No offense...

[averygoodun42]

Geoff is such a good man. A couple of Mormon Elders came by last weekend and Geoff talked to them merrily enough. Today they came by again, and we invited them into our pit of a house for water and more conversation (well, they conversed with Geoff; I was busy painting*).

The thing that impressed me was how very tactful Geoff was. He's a born-again agnostic with a heavy streak of skepticism, and the fact that he was able to honestly converse with them without offense was just lovely.

My role was to offer them the water and keep my mouth firmly shut. That seems the best way for me not to give offense when it comes to religion.

Nice, polite young men, though. And I'm sure we'll be seeing them again.


Yes, even though the oil paints are making me ill, I'm painting. I've opened all the windows and doors and turned the ceiling fan on to minimize the fumes. It's still not great, but since the fumes are already in the house thanks to the paintings I've already done, I might as well take advantage of it, you know? Besides, I have to finish this triptych at the very least. Right?

The down side to proper ventilation is that it's frickin freezing in here. I'm currently wearing two pairs of (yoga) pants, thick winter socks, a sweater, jacket and a hat. I was wearing slippers and gloves but while the Mormons were here, the room got warm enough to shed a couple layers.

Comments

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

I've got Jehovah's Witnesses.

They know my POV, I know theirs. We get on quite well, really.

(Glad you're painting.)

Actually, I'm thinking of reviving worship of Thor.

[averygoodun.livejournal.com]

We get the occasional JW, but they don't come round here very often. With keeping my mouth firmly shut, I doubt the Elders know my POV, but if they come round often enough, they will.

(Thanks. It wasn't entirely successful, though. I don't know what's wrong with it, either. grr.)

I'm not sure that it ever went away, but I've never been very keen on Nordic theology. Or Ancient theology, actually. Unless as represented by Stargate. I really did like Thor in Stargate. ;-)

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Thor was in Stargate?

[septentrion1970.livejournal.com]

That's a very useful gift, to be able to remain tactful about religion. Not an easy feat.

You're not endangering yourself, are you?

[averygoodun.livejournal.com]

Isn't it, though? Granted, that as a curious agnostic, he has the benefit of it not being an emotional issue.

Not too much, unless it's for frostbite. Seriously though, having the windows open and the fan going keeps the air clean enough to get by. It's probably not great, but no worse than being stuck in traffic.

[millennia2.livejournal.com]

I love it when the Mormon missionaries come over for dinner; they have such a sweet spirit about them! Did you know they pay their own way for two years on a mission? It depends where they go, but it's usually a little over $500 a month, I think.

Can hardly wait to see your painting!