Hello everyone. I had the opportunity to listen in on our church choir practice the other day. All I can say is..... better bring the tissues. They have a wonderful presentation to display on the power point screens and if there is a dry eye in the house, then I will be a monkeys uncle. Even my hubby had big ol tears dripping and it was just a bit of practice.

What an awesome price our Lord paid for us mere mortals and our sins. How he loves us !! And how I love HIM !!

Blessings,
Carolyn

AMEN to that. I am so unworthy of his gift.

Of course, being gardeners, we should also recognize the ancient pagan origins of spring rituals. There have been spring rituals celebrating the seasonal renewal of life since long before the Christian era, just as "Christmas" trees were honored long before Christ was born. :-)

IOW, perhaps this isn't really the place for religious discussions. ;-)

Well, since you seem to know so much about Easter, maybe you can also explain eggs and chocolate bunnies(lol).

Thanks for the reminder Jan. We can all use a little encouragement sometimes!

Doug

Eggs are pretty obvious symbols of spring rebirth. In fact, eggs have been dyed for spring celebrations since the days of the Egyptians. And rabbits are an ancient symbol of fertility. Heck, even Easter itself is named after Eastre, a pagan goddess of spring. :-)

Hey, you asked! LOL.

What to say? My faith is my life. I also believe that everyone has the right to choose their own faith and their own God. With that said, Amazindirt, the kind thing to do when someones starts a post that you don't believe in or honor, then say nothing instead of hopping in and trying to start a written war. Trust me, when it comes to person's faith, you will not win the war, so why start one? You have the right to start your own post, say what you want, believe what you want and declare your love to your own God, just as we do.

Is this the right place to talk about our God? It is for us, maybe not you, if that is your choice, then respect us enough by just say nothing.

My love for our mericful God is unshakeable. My love for the risen Christ on Easter is filled with awe and very humble to know that Jesus gave his life so I might one day live in Heaven. I pray that each and everyone of us was blessed on Easter Day with the same Grace, Mona

If your god is about breaking rules/laws (You are very clearly in violation of the rules of Gardenweb), pushing beliefs on others (This is really not the place and some don't won't to have to read your non-garden comments), and starting petty wars when you're in the wrong, then surely your god is not my God and not what Easter is supposed to be about!

Celebrate Easter as you will, but PLEASE use Gardenweb for what it's meant for! I'm pretty sure you wouldn't appreciate it if someone wrote about Budda or maybe the gods of wicca and posted them for you to read.

Yo, Brandon7, chill.

You may not agree with someone posting about "non gardening related" topics, but as of your last post, your doing the same thing. If you dont want to read non gardening related topics, then dont click on a string titled "EASTER". This practice also works with radioes and televisions.

I personally dont take offense at what Jan or Amazindirt posted. I offered a light hearted jab and got one in return......no harm done. And if someone wants to post about Budda or the gods of Wicca I dont have a problem there either. Its called tolerance, and I believe its a pretty strong Christian virtue.

My apologies in advance for all those offended by my post.

Huh?? Mona, whointheheck is trying to start a war?? Certainly not me!!

Jan posted that we should remember the "real" reason for Easter. I simply pointed out some of the many "real" multicultural aspects to the celebration that we call "Easter" -- most of which have been around much much longer than the Christian faith has. And most of which have quite direct connections to our gardens, gardening, and the natural world. :-)

You speak of respect. How about trying to show others a little of the respect that you want for yourself? Talking about other beliefs and other facets of spring holidays is not an attack on your beliefs. Why do you insist on interpreting it as such? In fact, I haven't even told you what **my** beliefs are -- so don't assume that you know anything about them. This is one of the main reasons why I said that this is probably not a good place to discuss religion. Someone is always bound to feel attacked!

Now -- how about we get back to talking about GARDENING?? For instance -- did you know that lilies, like Easter lilies, are ancient pagan phallic symbols? Ya learn somethin' new every day! ;-)

So Gardenweb rules are meaningless? Anything goes huh? Where will we draw the line?

Let me make a few points you seem to have missed:
1. My above post was to try to get us back to gardening, as is this post.
2. How are we to know that the post "Easter" doesn't contain gardening related material? There's tons of garden related Easter stuff! Step back and take another look.
3. There's a reason the rules for this website were set up, and that reason wasn't just so they can be ignored. If Spike were back, people blatently ignoring these rules would have already have been tossed. We're just starting down that slippery slope and I think we shouldn't go further.
4. Please don't tell me to chill. I wasn't the one threatening "war" (a Gardenweb jihad). Did you read the above posts or just respond to me? Why are the people that want to break the rules more important than the rest of us? A friend of mine was basically attacted above and I will not stand for a bunch of bullies taking over a great public forum for their own selfish reasons. I am also offended by someone trying to stand up for God by using hate and threats.

I know that I've been burned numerous times for saying stuff, that someone who didn't know me, didn't realize that in my posts I usually have my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. LetÂs try and not wear our hearts on our sleeves so much. The problem with written messages is that you canÂt see the expression of ones face or the tone in their voice. I usually have a wry mischievous smile on my face when posting so please keep that in mind. I really try not to get weighed down with serious squinted eye stuff unless itÂs called for. My personal preference for this Forum is a light-hearted fun family kinda deal. A lot of us that know each other well enough and understand each other but there are a lot of folks on this Forum that I've never met before! So if we haven't met.....come to the Middle Tennessee Plant Swap on Saturday May 20th and see, live and in person, what a sarcastic, non-entertaining, worthless, uneducated goob I really am. Feel free to make fun of me as most attendees already do. Then no matter what I post, you shouldn't be offended. Actually youÂll probably just shake your head and feel sorry for me.

Aside: THOSE LAST THREE LINES ARE ME BEING SARCASTIC AGAIN, PLEASE DON"T ANYONE TAKE IT PERSONALLY!

ItÂs been my experience in the last six or so years that Jan, Mona, Doug and Bec love everyone they meet and treat each individual with respect and compassion. (Well, except for the "volunteering" me to be Swap Secretary thing) They are all incredibly selfless and helpful to a fault. We wouldnÂt have a MTPS or the MTPS webpage without them. Most of us here owe them an enormous debt of gratitude!!! I wouldnÂt have a yard full of free landscaping nor would a few other hundred or so of you folks!!! So BIG HUGE thanks and hugs to all you guys! If you can't get along with those four cut-ups then you need to be in totally-no-sense-of-humor isolation cell somewhere. :-)

(OK, THAT LAST LINE WAS MY LITTLE LAME ATTEMPT AT HUMOR; NO PERSONAL ATTACKS THERE EITHERÂJUST GENERALITIES!)

Just for future reference, if you EVER are offended or have a problem with anything that I might post-----please call or email me personally to discuss it and donÂt drag out the old poison pen on GW. My email is jtoothmanindadj@comcast.net, my cell is 615-310-4155. As IÂve said many times before, our place is open to any of you that would like to come by the crib and hang-out with Lavonne and me. Shoot, give us enough notice and weÂll probably even Chef Jeff some grub on the grill for ya. We have tons of weeds and other yard work that I canÂt devote the time I need to get it done so donÂt be surprised if we ask you to spend the night and do some work at Cheapwood while youÂre here.
See that was a tad sarcastic too. I wouldnÂt dream of seriously asking you to work in my yard. Now if you offer then thatÂs a different story.

"LetÂs try and not wear our hearts on our sleeves so much. "

Absolutely. And let's try not to interpret every comment that presents an alternate viewpoint as an attack!

"If you can't get along with those four cut-ups then you need to be in totally-no-sense-of-humor isolation cell somewhere."

And remember -- "getting along with" someone shouldn't have to mean marching along in lock step. Alternate viewpoints should be welcomed or at least respected, not stomped on.

Now, Jeff -- speaking of spring and gardening -- how did your bananas do over the winter? My basjoo is slowly coming back, but it looks like I lost my orinoco and "Ice Cream" altogether -- even though I had them in my pseudo-greenhouse all winter. I'm disappointed!

Doc I can't argue with that. Well actually I could because I can argue with a stump and talk the horns off a goat. Without conflict and controversy this would be a dull place to live. ItÂs only human nature to balk at a viewpoint you donÂt share. I don't agree with everything that comes out of Lavonne's mouth either but I still love her unconditionally. Obviously, if she disagrees with me then she's totally wrong of course but I still love her anyway. And if anyone tells her I said that then I will deny it and call you a liar! ;-)

Religion, parenting and politics are raw nerves just waiting to be stepped on and I donÂt care who you are. I want everyone to know and agree with my opinion because IÂm passionate about it and you should accept it if you are in your right mind! My opinion validates my existence and if you donÂt agree then you are annulling my reason for being who I am. If you invalidate my opinion and how I live my life then it becomes a personal attack without meaning to be. And the older I get the less tolerant I am so donÂt argue with me, IÂm right. Ok, enough Psychology Today already! IÂm done on this topic, everybody kiss and make up then take some Valium and relax. ;-)

(Special thanks to Rob Ogletree (MountainGrown) who is the Cool Daddy of all Tropicals in TN.)
So thanks to Rob, our MusaÂs are back for the fourth year. My biggest one hasn't come up so it looks like he's a goner but there are half a dozen pups from last year that are looking good and my next-to-biggest one from last year already has a 4" diameter and is 3" tall. IÂll probably bring some to the Swap along with more Crinium, Liriope, Castor Beans, Iris and Datura. We've got some other stuff to bring too but I don't know what it is. I need Marty or Dr. Renee to come by and label everything in the yard for me. I am the village plant idiot you know. ;-)

That dark maroon thing you gave us is really looking pretty cool and one of the two Hardy Hibiscus actually was. ;-)

"Religion, parenting and politics are raw nerves just waiting to be stepped on and I donÂt care who you are."

How right you are. And that's enough said about that!

Now -- At the moment, I don't remember what that "dark maroon thing" is -- but if I think of it later, I'll let ya know. I'm glad it's looking good, anyway! And don't give up on that second hibiscus quite yet. Several of mine are just baaaaarely starting to sprout right now, so just give it some water and see what happens in the next week or two.

I love spring!

I'm sorry I ever started this thread. It has been turned into something dirty and hateful and that is not what I intended it to be.

If I have offended anyone, please let me appologize for I never meant to.

Please everyone, let this thread die...no more posts here, I'm begging you. You have all had me in tears, and I can't take any more. If you have anything more to say on the subject please email me directly

Let this be the last post, I'm begging you.

Jan

Jan! For heaven's sake, please don't cry about this silly thread. There is nothing dirty about the natural world except in the literal sense of dirt under your fingernails -- and the only thing even mildly hateful about the thread was Mona's accusation that I was trying to start a war. And even that accusation was understandable, because as Jeff said, religion touches raw nerves in everyone.

Now, perhaps you can understand a bit better why this is not the appropriate place for religious declarations. There are Christians AND Jews AND Muslims AND Hindus AND Buddhists AND Wiccans AND many other folks here, so any proud announcement about the "real" reason for any celebration is bound to offend somebody. This is GARDENWEB. Let's talk about GARDENING, okay?