Sunday, December 17, 2006

our father

i emailed my newspaper article to the christians in my life because i thought that they would be pleased with it. i do admit in the article that i might not believe certain things literally anymore, but overall, it is a very positive piece.

mentor emailed me today to tell me that he just read it. he said that we will always be friends but, naturally, he is sad about what i wrote and what i believe.

this came as a surprise to me. he has always been so open to talk and my questioning that sometimes i forget that he is a professor at a christian college. then sometimes he reminds me, like with this email. anyway, when my mother expresses disappointment in me i shrug it off because faith in her life is not as important as it used to be anyway. i suspect that her disappointment is not genuine; i think she just feels it is something she is obligated to say in order to remain a good christian mother. but for some reason what he said bothered me and made me feel ashamed of what i believe, which is not cool.

he didn't mean for it to be that way, but for some reason i have accorded him and certain other people a lot of respect, and the thought of being something other than what fits into their mold makes me feel as if i'm letting them down. it's silly, i know, but that's how i felt. he said that he admires my openness and seeking and that we just have to disagree. blah.

why is it so important for me to believe a certain way?

3 comments:

WOLVERINE said...

'Cause that's what they believe, and it's impossible, no matter how open-minded they claim to be, to fathom that someone else could think different. I'm sure there's an appropriate metaphor I could use to highlight my point, but I'm pretty beat right now and my brain ain't functioning. So, yeah. :P

cheekynomad said...

i didnt get to read the article. i guess im not 'christian' enough for you :P

Anonymous said...

Way, Truth, and Life