two twenty five...

Pizza and Movie Night last night.

Finally watched "THE GOONIES" with our kids.  They loved it.

One of the 'fun' things I got to do last year was interview 'Mouth'.  You can check out my conversation with him--if you like--here.

What struck me about watching the flick with my kids was 1) how it still totally stands up today.  Hooked 'em, held 'em, entranced 'em.  Totally worked for my kids like it did for me so many years ago.  That's when you know you've done good work.  And the other thing that struck me was  2) the language.

You don't really notice the 'rough' language in a film until you watch it with your kids.  And lemme' just say we didn't notice it 'cause we were tense about it.  We noticed it because our eldest son (9) noticed it and was acting like he was supposed to be tense about it and the reason I'm writing about it is 'cause he didn't notice it 'cause we're particularly tense about language--we always tell them words are just words, it's the condition of the heart and how and why you use a word that really counts--but because he's got some friends who've been raised to be tense about it.

Now let me just say, I don't know their parents THAT well, but from the little interaction I have had with them they have struck me as certainly more 'religiously oriented' than we are. And from listening to their kids--who spend a lot of time at our house--you can tell that using the 'right' words and not using the 'wrong' words is emphasized in their home.

This is a problem.

See, I'm trying to raise my kids as non-religiously as possible.  You might find that funny considering that I spend much of my life preaching and engaged in what could be called 'Church work'.  Thing is my sense of the faith that dominates my life is that it's the opposite of religion. One of the biggest problems with faith is religion.  Say you're a 'preacher' and everyone reacts strongly--most of the time it's a negative reaction.  Say you're a 'producer' and everyone's intrigued.

Why?

'Cause people hate religion and for good reason.

I hate religion.

Religion teaches that words are bad.  I believe words are just words.

Religion teaches that appearance and conduct matter more than almost anything else.  I believe it's the condition of the heart from which everything else flows and you can't change your heart by yourself it has to be changed for you.

Anyway, I was strongly reminded last night to keep at it, to keep raising my kids to know that shit is just another word for poop.

Poop.

Now that's a good word.

T