This blog is late. Sue me.

I'm really tired and this is almost late and I don't feel good, so this should be a pretty short blog.
I feel like this weekend should have been better than it actually was, but I just fail like that. On Friday night, I went with my mother and brothers to our first regular services at a synagogue we just joined. My mother has been pretty adamant about us having a stronger Jewish identity, and we have jumped around from temple to temple for a while now with little luck. I am not a very religious person, which you can probably tell. I don't believe in God, although I don't necessarily call myself an atheist. I find atheists to be angry people who are determined to tell you that if you believe in some higher power, then you are stupid and wrong. I support people of all religions to believe what they want, as long as they don't preach it to me. I prefer to call myself a humanist, which is someone who supports human rights, equality, helping those in need, all in an open-minded manner. However, I still want to feel more connected to my Jewish roots. There is a culture revolving around Judaism that I love, from the history, to the stereotypes (which are often true!), to the food, to everything really. So far, I have been extremely happy with this synagogue. It is reform, so they take a more open minded approach to Judaism than some other congregations. Although Friday night's service was a family service, with many little kids all over the place, I was actually very much moved by it. We read some wonderful excerpts with which I strongly connected. What really hit me, though, was when I was flipping through the program book and saw the lyrics to the Hanukkah song "Light One Candle." There was a cute third grade chorus singing that evening, and they sang it at the end. However, the moment I saw the lyrics, I almost started tearing up. They immediately brought back memories of Hanukkah when I was younger and this yellow cassette tape we listened to every year, which happened to contain that song. ATTENTION. WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM FOR A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. GLORIA DUAN IS BEING OBNOXIOUS AND WON'T LET ME FINISH THIS BLOG. SHE HAS BEEN MENTIONED. HAPPY?? But as I was reading the lyrics, it hit me how absolutely beautiful the song is. It spoke so clearly why my views of humanism and Jewish culture fit together so perfectly. You can read the lyrics here: http://www.peterpaulandmary.com/music/14-10.htm

It is late and I am tired. Goodnight.