however, my time at Maryland has taught me that indeed the world no longer revolves around Christ (probably because we've stopped mass killings in His name. not a bad thing. Christianity could use some positive PR these days) and that there are indeed people who regard His name as a joke, myth, or other laughable figure along the lines of Santa Claus-once lovable but come on, we all have to grow up sometime right?
however, Christ is very important in my life. not quite directly, i seem to feel that he is still intimidating so i have a certain devotion to Mary. its foolproof, actually. you tell a boy to do something and they may or may not be listening and you might have to repeat yourself a few times. however, boys always listen to their mothers who never forget important requests and never stop pestering their children about it. i view a devotion to Mary as a more efficient way for my prayers to get through.
lately, the catholic church has been under attack. it seems that people feel that we are pointing too many fingers when our own haven't seen daylight for decades, with all the dirt and grime that we've collected. and thats fair, catholics are only human and therefore fallible and prone to mistakes and sins. its why we go to church, in an attempt to get better. a sort of mass therapy session, every sunday with donuts. i love everything about it. but thats not what this post is about.
as a christian, i have a duty to live out a moral life, to seek God, to seek help in finding Him, and help others along the way. that statement, i kind of made up, but i think that more or less covers everything. i think that a lot of my fellow christians have gotten so caught up in the "helping others" bit, that they've forgotten that Jesus came in the name of love. it is his greatest commandment and people think that by telling others that they're living in sin is a way of love. they call it tough love and it excuses them from any sort of moderation in spreading the word.
i think thats a mistake. tough love, unless you've been entitled to that kind of relationship, is the worst kind of love. while you might think that you're loving someone by harsh words and judgments, they're under the impression that you're just hateful (which may even be the case. a lot of people use religion as an excuse for homophobia and i find that awful). even if you're not hateful, impressions are real and you have to deal with them as such. telling yourself that they're deluded only ends in your own delusion of the situation.
i'm not here to say that i live a squeaky clean life. i try, of course. finding God is easy. He's everywhere. seeking help? no problem, anytime i feel lost i just head on back to church. thats what its there for. i do find it rough living a strictly moral life. i like tight clothes a little more than most and my shorts seem to get shorter by the day. my mouth is filthier than a sailor's and my favorite vice, sloth, has been sitting on my shoulders all year. but i try and whenever the going gets tough, i think (thanks to my catholic upbringing) what would Jesus do?
see, this is a tough question.
when you're a kid, things are black and white and Jesus always chooses the blindingly white side of things, no matter what. when someone steals your red crayon, thats okay, you color with the black one. no big deal. but then you grow up and God's coloring the world in gray and morals begin to take on various shades and everything is relative. its easy to judge negatively but harder to act constructively, based on love.
and what would jesus do? simple question? think again. in the bible, apparently, everywhere Jesus went all the sinners knew they had been sinning and they come to repent. its easy to give help to those that are seeking help. i'm not about to shove my beliefs down someone's throat and i don't think thats what we're meant to do either. so Jesus has left us in this lovely situation, to find a happy medium between the two. he's probably laughing at us, up in the sky, watching us struggle and letting us flounder.
talk about tough love.
