Friday, August 01, 2003
I was making my way down the basement, site of Dad's computer, to blog, check email, what have you...when I saw my cousin Bridget, age 6, standing at one of the picture windows. She looked up and smiled at me, greeted me warmly.
"I'm telling my dream to God." Aww. Little kids and their God moments. How cute.
"Oh, would you like some privacy?" I asked.
"Yes, please."
As I turned, I could hear her softly speaking, and I tuned it out for her behalf. Later on, she yelled that it was okay to come back down, she was done. I may want to add at this point that Bridge is not a huge fan of going to church. Whenever I flash her a peace sign, she tells me "Don't say that word. That is a 'church word' and I don't like church. It's boring."
"Wanna hear about my dream?" She asks as she watchs me log on
"Sure."
She tells it in a way only a 6-year-old can:
"The Lord came to me and told me that laughing, joking and playing is not for this world and that we could not do it, unless we wanted to go to jail. I tried to tell Him, 'Oh Lord, we must laugh and joke and play.' But He caught me and Gene (her younger brother) and took us to jail. Angels were everywhere, fighting, and finally, good conquered evil, and we were told we could play again." That is the short version of the story.
Damn, yo.
At age 6, my nightmare was about losing my dog and my Strawberry Shortcake dollie. Not the armageddon. I wonder if she is coming to this on her own. As I said before, she is not a huge fan of organized religion. But it also makes me wonder if some trusted adult in her world who just happens to be a fanatic is telling her this crap. I don't think it's a member of our fam, as when it comes to morals of gambling, and drink, we're very liberal, despite our perfect attendance record at Mass. We ain't perfect, and we sure as hell ain't saints, but I think that as a whole, we're a kick-arse group of people who just happen to share genetic components.
That being said, I can kind of see Bridge's 6-year-old philosophical point. For the past month or so, I've been struggling with church as well. I was very involved. But now my motivation at St. Mike's has dropped. My ex is still there, still active. I'm not keen on the idea of receiving communion from him or worse, if he brings his new girlfriend in an attempt to get her to go to Mass. Sure, the church is big enough for the both of us, but, simply put, the thought of running into him makes me wiggy, so I have kept an extremely low profile. It's a bummer since I love Father John very much and can't really discuss this with him, as well as the retreat I am helping to organize is about a week away, and I am chomping at the bit to get out now, despite that I feel like a sh*t for trying to get out of it.
Also, another thing is that our Bishop is going to retire soon. Wally Sullivan has his knucklehead moments, but all in all, he's the most powerful advocate for social justice. This includes such groundbreaking stuff such as sexual minorities as well as the Richmond AIDS ministry. The diocese is very involved in all of these ministries. The Richmond Diocese is one of the most liberal in the nation. Unfortunately, when the new bishop takes over, there is no grandfather clause as to what goes and what stays when it comes to cutting programs that are, shall we say, "not in sync with Mother Church in Rome." And given the Vatican's latest bee-in-the-bonnet with gay marriages, and given the fact that we could get a bishop that is a 180 from Wally, I have a feeling the first thing to get the ax would be the sexual minorites programs, despite how essential they are, and how popular they are, and how ethical they are. Who knows.
It's amazing what a 6-year-old will inspire you to think sometimes.
"I'm telling my dream to God." Aww. Little kids and their God moments. How cute.
"Oh, would you like some privacy?" I asked.
"Yes, please."
As I turned, I could hear her softly speaking, and I tuned it out for her behalf. Later on, she yelled that it was okay to come back down, she was done. I may want to add at this point that Bridge is not a huge fan of going to church. Whenever I flash her a peace sign, she tells me "Don't say that word. That is a 'church word' and I don't like church. It's boring."
"Wanna hear about my dream?" She asks as she watchs me log on
"Sure."
She tells it in a way only a 6-year-old can:
"The Lord came to me and told me that laughing, joking and playing is not for this world and that we could not do it, unless we wanted to go to jail. I tried to tell Him, 'Oh Lord, we must laugh and joke and play.' But He caught me and Gene (her younger brother) and took us to jail. Angels were everywhere, fighting, and finally, good conquered evil, and we were told we could play again." That is the short version of the story.
Damn, yo.
At age 6, my nightmare was about losing my dog and my Strawberry Shortcake dollie. Not the armageddon. I wonder if she is coming to this on her own. As I said before, she is not a huge fan of organized religion. But it also makes me wonder if some trusted adult in her world who just happens to be a fanatic is telling her this crap. I don't think it's a member of our fam, as when it comes to morals of gambling, and drink, we're very liberal, despite our perfect attendance record at Mass. We ain't perfect, and we sure as hell ain't saints, but I think that as a whole, we're a kick-arse group of people who just happen to share genetic components.
That being said, I can kind of see Bridge's 6-year-old philosophical point. For the past month or so, I've been struggling with church as well. I was very involved. But now my motivation at St. Mike's has dropped. My ex is still there, still active. I'm not keen on the idea of receiving communion from him or worse, if he brings his new girlfriend in an attempt to get her to go to Mass. Sure, the church is big enough for the both of us, but, simply put, the thought of running into him makes me wiggy, so I have kept an extremely low profile. It's a bummer since I love Father John very much and can't really discuss this with him, as well as the retreat I am helping to organize is about a week away, and I am chomping at the bit to get out now, despite that I feel like a sh*t for trying to get out of it.
Also, another thing is that our Bishop is going to retire soon. Wally Sullivan has his knucklehead moments, but all in all, he's the most powerful advocate for social justice. This includes such groundbreaking stuff such as sexual minorities as well as the Richmond AIDS ministry. The diocese is very involved in all of these ministries. The Richmond Diocese is one of the most liberal in the nation. Unfortunately, when the new bishop takes over, there is no grandfather clause as to what goes and what stays when it comes to cutting programs that are, shall we say, "not in sync with Mother Church in Rome." And given the Vatican's latest bee-in-the-bonnet with gay marriages, and given the fact that we could get a bishop that is a 180 from Wally, I have a feeling the first thing to get the ax would be the sexual minorites programs, despite how essential they are, and how popular they are, and how ethical they are. Who knows.
It's amazing what a 6-year-old will inspire you to think sometimes.
