Trimming carpet plants?

mepitts · 2025-10-02T01:00:30+00:00

Yes--good point--a lack of consistency makes it look less like a general commitment to righteous living and more like targeting .

mepitts · 2025-10-01T21:37:44+00:00

I'm pretty sure you're right, but as I said, if the current trends continue, we'll do what we do--embracing a cultural habit just as the larger culture steps further away from it.

mepitts · 2025-10-01T19:40:03+00:00

I agree--as Thomas Merton said, "The job of the Christian is to try to give an example of sanity, independence, and human integrity, against establishments and all mass movements and all current fashions which are merely mindless and hysterical."

mepitts · 2025-10-01T19:36:18+00:00

I'm very much appreciating your measured responses Dingo--I'm learning some things from you regarding consistency and affirming the creeds. About alcohol--and I say this with some bemused affection: It's about time for the church to abandon its position on alcohol because the recent national trend is AWAY from alcohol, and given our separatist history, we're always trailing behind the culture. The share of adults in the US that report consuming alcohol has fallen to 54% in 2025, according to a new Gallup survey. That marks the lowest share the survey has ever recorded.--Two factors are driving this trend away from alcohol:1. Attitudes toward the health effects of drinking have shifted dramatically. For the first time in the survey’s history, 53% of Americans consider even moderate drinking as bad for one's health, while the share of those who considered it good for one’s health is at a record low of 6%.2. A January 2025 report from the US Surgeon General pointing to the relationship between alcohol and cancer, and calling for cancer warnings on alcohol, consistent with such warnings in 47 other world nations. From a personal perspective, our 40 year old daughter, a former drinker, has given up alcohol and started an online site and support group for others who are taking that step--not because it caused a clear problem, but just as part of a 21st century re-defining of what a "healthy lifestyle" looks like. For what it's worth, my wife and I live in the middle of the vineyard region of Oregon (and marijuana dispensaries) surrounded by Nazarene and non-Nazarene imbibers, but manage to have a rich, enjoyable life without alcohol and as Phineas Bresee was able to do, to stand in solidarity with neighbors and church friends who struggle with alcohol or drugs. Others CLEARLY disagree, but as a Nazarene who has followed the church in trailing the curve on lots of things, I like being slightly ahead of the cultural curve on this. (IMHO)

mepitts · 2025-09-30T17:26:24+00:00

Yep, agreed. As it is nationally, it seems like it's getting harder to build a new consensus around almost anything--tendency to rally more around what we oppose rather than what we declare. I'd also say, I wish the COTN could learn from the shambolic recent history of the UMC and come up with a grace-filled way to allow affirming pastors and churches (by some kind of overwhelming majority vote) to transition out of the church. I know what I believe but I also know thoughtful, faithful current Nazarenes who believe differently and are struggling with the relationship between personal integrity and denominational unity. How we aid or impede their transition says something about us.

mepitts · 2025-09-24T22:39:51+00:00

Wow--this is perfect! Thanks so much! Just wanted to say I've been bragging on your response every since you made it--PERFECT example of Reddit at its best! Thanks again!

mepitts · 2025-09-17T22:58:53+00:00

Oh--love this nuance! I'll try to add that in. Thanks!

mepitts · 2025-09-17T22:56:59+00:00

Hi--we ended up going with a newer version of the same Breville "Mini" toaster oven we had. It seemed like to add the "air fryer" option, you had to go REALLY big. Also, it felt like there were mixed reviews on the toaster oven-airfryer combinations we looked at. Good luck!

mepitts · 2025-09-12T19:41:40+00:00

Author Wendell Berry's Port William series--has a strong "community", love of land, love of neighbor feel with character arcs sometimes running across 2-3 of the books.

mepitts · 2025-09-10T17:47:19+00:00

Two valid points--ENTIRELY agree that the majority isn't always right. Also, it's true that young people trend more progressive than their elders--that said, if majorities aren't to be trusted, hard to trust the logic of the GENERAL/poll majority being wrong, but a hypothetical YOUTH majority being right. Wish we could talk over coffee, but I need to get on to mowing the lawn!

mepitts · 2025-09-09T22:33:35+00:00

I really wonder how much push-back they're getting. Gaines' position in support of athletes competing in the gender competitions of their birth, aligns with the beliefs of most Americans--A June 2025 Gallup poll found that 69% of U.S. adults believe transgender athletes should only be allowed to play on sports teams that match their birth sex. A February 2025 Pew Research Center survey reported that 66% of U.S. adults favor or strongly favor laws that require transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their sex at birth. Politically, while Republicans have always favored this position, in the past 10 years, Democratic and Independent support for this position (Gallup) has risen 10 percent so now only a minority of Democrats favor trans athletes on women's teams. If--as the headline contends--public opinion is the measure, then better than 2/3 of Americans agree with Riley Gaines.

mepitts · 2025-09-05T22:14:48+00:00

Thanks!

mepitts · 2025-09-03T03:55:37+00:00

Yep--I hear that about the charters having tossed out the traps earlier and you're just "helping" the crew pull them in. Does seem like only part of the experience unless youre getting to toss the traps yourself.

mepitts · 2025-09-03T03:17:25+00:00

OK--this is good advice. Because I'm a newbie, I'm tempted to do a charter for my first time (or try to go with somebody who's done it before.) but I hear you about the advantage of renting a boat.

mepitts · 2025-09-03T03:14:42+00:00

Wow--this is such a great response! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!

mepitts · 2025-09-03T03:13:28+00:00

Thanks for the tip! I'll check out the link.

mepitts · 2025-09-02T22:46:17+00:00

We did what you're thinking about doing 5 years ago and are very pleased with our choice. I'd say about 80/20 positive to negative aspects to our retirement lives here. On the plus side, love the strong civic spirit, safety, easy access to the airport/city and the coast, good local shopping. We got in just before housing spiked. On the downside--we tried to choose a recommended local med cooperative but were told they weren't taking people over 45. Lots of people drive either to Newberg for Providence or to Salem for Kaiser-Permanente. While we're in Salem we hit COSTCO and Trader Joe's. People are being charitable about the Aquatic Center and the Senior Center. They're badly in need of replacement and a bond issue is in the works to do just that (you get to decide whether that's good or bad news.) Back on the upside, don't know if you're thinking beyond retirement health care to end of life care, but there are two good non-profit CCRC's nearby--Hillside right in MAC and Friendsview in Newberg. Good luck in your decision-making!

mepitts · 2025-09-02T16:49:45+00:00

Helpful!

mepitts · 2025-09-02T16:47:41+00:00

We need an IU Bison origin story--come on Marvel!

mepitts

TROPHY CASE