I'll pray that you never have to meet them, because they are certainly out there in spades. You will find them in very subtle comments... but maybe you won't ever have to meet those people.
After seeing The Passion of the Christ last night, I'm feeling really motivated to work on my forgiveness issues this season, and am grateful for the path that my own faith and religion offers. It was a tremendously impacting movie, and I didn't sleep well last night as a result.
I liken it to an experience Mr. W. and I had during our honeymoon. It was late 1991, and the Gulf War was just about ready to break out, and we were in Australia and NZ for a month. The following scenario happened repeatedly, but here's a classic example: we would be having dinner at a nice restaurant when another patron would approach us and interrupt our conversation. They asked us what George Sr. was going to do?
We were flabbergasted. Although I grew up in the DC area, George and I were never personal friends... and I'm sure that even if I was, he wouldn't confide in me like my best girlfriend.
The first couple times were shocking, and after that, annoying. Then some folks were outright scary. They seemed very angry with us for our national policy... Mr. W. and I had a tough time navigating through things (hey, we were in our 20s and not very good at this sort of stuff).
However, we finally decided on a patent answer to strangers: "We are not good friends with the President, and we are just as anxious about the pending war as you are. We pray for peace and hope you will too." That pretty much set them at ease.
And then there are people, who by their accusations, are just wanting to learn more about you.
Reuben, we're all here to learn how to get along. I think that this is definitely the basis of most faiths, but some of us let our egos get the best of us...
Peace to all!
Betsey
"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
