Writing is not as easy with a newborn...
That being said, I've been working on collecting my thoughts on a variety of issues. And in the spirit of all things Trinitarian, I have 3 areas that are coming together for me.
1. As it turns out, I'm a terrible gossip. I don't mean to be. It starts off as venting and then before I know it, I'm just being mean and trashing people. It's the danger of the slow fade into sin and the reason I know I need to "avoid the near occasion of sin." I really started realizing how most of my conversations with a close friend of mine were always turning toward our now-difficult relationship with a mutual friend. I knew I was not being loving to either of my friends by continuing in this line of discussion. All we were doing was licking our proverbial wounds and nobody was actually getting past the injuries and forgiving our friend. It seems to me this is not what Christ asks of His followers. (Thankfully, my co-gossiper was feeling equally convicted on the need to stop this so we have been working together to do better.)
2. About this same time, I read a blog where the blogger posted an email written in by one of his readers where she implores people not to bring their young, noisy children to mass on account of the fact that she has an illness that makes her very sensitive to certain noises. She further made her point by suggesting children can't understand what's going on anyway. Shockingly (not!), the comm-box became flooded with arguments from both sides. People on both sides were angry. They were hurt by the other commentors' lack of selfless thinking. (Regardless of the side they took on the issue, most of the comments seem to boil down to "the rest of y'all aren't thinking about what's in my/my family's best interest, therefore y'all are being seflish!" Amazing.) But I couldn't tell anybody was suddenly having an epiphany and changing views. It just seemed more like a heated, pointless debate.
3. Then, as kind of a backdrop to all of this, there are the endless updates from anti-abortion/pro-life news outlets and blogs about Gosnell, all that he is about and the apparent lack of "MSM coverage." I'm not seeing much news lately, I don't have cable, but I will concede this issue hasn't exactly cropped up on the Yahoo! ticker. That being said, the coverage of this guy on less-mainstream circuits and, from what I've been told, on social media seems to amount to a lot of really gruesome pictures and rightful disgust over what this guy has done. But what seems to be lost in all of it is anything beyond finger-pointing and "you horrible, bad man!" The slaughter of children is appalling. The maiming of women is despicable. The fact that a person can reconcile it within themselves that these actions are ok is quite tragic in and of itself! But I don't think anybody is exactly adding Gosnell's name to prayer chains for his repentance conversion, and salvation.
So, I'm seriously wondering, are we adding to the hate? I took the first issue to confession. I was sorry for what I had done when I walked in, but boy did the priest let me have it! And rightly so. I needed to be reminded of the gravity of what I had been doing. He made it perfectly clear to me that my gossip was driving people from Christ and that I was not behaving as an ambassador for Christ should. I have heard it said that gossipers spend their time in purgatory being hung by the tongue. I wonder if that punishment is extended to all of us who tear down people with our words.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God. Amrn
That being said, I've been working on collecting my thoughts on a variety of issues. And in the spirit of all things Trinitarian, I have 3 areas that are coming together for me.
1. As it turns out, I'm a terrible gossip. I don't mean to be. It starts off as venting and then before I know it, I'm just being mean and trashing people. It's the danger of the slow fade into sin and the reason I know I need to "avoid the near occasion of sin." I really started realizing how most of my conversations with a close friend of mine were always turning toward our now-difficult relationship with a mutual friend. I knew I was not being loving to either of my friends by continuing in this line of discussion. All we were doing was licking our proverbial wounds and nobody was actually getting past the injuries and forgiving our friend. It seems to me this is not what Christ asks of His followers. (Thankfully, my co-gossiper was feeling equally convicted on the need to stop this so we have been working together to do better.)
2. About this same time, I read a blog where the blogger posted an email written in by one of his readers where she implores people not to bring their young, noisy children to mass on account of the fact that she has an illness that makes her very sensitive to certain noises. She further made her point by suggesting children can't understand what's going on anyway. Shockingly (not!), the comm-box became flooded with arguments from both sides. People on both sides were angry. They were hurt by the other commentors' lack of selfless thinking. (Regardless of the side they took on the issue, most of the comments seem to boil down to "the rest of y'all aren't thinking about what's in my/my family's best interest, therefore y'all are being seflish!" Amazing.) But I couldn't tell anybody was suddenly having an epiphany and changing views. It just seemed more like a heated, pointless debate.
3. Then, as kind of a backdrop to all of this, there are the endless updates from anti-abortion/pro-life news outlets and blogs about Gosnell, all that he is about and the apparent lack of "MSM coverage." I'm not seeing much news lately, I don't have cable, but I will concede this issue hasn't exactly cropped up on the Yahoo! ticker. That being said, the coverage of this guy on less-mainstream circuits and, from what I've been told, on social media seems to amount to a lot of really gruesome pictures and rightful disgust over what this guy has done. But what seems to be lost in all of it is anything beyond finger-pointing and "you horrible, bad man!" The slaughter of children is appalling. The maiming of women is despicable. The fact that a person can reconcile it within themselves that these actions are ok is quite tragic in and of itself! But I don't think anybody is exactly adding Gosnell's name to prayer chains for his repentance conversion, and salvation.
So, I'm seriously wondering, are we adding to the hate? I took the first issue to confession. I was sorry for what I had done when I walked in, but boy did the priest let me have it! And rightly so. I needed to be reminded of the gravity of what I had been doing. He made it perfectly clear to me that my gossip was driving people from Christ and that I was not behaving as an ambassador for Christ should. I have heard it said that gossipers spend their time in purgatory being hung by the tongue. I wonder if that punishment is extended to all of us who tear down people with our words.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God. Amrn