Blogger's Remorse
Here's a blog that I drafted (but did not post) last month. It still makes sense to me.
I don't know about the rest of you bloggers, but I know I have a tendency to rant. Sometimes in my blogging, I forget that I am talking about real people ... even if they are people very far away from me, like the Archbishop of Canterbury or the schismatics of the Southern Cone. The local event made me realize that I am obliged to treat all of them as my brothers and sisters. That is a heavy burden.
If Jesus could feed Judas in that upper room, then I am obliged to extend kindness to the people I may perceive as my "enemies" or even as "enemies of the faith."
posted by Lisa Fox at 3/06/2011 07:00:00 PM
4 Comments:
Extending kindness and disagreeing with someone are not mutually exclusive. I remember a visit to the Diocese in Central Ecuador where I witnessed a vehement disagreement between to factions (for a lack of a better term). After which, everyone went to lunch together. It became quite clear that many of these folks were friends and did not let differences of opinion get in the way of their friendships and mutual respect.
Good point, Jeffri. Thank you.
Your comment reminds me of a story my friend David Fly tells of a time when he was a new, young priest in a parish. He saw two guys vehemently arguing in the parish hall, and he thought he was going to have to break it up before it got violent. But when he approached them, they laughed and declared they were best of friends. As I recall, one of them said, "I couldn't have such a good argument if I didn't love him so much."
There's something in that for me. It's ok for me to rant, or even to attack the money-changers. But it is not ok to attack or ignore the humanity of people I may oppose. I need to remember that -- no matter how much I disagree -- they are still beloved children of God. ... Or at least that's the lesson I think I am being called to learn in this season.
Kindness is so darned inconvenient some days, but a useful medium for delivering the truth. Good to tune in on a Monday morning and find that you're back. Welcome home.
Ain't it though, Frank?
Thanks for checking in.
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