frustration.... be gone!

I'm having to blog this because my frustration is reaching a peak.

First, let me say that when my dear friend Amanda left the LDS Church, she was met with this decision by dazed glances and some inquisitive comments. Not really much more. Her bishop or something (I can't remember who exactly) came over and asked if they were sure, they explained what was up, and that was that. After that, it was mostly just a problem with her parents.

Me? In the last month I've had about twelve "concerned" phone calls, a couple dozen "nervous" emails, and a whole heck of a lot of blog comments, not to mention some flat out "intervention" techniques... all for deciding to go back to my roots and worhsip the Lord in a Catholic Church setting.

Just this week, Wayne and I thought we would soothe some of our family's fears by inviting people to the Wednesday night Mass.
His brother Scott arrived , late, having missed the part of the service where the Bible is read. He arrived in time for communion, only he didn't listen to what the priest was praying. Instead, he typed to some people on his blackberry. When it was time to get in line for communion, Wayne explained that he could either stay in his seat or come up with his arms crossed to receive a blessing. Immediately, he took offense and went "Oh, that's REAL Christian, man." and stormed out of the church. Later that night, Wayne had to spend THREE hours on the phone with him defending Catholic practice by using scripture. Each time, Scott would bring up something he disagreed with ("Catholics worship Mary,") and then Wayne would attempt to show that that wasn't true. Instead of listening to the answers and processing them and continuing the dialogue, Scott would errupt into this creepy self-righteous screaming fest about how wrong it all was. Literally nothing Wayne did got him to calm down enough to actually listen and eventually he was forced to hang up on him. We thought that would be it, but then this morning he showed up at work and continued trying to damn the Church practices. Wayne told him... "well, you certainly have a right to feel that way, but I don't share your opinion, so lets' just leave it at that." But no, he had to keep shouting and carrying on about how it was all sinful. It was so annoying that Wayne left work.

I've gotten phone calls "reminding me" about the dangers of religion, and about following after false prophets. Friends have "happened" to think of me when emailing out a "Random" bible study they wrote on believing lies.

One person even told me that the RCC was the end times Babylon the Great, and the pope the Anti Christ. Now, I'll admit old benedict does LOOK the part a bit, but let's be serious here. Has anyone actually read his stuff? The guy is a brilliant theologian and an incredibly godly person. I am honored to have him as the head of my church.

Most recently, I've had conversations with people where they literally squirmed in their seats as they looked around at some of our new Catholic decor. Now this is really puzzling to me because I thought we would at least agree that it is good to reflect on the Bible in our lives, like through art, etc. But nope, the second something looks too "Catholic" it creeps people out. A friend of mine who came over for tea asked why I had a crucifix up. "Catholics know that Jesus is risen, right?" I'm like... are you serious??? Of course. They also reflect on the wonderful work on the cross. You can find both flavors of wall crosses in a Catholic store. Personally, I love the crucifix because I love to have that visual aide to remind me of what my Jesus did. I find it enhances my prayer life immensely.

Anyways, alot of you guys are probably reading this now, so obviously you know I'm talking about you and saying that it makes me uncomfortable to feel so scrutinized. I am totally sorry to call you out like THIS but I dont know how else to react.
The thing is, I can totally appreciate the sentiment... the reasons behind the "nervous" calls, etc. You guys want to make sure we dont throw away our gifts, our salvation, etc.

So for the record, and hopefully once and for all, let me reassure you of a few things.

1. We do not think you guys need to become Catholics.
2. We do not think the protestant churches, nondenominational churches, etc. are evil.
3. We STILL believe that the Word of God is the best and only way to tell if something is true or false.
4. We believe the same things we did last year about faith vs. works.
5. We have not become superstitious.
6. We are more in love with Jesus today than we were yesterday
7. We are not engaging in vain repetition or pagan practices.
8. We do not believe that Mary is a goddess and worthy of the praise due to the Lord.
9. We are not practicing cannibalism or necromancy.
10. We have not changed our stance on salvation vs. sanctification, and in fact, we have simply put a name on the post-death sanctification process.
11. We do not believe we or any other person has the power to atone for our sins.
12. We do not believe that Israel no longer matters to God.
13. We have not become slaves to a rulebook.
14. We have not changed our stances on ANYTHING, politically, theologically, or otherwise, other than repenting for believing that Marian apparitions were demonic.


I think that about covers it, so hopefully everyone will be reassured that we are OK, and that God is still very much in control of our lives and at the center of our lives. We are living by faith, nothing has changed about that, and we are just as zealous and on fire for the Lord as we were a month ago, only now it's tempered with a little bit more love and compassion and a whole lot more understanding of our history and heritage as a church and as an individual.

Hopefully that about covers it. I've had a rough day, so I'm sorry if this blog was out of line, but I am getting pretty tired of having to defend myself and our decisions every few minutes. I really believe that if all these people spent as much energy trying to learn what they have in COMMON with the Catholic faith, and what the Catholic faith REALLY teaches vs. what their pastor SAYS it teaches, they might be in for a pleasant, unifying surprise.

That's about it!
/rant.