More Christian stuff from my Grandmother Madge

and then I'll let you go for awhile as sitting and typing is making me frantic to go outside during a pandemic, outside in the yard where there are no people, just plants and birds and sometimes a couple of stray dogs I feed when they come by.

There Is Still Work for Us to Do

There is still work for us to do--I mean for the Christian Young People of today. Never have there been open so many fields in which youth can attain success. By success I do not mean wealth and position but that personal satisfaction and that feeling that one is needed, that one is doing something important in the world. The fields of medical science, physical science, economics and social science as well as others are eager for the new ideas and enthusiasm of Youth, for we today are not to be confused with that group which not so many years ago was full of pessimism and fatalism, the "Lost Generation"--no, we are hopeful and optimistic. We believe that we have a place in the world and that there is a Purpose to Life. We are "the salt of the earth," the "Hope of the World," the leaders of tomorrow as well as the whole of tomorrow.

Youth today is looking more seriously toward the teachings of Jesus--we are realizing our opportunity and responsibility of living a good life. We realize that we can spread Christ's teachings only by using them ourselves and proving that His way is best. In other words, we see that we must make our lives more Christlike by practicing that part of the Youth/Spiritual Emphasis which says: "Trusting in God for strength and guidance, to be utterly loyal to Christ in every relationship of living at whatever cost, recognizing that this involves genuine honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love."

One of the things that we need most is encouragement to study intelligently God's word. It is only by study that we find direction for action and conduct that we would apply to our group life as well as to our individual living. We believe that Christ's teachings are practical and applicable because we have seen proof of them...the only thing necessary is to get more persons to remember that one should be a Christian seven days a week instead of only one day a week.

Another great need is that the work of the Church should be more aggressive and more effective. Sunday School lessons which we can apply to our living outside of Sunday School should be taught. Programs for our Young People's Groups must be realistic, not merely traditional. We are living today in today's modern way. We don't want tradition unless we can apply it to our daily life. The entire Church program should show people how to be better Christians by giving them living modern examples.

A renewed emphasis must be made to maintain a Christian atmosphere in colleges and universities. This does not mean that Church attendance should be compulsory, but that Christian principles can be taught in all college courses without making them special Religious Education courses.

The greatest need of Christian Youth today is leaders who are inspiring and understanding--leaders who are truly concerned in advancing the Kingdom of God--leaders who will help us look forward to the time when, by our work and our children's work, the Kingdom shall come.

Oh, yes, there is still work for us to do--work for all Christian people. It is not easy work, there is no rest from it, --no vacation which will allow us to forget it for even a few weeks out of a year. It is continual work and the reward for our labor is a rich, full life. The reward is unlimited. Everyone can win.

(Pretty words. But I'm likely to label this drivel and dogma...vague religious castings-about in the face of the uncertainty of the future and for something to anchor oneself with...and just mainly platitudes, with not many concrete examples of how things should be done except for a lot of continued brainwashing...what about the Muslims and the Jews? What about the Hindus and the Buddhists? What about America? She was young, she came from Alabama and her folks were Cumberland Presbyterian preachers, she had not one clue...all they did was hand her a Bible and take her to church and she just accepted it all and kept on doing it, she didn't ask any questions...but when it came down to real life and such, the love and romance poems were her main focus...hmm...I wonder was she self-aware enough to realize what was really going on...Science probably didn't know much about hormones back then...alas, we shall never know what was really going on in her head. All's we have are these little writings here. Which have, for now, come to a pause. Although my mother maintains that someone in the family has Madge's diary and should have given it to her. We don't know where it is. I wish they'd find it and give it to me so I could figure all this out. Some little Alabama Christian girl who was sickly and was told not to have babies and who also just happened to be chasing after handsome Harold Thomas. Surely she was more than just that! I do have a quilt that she made and a few other personal items, some books and letters. A few dishes and linens she hand-embroidered. I treasure these things because they're all I have of my grandmother whom I never knew. I know she loved the opera and poetry. I have her scrapbook full of poems and pictures cut from magazines. She went to college for two years. She married and had my mother. It doesn't seem like much of a life. But I really can't say that because I wasn't living it. From my own point of view, though, I wish she had had cultural and societal support for more choices. But then if she had, I might not be here today to type all this stuff in so you could read it. Here's where it gets absurd and starts to make a loop. I didn't elect to have any children and am therefore probably the last of my kind, from this branch of the family anyway. There is a great-great- or maybe she's even a great-great-great-grandchild about to be born also, a little girl, Avery Ellen, but that's from another person in my family, my second cousin (?) Johnny. His wife, the baby's mother, is an anesthesiologist of Chinese descent. I have not met her. Sad. She's probably smart and beautiful. We may never meet at this point, considering the COVID-19 pandemic. And here's my last bit for this entry...is Jesus going to help us out of this pandemic? I mean, practically speaking? Or will it just be Science? I guess you could say both, depending on who you are, and that's totally fine with me. Whatevs, peeps.)