Friday, April 17, 2009

Trying to Not Hate the Haters

LOM at The Hive is, I think, drinking again. No, I have no proof, but he has become obsessed with me and the fact that I am a Catholic. He hates Catholics. He really wants me to 'admit' we do not believe in The Bible and that we only 'follow the Pope'.

The man is not mentally well-balanced. If he was, he would know that Holy Scripture did not even exist in its present form until a COUNCIL held by THE CHURCH determined what was and what was NOT inspired writings. LOM would probably have a flipping heart attack if he knew that it was St Augustine who pushed for the inclusion of the Book of Revelations...that's right, LOM...a CATHOLIC.

He is a hateful man but that is not the challenge. He is not the only hateful Catholic bigot I deal with - there is a woman at work who spews venom every chance she gets and I have actually had to complain to our HR department about her because it has gotten so bad - and LOM will not be the last bigot I have to deal with; no, that is not the challenge.

The challenge is to love these people while defending Truth, The Faith and Holy Mother Church.

It could be worse. My friend Patty is related to someone who regularly tries to portray her and us (Catholics) as crazy people. He even posts horrible videos on his website to try and make her seem like the nut in the family. Sadly, however, he comes across as so obsessed and so filled with venom that (much like LOM) he seems deranged.

Man, there are times I wish I could just smack one of these people in the head and feel better but alas, one of the tough parts of being a Catholic Out Loud is that I have to be willing to do the right thing when everyone is watching.

I have heard it said in meetings that integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking. That may be true; however, my experience is becoming that COURAGE means doing the right thing when EVERYONE is watching and it may be incredibly uncomfortable. Uncomfortable? Shoot, it can be down right scary. People in general don't like confrontation and they may like to watch movies about brave people standing up for what is right but when it comes right down to it no one wants to watch it happen in real life.

So, I do not get to smack anyone in the head. Nor do I get to yell back at them or call them names or twist things or misquote. Nope. I just get to keep saying, "You are being a bigot and your are wrong and this is why".

Then I get to pray for them....and one of the things I pray for is that LOM stays away from my meetings and stops yacking about me to mutual acquaintances. The reality is, every time something he says gets back to me it is told to me in this way, "Do you know what that a**h**e said the other day?'.

That is being stopped. I told the last little tale carrier that I was not interested at all in LOM's opinion on anything, including me and the weather. In fact, I stopped them after, "So guess what LOM said...".

My challenge today, therefore, is to love the haters like Jesus loved those who hated Him.

Can I just learn to sky dive? It would seem to be easier....

1 comment:

Christine Trollinger said...

Can I just learn to sky dive? It would seem to be easier....

LOL! But then you would just be earthward bound and not earning your wings for heaven.

Hang in there. Just smack em with prayer. Who knows, maybe they will get a parachute and join you.