This morning as I was combing my hair, I was mulling over something I wanted to write about in the journal today. But now that I'm ready to write, I have no idea what it was. Of course. Well, maybe it will come to me.
The Internet is a wonderful thing. Matt recently found an email address for an old friend of ours from college, and she turned up on the MeadeHall last night. Whee!
I'm feeling a little punchy this morning. Not enough sleep, I suppose. Even though the cat didn't wake me up early this morning. (No, he hasn't suddenly realized the benefits of waiting until dawn to wake me up - he was such a stink as we were trying to go to bed last night that we put him out for the whole night. Boy, was he pathetic this morning when I let him in.)
This weekend, while we were watching The Godfather (well, sortof - I'd already missed too much of it to understand all the stuff going on in the background, so I wasn't paying much attention) Jen mentioned the possibility that she might call on Matt or I to be godparents for her kids, when she has them.
Matt and I were a little surprised. As far as I know, the responsibility of godparents is to instruct the child in religious matters, and provide an example. Jen isn't especially devout, but she is a Catholic. Matt and I are not only not Catholic, we're not even Christians. Jen, however, thought of godparents not so much as religious teachers as spiritual guides and a moral example, and if you leave explicit religious matters out of it, Matt and I were willing to consider it. By coincidence, just about this time the christening scene played on the movie, and the priest started asking whats-his-name (I told you I wasn't paying attention) who was going to be the baby's godfather whether he had accepted Jesus as his savior and whatnot, and we pointed this out to Jen. "You talk to your priest," I told her, "and find out if we have to do anything like that, because I'm not lying to a priest!" Jen thought it was a little strange that I would care more about lying to a priest than to anyone else if I'm not a Catholic.
It was a little strange, because I'd never really thought about it much myself, and I had to suddenly figure out my reasons and explain them. I'm afraid the explanation Jen heard was more than a little garbled.
It boils down to respect. Just because I don't believe the same thing the priest does, doesn't mean that I don't respect his beliefs. In fact, I respect priests a very great deal, because their beliefs are so strong that they've dedicated their lives to them. Right or wrong, that sort of dedication deserves respect. I don't really care to lie to people in general - I'll stretch the truth, or bend it a little, but I try not to tell out-and-out lies. Now I believe in God - but it's not the Christian God or even necessarily the Only God. And I believe that Jesus existed, and that he was a deeply spiritual person - but not that he was the Son of the Only God, and I don't believe that leaning on his memory is the best way for me to face my life. And if I lie to a priest - who is terribly dedicated to these beliefs - then I am, in essence, mocking those beliefs, whether he ever finds out about it or not.
I have, in the past, kept quiet about my beliefs, rather than begin arguments or engender hard feelings. But when asked directly, about something that important... I won't - I can't lie.
No comments:
Post a Comment