All was quiet here last night after the afternoon gall bladder attack my husband suffered. He slept well and long last night and went to work on time this morning. He has not called me to come and pick him up and his work day is nearly over now, so yay for that!! Maybe he will make it until Monday's doctor's appointment after all.
It was very cold this morning. Although it was only -20C it felt like -35C after all the high temperatures we were blessed with last week. I was out shovelling late last night but the wind blew more soft snow over the pathway I created, more fresh snow fell and so this morning before I could go out to run my errands (Christmas shopping for my parents...lots of good food, candies and clothes....FUN!) I had to shovel all over again. I admit I rather enjoyed it, cold and all.
On the way home today, as I passed a little church that is along my route, I noticed a man standing outside the church displaying a large poster board sign to the passing traffic. I have seen him before over the past year, just standing there with his big sign, but today I slowed down sufficiently to actually read it. The sign said, "If this church is an example of Christianity then Christianity SUCKS!!!!"
Hmmmm....the poor fellow obviously has been hurt in some way by the leaders or members of this particular congregation. He seems somewhat bitter if the sign is any indication. There was a fair amount of oncoming traffic, two cars behind me, and not a clear indication of where the left turn into the church parking lot is located, so I sped up again and drove home. However, I think next time I see the man out there with his sign I am going to try to pull into the lot and talk to him about why he is so very upset. Obviously he is hoping to tell his story to anyone who will listen to him, so he might as well tell me too I suppose. When people feel they have been unjustly treated, rightly or wrongly, (and the fellow may well have a case against the church in question), they need to know they have been heard and understood if any healing is to ever happen. No doubt others have also stopped to hear him out and I don't know what it would take for him to get over the upset, but I would certainly like to know better how to pray for him and for the church people he is trying to get back at by making them look bad to the general public. I would also like to know both sides of the issue, but since it isn't my church specifically, I doubt I will ever find out and likely I don't need to in order to pray. I would also like to find out if he suffers from a form of mental illness apart from the bitterness. That could effect my prayers significantly.
As a Christian Church we have certainly been guilty, without meaning to be, of presenting our sorry selves not so much as sinners who are in the life-long process of being transformed by the Holy Spirit through the love of Christ and the acceptance of the Father, but as people who have all ready arrived at the destination of near perfection this side of heaven. When we present with such vigor our beliefs, doctrines, prefered practises and what have you, it is easy to leave people with the impression that those of us within the four walls of our church buildings are all ready wonderful ambassadors for God's truths, when in reality we are still in process of attempting to reach those lofty spiritual goals. We hide our faults from those who are seeking God because we think if they know we are not yet perfect or that we have doubts and questions of our own about God, those seekers will turn and leave without completing their quest for the heavenly Father. We don't seem to understand that our well intentioned dishonesty, sometimes masked as "positive confession", drives them even farther away from God and church because they feel, quite rightly, they have been lied to.
So, I will pray for this dear man, whatever his problems may be, real or imagined and I will pray for the church congregation he is seeking to slander and destroy and I will pray that whatever is going on somehow God will rule and reign in the lives of everyone involved.
A lot of people agree with his sign that "Christianity SUCKS!!" and some have good reason for that belief, unfortunately.
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