Buddhism

Presently the youth at our church are studying Buddhism. Part of the class curriculum involves visiting a place of worship so we helped transport several of the students to the Buddha Community Center for their World Peace Prayer Service. Listening to the congregation chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo in unison was intriguing although I perceived the actual service to be cultish, focussed primarily on the the admonishments of their president Daisaku Ikeda. Nevertheless, the worshipers were more than welcoming and the experience led to some lively discussions.

Dinner Guests

Craig and I assist with the religious education of the youth at our church and one of our responsibilities is scheduling volunteers who teach or lead the 6-week modules. In an effort to thank the volunteers as well as get to know our fellow church members, we invite them over for a meal so we can discuss any concerns, examine the curricula materials and express our gratitude. Tonight our dinner guests were David and Paul. After a delicious meal (thanks Craig!) we started talking about environmental issues and in particular fuel conservation. David currently drives a scooter but was interested in our grease mobile and the whole process of burning WVO. We showed them the homemade fuel station in the garage, our extra containers of WVO and let them smell the exhaust while burning grease. Over and over again Paul commented on how "normal" our car appears and the simplicity of the system we've created.