Desert Oasis

I began Sunday watching an NCAA playoff game between Duke and Virginia with Virginia prevailing in a very close game.  Now all the conference championship games are in the books and the NCAA brackets for March Madness are complete, so beginning Tuesday the big tournament will commence!

We planned to attend church with Tom and Darlene Sunday at 1 pm, so once the Duke vs. Virginia game was completed we began to get dressed.....I think this is the first time I have worn a tie and shirt in a few years.  Tom and Darlene attend the Desert Oasis Ward of the local LDS church, which is not far from where they live.  TLE and I have been Christians all of our lives, but have never attended an LDS (Latter Days Saints aka: Mormon) service.  No doubt over the years you have come in contact with young Mormon men wearing white shirts and ties walking through your neighborhood knocking on doors to witness about their faith.  I have worked and lived around Mormons most of my adult life and have generally found them to be good, hardworking, family oriented neighbors and co-workers.  When TLE and I were heavily involved in youth soccer in Southeast Ontario as many as a quarter to half of the kids on our teams would be made up of LDS kids.  All that being said we have found Tom and Darlene to be of the highest character, and great representatives of their faith, so when Tom recently asked us if we would like to attend one of their Sunday services we agreed immediately.

We have attended various church services of friends over the years, and it is one of the things about people that interests me.......their faith and how they practice it.  I am more interested in what kind of people a particular religion produces than in the doctrinal aspects of that particular religion......how they treat their neighbors, and fellow man in general is what is important to me.  Just so you understand, TLE and I have been "unchurched" for a couple of decades now, so this is not an endorsement of the LDS church one way, or the other, or even an endorsement to be "unchurched".  By "unchurched" I mean we do not belong to, or endorse any particular religious denomination.  We do love spending time with fellow Christians, but also cherish our time spent with people who do not share our faith, and I believe all the many people we have become friends with over these past 25 months of travel would testify to the fact we treat everyone with love, respect, and compassion regardless of faith, lack of faith, lifestyle, etc., and we choose to spend time with people who do the same.

All that being said we attended the 1 pm Desert Oasis Ward service with Tom and Darlene thoroughly enjoying our experience.  The basic tenants, or doctrines if you will, of Christianity, not to be confused with any particular denominational religion's doctrines, are pretty straight forward, and we found nothing in the basic teachings we heard this Sunday regarding Jesus Christ that differs from what we have believed for decades.  

We arrived back "home" around 4:30 and began preparations for a BBQ and a few new friends of Tom and Darlene's from the local Wittmann neighborhood.  Everyone arrived around 6 pm, and we had a lovely time sitting outside in the ramada eating and talking......life is good.

Thanks for stopping by!