1) C.S. Lewis tried to answer that question with his book Mere Christianity. People of all denominations love to read it and believe it applies to them, yet still reject others who call themselves christian. From an objective academic standpoint, it is often the choice to just accept that any one who calls themselves a christian is one. If you don't, someone will always come up with a "no true Scotsman" argument. 2) Universalists, some episcopalians, some Quakers, and a few others, either don't believe in a hell, or don't believe only their group will be saved. Many who think like this call themselves "progressive" christians. I read some lovely books by Marcus Borg when I went through this stage of my questioning. Salvation for these kind of believers is fairly easy and very generous. Some people believe that you can be a christian by just following the teachings of Jesus as a wise man and that the bible is easier to handle when taken metaphorically, rather than literally. 3) I don't know enough about non- christian religions, but I think some brands of buddhism are very inclusive and non-condemnatory. 4) Once I had many of the same questions you have asked here. I did an in depth study of hell and found it to be largely absent from the Old Testament. There the word Sheol, translated death/the grave/hell was almost synonymous with the greek hades, an underworld where all the dead went. In the New Testament there are three words translated hell: hades, gehenna, and Tartarus. Look them up. Personally, I found no reason to believe that any of them actually exist. My study led me to become an atheist.

Apples stir fried in butter, sprinkled with cinnamon. Stir fried pork with apples, onions, and curry powder. Baked apples. Apple and peanut butter sandwiches. Apple and cheddar grilled cheese sandwiches.

I'm sorry you and your family are going through this ordeal.

When I had post partum depression and looked up the side effects of my medication. I could have sworn I had every single symptom the first three days. I even called the doctor, who thankfully treated me seriously, but told me to just wait and see for a week or so more. Later I realized all those symptoms were part and parcel of my depression and anxiety, not reactions to the meds. I only had one noticeable reaction and that was feeling so "even" that I had no ability to feel extreme depths of emotions, which was what I needed at the time.

I finished Arrowsmith. I could totally see it as a PBS mini-series. It has plenty of the personal angle with the agonies and flounderings of misunderstood idealists seeking pure knowledge, simultaneously dealing with the uncomfortable fact that they are all too human. Also, Bacteriophage was a new concept for me, and apparently it is relevant in today's medical world, especially as an alternative to antibiotics. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage Now I am free! Next up, Smoke and Mirrors:Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman.

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mewed, the new Flavia mystery, is out. Our library had one copy not checked out this morning and I got it! My October line up looks like it might spill into November.

The legend of sleepy hollow.

I am still mired in Martin Arrowsmith's life, hoping to finish up this week. I've been avoiding it by studying for my next CLEP test. From the book: "In novels, these truth seekers quested the "secret of life" in laboratories which did not seem to be provided with Bunsen flames or reagents; or they went, at great expense and much discomfort from hot trains and undesirable snakes, to Himalayan monasteries, to learn from unaseptic sages that the Mind can do all sorts of edifying things if one will but spend thirty or forty years in eating rice and gazing on one's navel."

I'm almost halfway through Arrowsmith. I didn't realize it was going to be an epic journey through an entire life. Arrowsmith has finally finished medical school and his internship, and has move to the Midwest. There are many hints that he won't be content to just be a practicing physician. He has a heart for experimental research. Sinclair's writing style is excellent, but I do find myself wishing we didn't have to have ALL the details of Arrowsmith's life.

This sounds like it's more for the satisfaction of the living, the executioners and those desirous of it. After all a moment of humiliation just before extinction seems totally pointless. The deceased won't care.

A fried seafood platter with fish, shrimp, clams, crab cake, hush puppies, and sweet potato french fries, plus a tropical fruit salad with fresh pineapple and mango. For desert: a slice of death by chocolate cake with a scoop of cappuccino chocolate chip gelato.

Junk food, the same as candy, all types except vitamins.

1983: a friend convinced me to let her pierce my ears. She told me she had done her mother's and her grandmother's ears. An ice cube and and a threaded needle were used. My earlobes were wrestled into submission. I felt it all. My friend told me I had tough lobes. My ears throbbed for a day. One hole was slightly skewed. I never got an infection, but I did have to use peroxide regularly for a while.

Personally, I think the idea that there is a "should" at all, or that the world is fallen from some perfect standard, is the cause of much unnecessary mental distress. My mental health has vastly improved since I realized that perfection is a human construct, and that illness is organic, not spiritual.

As a former christian, I found very little talk about depression, negative or positive. No one with depression was vilified, but I don't think people knew what to do or say for those who admitted being depressed, beyond saying they would pray for them or help them with daily tasks when a need became evident. Then I got post partum depression. I was not ashamed or embarrassed, after the initial disbelief/acceptance of my diagnosis. I just wanted it to be fixed. That probably has something to do with my personality. Even so, I never really talked about it with other christians. I had no idea if anyone I knew was on depression meds or had experienced depression. I didn't ask for prayers and I only asked for help from my mother for the practical day to day care of my family, because I was unable to do the simplest things. I would have found it mortifying to ask a church member to come into my home to take care of my responsibilities. I spent a lot of time sitting in a living room chair thinking of my predicament, while life went on around me. After praying with no relief, I came to the conclusion that God was trying to teach me a lesson. That lesson was the need to surrender my self. To give up everything I wanted/expected out of life and accept what was. So, I created a surrender ritual. When a negative thought entered my head, I gave that thing up to God on a metaphorical alter (in my head)and relinquished my need to have control over it. I needed to do this repeatedly because the depression had created OCD like symptoms. For example I gave up the need to wash all the fingerprints off the walls. I also practiced surrendering during every panic attack. When I felt one coming, I visualized it as an ocean wave. I would stop what I was doing, sit down, try to relax, and let the wave wash over me. I told myself every other wave had not hurt me and I would not fight it. The waves eventually lost strength and faded away, but it took many months, almost a year. Later, When I had another child and began to recognize the symptoms, I practiced the same techniques and I never got to the full blown panic stage. I also decided that after dumping everything on God, including all my responsibilities, I would consider myself a success if I could accomplish just one specific goal each day. One daily goal was so empowering that I would often just pick another thing to do. In this way, along with meds for a few months, my life eventually returned to a place were I could operate without constant deliberation. I was convinced God had shown me these methods of self talk, and that I was rewarded because I had surrendered my complete self to him. Later, I told this story to others as a kind of testimony. However, I never shared while I was actually going through it. I would have hated to be fussed over or pitied. Now, I don't consider a God to have had anything to do with how I managed my recovery. I was fortunate to have the kind of thought process that sets out to solve problems, and the ability to use it at the time. I'm sure the meds helped get me to that point. I say all that to point out that I think each individual's concept of what depression is and how to handle it is very unique. Each person who is depressed has a unique set of circumstances, physical, situational, and mental. The general public, christian or not, has no ability to accurately judge a depressed persons needs beyond the immediately obvious. However, in my experience, many christians do have specific ideas about what they believe depression entails, especially "spiritually." In the worst cases, they may even consider demon possession or attack by the devil. That is far from helpful. Also, they may try "tough love" techniques to try to get people to "snap out of it." I've also heard the the phrase that some people need to "hit bottom before they recognize their need for God." Perhaps that is why many people are reluctant to admit depression, because the response is so unpredictable.

My next book is Arrowsmith, not the band Aerosmith, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Sinclair Lewis. That was our book club pick and I want to get it out of the way early so I can devote the bulk of October to my fall reads. Do I get points for the title having some sort of musical reference, even if it is in a round about way?

Jane, The Flame Trees of Thika is on my TBR list too. We pay a token $1 to be members of a neighboring county's library system. We, and other people in our county, offered to pay a different neighboring county, with an exceptional system, up to $100. They refused us. It was obviously political and funding oriented. They had made a better deal with another county that gave them a large sum of county money to allow all their citizens to be members, instead of purchasing individual subscriptions. Our poor rural county could not afford that.

Last week I finished Young Goodman Brown and Other Short Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I've started The Fingerprint, a Miss Silver mystery, by Patricia Wentworth. I find that I must have read it before, even though I checked my lists. It is very familiar, plus I think I know who the murderer is.

Those words... I knew whistle pig. I've heard dragonflies called darning needles not sewing needles. The phrase tow sack brought a certain pick up truck fad to mind. Thank goodness it seems to have passed quickly.

I was very happy too. Every time I listen to one of her songs it runs in my head for days. I think her fans vastly outnumber the haters, who I don't understand either. I hope her life remains stable as it changes drastically. I saw an interview with Grace and her parents. They didn't expect this outcome going into it. Grace has only been composing and playing the ukulele for less than two years! Even if someone else had won, she is the one whose name would have outshone the others in years to come. They were all great acts in the finale. I loved Sal's singing, too. I would listen to his music.

I fell for the Betty White is dead nonsense that was going around a few months ago, or was it last year? I didn't realize I had internalized the memes until I said something about her death and was corrected. That was embarrassing.

I've seen one yard full of various ads for a particular candidate, some appear homemade. Recently bumper stickers for that candidate have been appearing on pick up trucks. I've also seen two bumper stickers for "Giant Meteor 2016" http://www.zazzle.com/giant_meteor_2016_bumper_sticker-128763236452427756

I passed the American lit test! Crazy coincidence: there were three questions directly related to the Nathaniel Hawthorne short stories I just read. I almost laughed out loud.

Today I will be finishing up the Complete Idiot's Guide to American Literature and some extra research based on questions on the CLEP practice test. I take the Am. Lit. Test tomorrow. Wish me luck.😉

My children and I were travelling the back country roads to their piano teacher's house, on a gorgeous fall day, when the first plane hit. We arrived at the house and entered as usual, it appeared deserted. I stood in the front room and called. The piano teacher poked her head out of the family room and beckoned. We walked in and there were half a dozen other people all standing in silence watching the tv. I was given a quick whispered account. Within seconds the next plane hit. There was a collective gasp. Needless to say, there was no piano lesson that day. I found out later that one of my cousins was a NYC cop at the time. He had a gruesome job.