facebook, although it's so hot outside that the idea of being drenched in cold water is pretty good. In these weeks after my mom's passing, I just have limited emotional energy, and I have certain commitments this weekend that are calling my name. So I posted that I would make a donation. But I didn't say to what.
I have always been a little iffy about disease organizations. I've been reading posts about how ALSA does embryonic stem cell research (and therefore kills babies, which makes for a startling headline), and I'm not entirely comfortable with that, to say the least. Secondly, I work hard for the money and I don't know what ALSA's track record is (how much on actual help versus "overhead"), so just handing them $100 is a stretch. I am more inclined to give it directly to a person with ALS or their caregivers to pay medical bills, which can be overwhelming. I saw what Karen went through.
I also don't think a lot of these people (especially kids) who are dumping ice water on themselves know anything about the disease. It's a fad, one that seems like it is helping people. This is not true of many, I know. I am not trying to justify my lack of desire to be doused; my being cold just won't help anyone.
***********
In a related way, I noticed that a fellow Christian recently posted about her yoga class. I cringed. This person is very public about her service, her mission trips, her family, her "self." I am perplexed why Christians get "into" yoga. Yoga instructors, real ones, know that it is a Hindu worship form. Anyone with an open heart and mind who researches this will have to see the truth. I would love to get some good stretches in for my sciatica, but I am not putting myself under the teaching of a person who denies, directly or indirectly, my world view and Christian theology. Of course, I teach in a public college and some would say I support that system. Maybe. I am even more appalled by churches that have yoga classes. No wonder we are powerless.
As diatribic as it sounds, I believe we are being judged as a nation for a variety of sins, and no, not same sex marriage (that is a symptom, not a cause).
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