The Wall
In every life there is a crossroads where you realize that there are arguments bigger than you. These are not arguments that are necessarily right or true, they are just arguments you are not going to win, no matter how right or true your position is.
My first experience with this principle was with a Baptist minister. I was a Baptist by choice, fully convinced that I had made not just the right choice, but the only choice, given the facts as any 16-year-old would understand them. I fell in love with a Catholic, and by some miracle of consequence, at the ripe age of 17, I became pregnant.
I tried to explain to my Baptist minister that these things happen, that God had a plan for my life that quite possibly included the father of my child, in which case we should be married.
The pastor would have none of it. Something about unequal yoking, which conjured up visions of my being a cow, pairing myself off with some evil alien being. The pastor refused to perform a marriage ceremony. I had met "the wall".
I was quite indignant. So I became a Catholic - same redemption, different songs. Little did I know the hoops the Catholic Church had in store for me. Again I made not only the right choice, but the only choice, given the facts as a 23-year-old mother would understand them. I was so holy, attending daily mass. I confessed (internally) several times a day. I was pretty happy about it all.
Then my marriage got derailed. So I explained to my priest how these things happen, and God had a plan for my life, which included standing up for the truth. But the priest would not hear of it. Something about "til death do us part", no matter how degrading, humiliating, insulting, or barbaric. Again I met "the wall".
So now I am a Lutheran. I am now being asked to accept "unity", "diversity", and "inclusiveness."
At this stage of my life, I know walls. I have reconciled my thinking to realize that I am not going to change anything. I have realized that the wall is real, and the important part is to decide which side of the wall I will be on.
My first experience with this principle was with a Baptist minister. I was a Baptist by choice, fully convinced that I had made not just the right choice, but the only choice, given the facts as any 16-year-old would understand them. I fell in love with a Catholic, and by some miracle of consequence, at the ripe age of 17, I became pregnant.
I tried to explain to my Baptist minister that these things happen, that God had a plan for my life that quite possibly included the father of my child, in which case we should be married.
The pastor would have none of it. Something about unequal yoking, which conjured up visions of my being a cow, pairing myself off with some evil alien being. The pastor refused to perform a marriage ceremony. I had met "the wall".
I was quite indignant. So I became a Catholic - same redemption, different songs. Little did I know the hoops the Catholic Church had in store for me. Again I made not only the right choice, but the only choice, given the facts as a 23-year-old mother would understand them. I was so holy, attending daily mass. I confessed (internally) several times a day. I was pretty happy about it all.
Then my marriage got derailed. So I explained to my priest how these things happen, and God had a plan for my life, which included standing up for the truth. But the priest would not hear of it. Something about "til death do us part", no matter how degrading, humiliating, insulting, or barbaric. Again I met "the wall".
So now I am a Lutheran. I am now being asked to accept "unity", "diversity", and "inclusiveness."
At this stage of my life, I know walls. I have reconciled my thinking to realize that I am not going to change anything. I have realized that the wall is real, and the important part is to decide which side of the wall I will be on.
posted by Kathy at 8/22/2009 11:39:00 AM
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