"Shine out, O Blessed Star,
Promise of the dawn;
Glad tidings send afar,
Christ the Lord is born."

Surprising how little maudlin verses like this bring back my childhood in the Lutheran Church with somewhat of a warm glow, my general anti-christian stance notwithstanding.

This is from a letter from Sister Marian Maurer, a Deaconess of the Lutheran Church, still trying to interest me in a religious career. Deaconesses were the nuns of the ULCA (United Lutheran Church in America) (to be distinguished from UCLA - University of California, Los Angeles).

Reading the letter through, however, also reminds me of the petty irritations the Church could inflict upon me. Stuff about falling down and worshipping Him. Offering Him gifts. Reminding us that our little gifts are as nothing compared to the gifts He offers us. And so forth, and so on.

Enough of this He business. Earthly men have taken advantage of ridiculous language like that for centuries. I have no problem with the Christian church, per se. Walking into a beautiful cathedral is still walking into a sacred space, ever as much as is walking into a beautiful oak grove. I can relate. Until they start in on the HE business. No HERS involved.

I don't think I got it then. I think Ayn Rand was more of an influence than feminism in religion. But one way or another, I never answered these letters.