Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Ode to Z-packs

I know I haven't written in a week. I've been sick, so it's a legitimate excuse. I actually have bronchitis and sinusitis. I finally went to see the doctor yesterday, and he gave me a Z-pack. I think it is helping, because yesterday I was laying on the couch all day, and today I went to class. In fact, I woke up at 6 am and have been going and going all day. I took a quick one hour nap so I wouldn't die, but apart from that, I've been ok.

Yay for antibiotics. In England, they probably wouldn't have given me those.

"Just drink lots of water, take some paracetamol (a British painkiller) and get some rest. You'll be fine."

I was actually told that the last time I went to the doctor for a sinus infection in England. I don't know how I survived in that country...

So the Z-pack is helping, and all I do now is cough up phlegm and blow my nose constantly. I probably have dried boogers hanging out of my nose. At this point, I don't care a whole lot because there's not a lot I can do about it. I carry a roll of toilet paper around in my purse. My nose is raw. It hurts when I blow it. I need some extra moisturizing lotion or something to help that.

I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about my nasty sickness.

So I'll stop.

The other day, Carolyn and I were driving down Texas, and we saw some old people holding a sign... something against capital punishment, I think. That was all. One sign, four old people. It made me think of the song "Belief" by John Mayer:

Is there anyone who ever remembers
Changing their mind
From the paint on a sign?

It's so true. Carolyn and I were joking about reading that sign and thinking, "Oh! Yeah! No more capital punishment! It's so wrong!"

So I'm not getting into a discussion on my views of capital punishment, but I don't think anyone is really going to change their position on the issue just by looking at someone holding a sign.

It's like the abortion rallies. Is that really going to make women stop getting abortions? I personally think that is the complete wrong thing to do. I sadly admit that I used to stand in front of our church when I was little and hold signs protesting abortion. Saying that it was murder and that it was sin. I was pretty young, so I didn't really know what I was doing. But now, I think about the message that that was sending. I can imagine being a woman who had had an abortion. I would probably see those signs and feel very guilty about it. I would probably already be feeling guilty, but seeing those signs would make me feel worse. Seeing a bunch of people in front of a church would make me think that I wasn't welcome in the church because of what I had done. I would probably keep the abortion a secret, hiding guilt and shame from those who are supposed to be representing the love, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.

It's so twisted.

I wish that Christians didn't do so much of the stuff we do. We dispense so much ungrace, and the world doesn't see Christ. It sees condemnation and judgement.

We call homosexuals fags and say they are headed to hell.

Oh, that'll make them want to be straight.

And it'll sure make them want to go to church and seek a loving, forgiving and life-changing God.

I just want to cry when I think about the image we are sending to the world.

I guess if I want to see Christians change the way they treat others, I need to start with myself, because I'm certainly not perfect.

Well, I need to go now because I'm pretty tired, and I'm still sick, so I need rest to recover.

Thank you all for your prayers. God is good!

-Katie

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, I agree with everything you just said! I feel the same way!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you're feeling better and I love reading your thoughts!!