Usually I start these blogs when I get that over whelming sense of wanting to vomit after listening to a pastor preach against "sin" or a FaceBook friend condemn another persons lifestyle. Usually I'd get so pissed off with "righteous anger" that I just became the same bigoted person they were, only my bigotry was focused on fellow christians.
I once told a friend "How high does my pedestal have to be if I'm looking down on someone for being on their own pedestal."
It goes with out saying that we should all take my good pal Jesus' advice about getting planks out of ourselves before we help someone else with their splinter.
What really calmed me down and got me to climb down from my perch was some place I thought I'd never hear God. A real working Catholic Church.
To preface this, I am a firm believer God talks EVERYWHERE. He's spoken to me through Niki Minaj, through Buddhist Temples, and through fellow Christians. While I believe Catholics and Christians are the same, the icon driven form of worship just wasn't my style. Yet, when visiting friends in Ireland I wanted to stop in and look over some architecture at an old church.
When having a look around I noticed they had statues up of Jesus earthly family; His grandmother, his mother and Joseph his father/step-father. Beside each of these statues were prayers.
When reading them it was the prayer to Joseph that spoke to me deepest.
"O St. Joseph, who opened your heart to the earthly body of Jesus Christ, open my heart to love others as you loved our Savior." Reading these words brought home that righteous anger I'd felt every time before only it didn't make me angry. It made me squish my chin up and swallow back tears. It made me feel love.
Joseph as most of you probably know was engaged to Mary. Sweet young virginal Mary, who got knocked up out of wedlock. Joseph like any well behaved man of the time peaced out on her and broke off their engagement. However thanks to some divine intervention Joseph and Mary made up just short of appearing on Jerry Springer. Usually at Christmas that's where Joseph's story ends. In the Bible he also doesn't get much more face time than that. But I want to really talk about Joseph for a moment. I'm sure Joseph's struggles didn't end when that Angel told him the kid was to be the Messiah. When little baby Jesus was crying in the middle of the night and it was Joseph's turn to get up with him I'm sure he resented him just a little bit. When Jesus broke one of Joseph's tools trying to help he probably wanted to explode at him. When Jesus took off to teach at the synagog and Joseph and Mary looked all day for him fearing the worst I'm sure Joseph wished that some other couple would have been God's choice. But despite humanity Joseph overcame and showed Jesus compassion and love as his son. Joseph broke with every tradition and concept that he'd been taught so that he could love Jesus. When we look at the book of Matthew, or Luke the Angel of God never told Joseph he had to love Jesus, he just told him he had to go back to Mary. The fact of the matter is God's law prior to the Angel talking to Joseph is that he should drag Mary before the whole town and stone her to death for adultery.
Joseph broke social norms in the name of love. He broke what was interpreted as God's law in the name of love.
Let that sink in.
A lot of times I hear people using the Bible (as the inspired word of God) to create an Us versus Them situation.
"Our God, won't allow evil to come on us. " So what you're saying is God will only protect you from evil if you pay your tithes, go to church and don't do anything your pastor wouldn't approve of?
"Our God, will punish the homosexuals/adulters/democrats/abortionists/ect." So, Once you've stepped outside of what traditional Church thinks God now hates you?
"Your god may tell you to have peace but OUR GOD WILL HAVE JUSTICE!" So, God only justifies people who have never tried another religion?
If you were to read the Bible you'd find each of those statements to in error. "Our" God came to earth and never punished any one who sinned. You can find that detailed in Matthew through John, usually in the letters in red. Jesus only ever admonished any one who judged others. His ultimate goal was to do just what is earthly and heavenly fathers taught him. To throw out a social concept and to just love people.
If you take anything away from this blog I hope it's an idea of just how much God wants us to love each other. We're not called to tell people they're wrong or they're living in sin. We're called to tell people we love them, and Jesus loves them too.
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