Yesterday was quite eventful. Started by checking my comments and seeing some not quite so friendly advice by Richardworld. So I answered all his questions and then he wrote quite a scathing entry about me. I then wrote a rebuttal and checked out some of the comments that were left. I was going to write another rebuttal, this time to salted when it was time to go to the fourth of july event Ms. Fong was taking us to.

We go and it is quite packed. There was no available seats on stage. Yet, the layout allowed for lawn chairs and the like. She ended up walking back and getting us lawn chairs that she had in her trunk. (was quite a walk too, 15 minutes there and 15 back) We (me and Michelle) stood in the meanwhile and she arrived just in time to relieve our feet and catch the beginning of the show. We were quite grateful that she A. too us in the first place and B. she got the chairs in a very graceful manner. Anyways, the show was awesome. Though one thing you forget when attending such events is how loud those fireworks really are. I had to plug my ears or risk going completely deaf.

Once the show was over, we went to the car. The lines to leave were really long, so she decided we should stick around in the car and talk; and talk we did. First we talked about some movies and then the nature of parents. I think a got a glimpse of how she came to be by listening to her stories about her mom and siblings. So after literally an hour, there started to be a lull in the conversation. So I decided to ask my favorite question(s): "Why are we here? What happens when you die?" I love to hear the responses because while no one has a lock on the Truth, I do believe everyone has a bit of it and you get a sense of the person. (I really do like getting to know others as I feel that I also get to know a bit about my own self in the process)

Ms. Fong proceeded to tell a story about how she came to what she believed. The entire conversation took atleast another 45 minutes and would take too much time to reproduce here. (plus I'm more respectful now of putting people's intimate stories online when they aren't able to consent to such) To put it succinctly, she talked about seeing a spirit before at a funeral and talked of feeling a presence at home after prayer. She then detailed how her spiritual teacher speaks of the afterlife. Basically, she believes you experience all the good and bad you caused other people and then are then get to choose what issues you want to work on in the next life. Eventually, after all the issues are worked out, you get to reconnect with God and live in eternal love with the presence. So following that (being the skeptic that I am) asked how she knew this wasn't just something made up. She said what everyone always says to me when I ask about how they know what they know, "because I just know in the core of me that it is". I mention that others hold different views about the meaning of life, the afterlife and our purpose here and are sure they hold the Truth, how can you really be sure? She said, "I don't question the service I am to do for God, I just do it because it feels right. This planet has a lot of problems and if we were all to love each other more, this would be a better place". We then arrive home around midnight....

This is similar to the other themes I have heard from people of various religious (spiritual) backgrounds. It seems that the purpose here is unquestioning love. You do what is loving because it is what is needed. With this on my mind, I decided against leaving a detailed rebuttal to salted. (a diarist here) Defending my perspective or tearing her or Richard down does not bring me in line with this unquestioning love I should have. I am gonna try to remind myself that not everyone will be supportive and that I can't always change everybody's mind. If they want to think they are so right, let them. I just know that when someone is truely loving on me, like my first 2 comments in my last entry, that I am inspired to be a better person. We all have doubts in our lives about doing what we know is right and sometimes, the best advice is reassurance. Thank you kaliko and dancingbutterfly for that.

In addition to all that, I ended up watching the movie Playing by Heart. I asked on my yahoo answers account for really romantic movies and they delievered. I fell asleep at 1AM while Michelle stayed up and watched most of it. I woke up and she wanted me to watch it from the beginning, so I did. She fell asleep and I stayed up. This movie is excellent. I think it is suitable for all sorts of audiences and I almost guarantee that you'll like it. Go rent it! The point of the story (to me atleast) is that we all have many barriers to love but that with some patience and persistence that those barriers can be brought down. Hopefully I will be able to play by heart more often....