Too Much Today

The Westboro Baptist Church protesters are out in full force today at my son's school.   Having given them the courtesy glance over their very accusatory website with the posted schedule of where they will protest next, they essentially argue that this is "tough love" for their Catholic brethren (my words).   I only can say that one day, when they and I are both in purgatory receiving the necessary consequences of our failures to love and to act as we ought, with full charity in all things big and small for all peoples, big and small, God will respond, "Me too."  In that searing moment we will grasp for the first time what absolute justice and absolute mercy and absolute love all in one means and see by how far we missed the mark and wonder at our own blindness when the opportunities to be lights were everywhere at our fingertips during our lifetimes.

No matter our religion, we as individuals all labor under the misunderstanding brought on by our own fallen natures that we somehow have a greater grasp on the infinite mind of God than all that came before us and all that are here now.  It is a spiritual narcissism that gains the upper hand once we come of age and that all must battle ruthlessly unto death or be consumed by our own darker more narrow or less truthful vision of God.  Even the Apostles spoke of testing themselves to see if the spirits were of God or fallen; Even the disciples on the boat after witnessing the feeding of the 5000 with 12 plus baskets left over from the five loaves and fishes, misunderstood what they had experienced and sought to have an exclusive understanding of Christ, apart from the rest of the crowded masses who had pressed to hear Jesus speak.  Saint John tells us, their hearts were hardened as all of ours become when we fail to recognize the absolute gift nature of all grace; be it understanding or mere witnessing of a miracle or the opportunity to illustrate courage or the desire to speak truth to others.    

So I told my son to pray for them and simply go about his day and I hope that is what happens, that they come and hold up their signs and the men of my son's school, act as men and simply pray for these people who come to hold up angry signs at their doorstep.   Show the charity that we would wish they would have.  It would be a greater witness to speak silently with love than to engage in clever retorts; as to do so would give credence to the people with the hateful messages by placing them on equal footing in a debate type scenario.  

Looking at all this, I am grateful God does not weary of all of us in our desires to gnash our teeth at each other because admittedly, it is my first instinct and I'm sure that of many in this situation.  Thank God He Loves us infinitely and understands our great littleness and all our willful blindness better than we do ourselves.