amyth, I'm glad C and J have your back, and you theirs.

I love us, too.

I aspire to simplicity, but then I go to buy a new comforter and end up spending $140 on stuff that isn't a comforter. For example. My grandma's bargain hunter gene runs strong in me. And if I find a bargain that's got recycled content or made locally or just really, really, cute - I frequently melt. ::sigh:: Plus I've got packrats on both sides. Gonna be a lifelong journey, for sure.

Managed to spill a cup of vigorously boiling water on my hand. Got in under cold running water pretty quickly, then bathed in bowl of cold water. Been out of the cold water for ten minutes, sore but not blistering or even very red. So I can stop worrying? Or keep a close eye out for blistering for a while?

You can probably stop worrying. I spilled a scalding hot cup of coffee on my lap last weekend, and even though I got my pants off pretty quickly, and tried to get cold water on it ASAP, it was obvious right away that I had a nasty burn over most of my right thigh. It's been over a week, and...well let's just say the healing process is gross and I get what all the fuss was about over that McDonald's coffee thing. There is serious blistering. And seepage. And I lost a layer of skin pretty much immediately. You would know pretty quickly, I think.

Amyth, I'm really sorry that happened to you. Yeah still have a scar on my stomach from spilling hot soup years ago. I think the difference is fabric. Fabric soaked with boiling liquid exposes you in a worse fashion. And it takes time to get it off and that means longer exposure. Have you been to the doctors? I finally got stomach burn cured with silver sulfa to fight the infection. Given the symptoms you probably need anti-biotic.

This is where I'm at, too. I have theological as well as feminist issues with the Catholic Church, and the idea of losing salvation is one of my big theological issues. As in, you can't. That's what grace is about.

Wrod. Grace, by definition, is UNDESERVED.

Sure you can, just blaspheme against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29). Well; and also foolishness (or at least forgetfulness), failing to develop your talents, failing to help out the hungry, the thirsty, strangers (quick callback to Hil's comments above), nekkid people, the sick and jailbirds (Matt 25).

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a hotly contested subject. Some (rationally) propose that it isn't possible while Christ isn't visibly present on Earth, because he was God in the flesh, doing the Father's work by power of the Spirit, during that whole incident/caution. It's something that has freaked me out from time to time (particularly once, and here, when I ragged on a Chick tract in an overly emphatic way that called into question Chick's inspiration [implying it was diabolical]).

Failing to develop talents or help the needy is something Christ condemned in the Gospels, but it's also still addressable (it can be repented of and atoned for) and therefore wouldn't mean the death sentence for one's soul.

When I spilled boiling water on my foot some years ago, I discovered the magic of moist burn pads [link] while I was randomly buying anything that might help the screaming pain in my foot. Now I wouldn't be without them. They reduce the pain and probably halve the healing time.

In a pinch, a baking soda paste will help the pain. But you have to refresh it when it gets warm.

I didn't go to the doctor, though I probably should have. But between my friends having a baby last week, me having a seizure last Friday, discovering that my brother has a lesion on his brain on Monday, and falling headlong into my two busiest weeks of work of the year, I just let it go. Given my transportation issues, I wasn't even bandaging it the first day or so, so my boss went out on her lunch hour last Monday, and bought me giant gauze and tape, because she decided that I was ridiculous. I've been cleaning it and putting Neosporin on it regularly, and changing the bandages, and it seems to be healing in spite of me. But it's damn gross.

And it's definitely affecting my concentration, at home and at work, at a time when I can least afford it. Hence petty arguments on Facebook when my to-do list is a mile long!

But I'm glad that you weren't hurt as badly this time!

So my argument in facebook about the Islamic community center has now taken an odd turn.

The new argument is that the building of this is a provocation.

I asked why and I was told it would be similiar to this scenario:

For example: suppose I accidentally(maybe) ran over your cat(or friend or whatever) one day. Now if I was already your neighbor, driving daily in front of your house is not really an act of provocation...now if I actually live across the city and knowing where you live then moved to your neighborhood after the accident and as a result I drive in front of your house daily - you may have reason to believe I want to get you upset. This may or may not be my intention to aggregate you, but one questions at the VERY least my wisdom in doing such a thing.

And if the police chief publicly tell me I have every right to move into your neighborhood and not say a word to you, you might get a little upset about this.

I pointed out that this doesn't track because in his scenario the person who killed my cat also moves next door.

It would be more like if he ran over my cat and a Christian moved next door and I flipped out because omigod! A christian killed my cat and now one has moved next door and they are trying to provoke me into -- - something!!1

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is a hotly contested subject.

True, and I have no idea what it's supposed to mean; but the point is simply that, per the text, it is possible to lose salvation.

Failing to develop talents or help the needy is something Christ condemned in the Gospels, but it's also still addressable (it can be repented of and atoned for) and therefore wouldn't mean the death sentence for one's soul.

Two points:

1. While I have no issue with this position, it's contradicted by the text. The sheep in that passage, the ones who enter paradise, are not the people who repented; they're the people who actually acted compassionately in the first place.

2. With respect to the conversation at hand, this position doesn't differ at all from the position of the Catholic Church, nor does it contradict the notion that one can lose salvation - it just says that one can find it again.