Don't be a Hater

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Every day I pray for protection against discouragement.  I needed to rely on that prayer yesterday on my way home from work.  Earlier in the day I had read some disheartening comments from people I know and don't know on social media.  I had just left a meeting that, although encouraging, left me frustrated on a larger scale.

Within the meeting, I had a chance to speak to a lawyer to get the facts about what the Constitution actually, specifically says about our right to privacy and abortion (they are not even mentioned in the Constitution).)

I had a chance to ask for greater clarification about my observation that it was seductive language that got us into this abortion mess in the first place, oh so many years ago, i.e., (a woman's right) and how the same tactic works today: abortion=healthcare.  Both enticing. Both effective in duping us.

I learned about a sexy, term now being thrown out--body autonomy.  When you take a minute to think about it, "body autonomy" is decidedly unchristian.  We don't have absolute autonomy over our God-given bodies.  They are a gift.  We use them for the good.  We can't just do whatever we want with them!  That has never been a part of our body of faith. 

The more we use these words and allow them into our vernacular, becoming more comfortable with them, the further we move away from the very basics of our faith--God created us in his image so we can share in his divine life.  We share in God's creative essence by the gift he gave us: pro-creation.

Abortion isn't in the Constitution (you have to work hard to extrapolate it).  A right to privacy isn't either.  You know what is?  The right to life!  Shocking, I know.

Anyway, my heart was so sad, as I drove home, all of this swirling around in my head.

Then I started thinking about all of the saints that have gone before us, who endured the ridicule of those around them as they stood for good.  They kept preaching the truth about God in the face of those who couldn't see it and those who rejected it. I realized that giving up is not in our DNA.  Can you imagine what it was like to walk around with the experience, knowledge and awareness of a saint, in a world gone mad?  

It couldn't have been easy, but they "endured" the world around them and even brought light into it.  They never bought into fallacies.  No matter the argument before them, they intuitively knew what was right and could not be fooled.

Where are our saints today?

Well, we need look no further than this Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul that we celebrate today. Paul, mostly likely, was beheaded and Peter was crucified, upside down, because of his sense of unworthiness.

These guys are greats.  You could stone them, beat them, put them in prison and desert them.  With everyone against them, they didn't falter.  They knew.  They really knew the truth in what they proclaimed.  They died for it.

Fortunately, for them, they were on the right side and now they surely enjoy all of the heavenly merits they so much hoped for.  They didn't attack other people.  They didn't need to.  They just taught what they knew to be true of Jesus and his message of love and forgiveness.  If you didn't agree with them, they would just move on.  It wasn't their job to convince everyone.  They weren't in charge of the outcome.  They were in charge of the message.

Don't be a hater today, please.  Don't buy into political conspiracy theories or assume those who think differently than you must be terrible people.  I made one comment on our community email about not posting something that was divisive and political (because that's not the place for it), and I watched people--for an entire day--get mean and nasty with each other.  I just wanted to see neighborhood news.  I wanted some relief from the secular news of the day.

Take a lesson from Sts. Peter and Paul and don't encourage others and inflame their passion.  I learned the hard way with my community newsletter.  I wasn't trying to start something and I guess I should have known better.  In today's environment, things turn ugly real fast.

Please don't contribute to the ugliness.  We just don't need it.  Those people you are arguing against are children of God.  They believe as strongly in their convictions as you do in theirs.  Respect them, even if they oppose you.

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com

 

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