Holiday Tolerance

Last week I had such writer's block. Why didn't I just turn on my morning news?? I watch the morning crew on Fox 25 and midway through, I have more emotions running through me than China has rice.

Yesterday, my emotions were of sadness. There was another awful tragedy in Worcester with the loss of a firefigher. It was almost 12 years to the day since a fire there took the lives of six firefighters and yesterday another fire took one more. My heart goes out to all the family and friends of the fallen.

Today my emotions are that of, well, "Really??. Yep, Just "Really??" I listen to some of the things that are going on and it makes me want to be the one telling the news to it's viewers. However, when I give the news, I don't want to read it from a teleprompter. I want to give it from my gut. I want to practice my First Amendment Right and say it as I see it. Well, I don't think they will be handing me the mic any time soon, because the politically correctness would be out the window in a flash, so until then, I have you. And If you've read this far, I thank you.

I say God Bless Wisconsin's Freedom From Religion Group only because I think they need a special blessing. I'll be the first to admit that I can be narrow-minded, pig-headed, extremely stubborn and yes, sometimes too intolerant. I love having all my freedoms and God given rights. I love my Country, The Constitution and The Bible. I love being a Christian and I love God above all else. Do I wish I knew my Holy Bible better? Yes I do. Do I wish I were a better Christian? Yes I do. Do I wish I could be more tolerant? Not necessarily. I suppose being more tolerant would be the christian thing to do, but some folks just make it so damn hard to do!

Today, I woke up to find that Wisconsin's chapter of Freedom From Religion is more than somewhat upset that the city of Athens, Texas will not remove their Nativity Scene from the lawn of their courthouse. Really?? Really??

Apparently, this group is upset because they choose not to practice religion and feel that a Nativity Scene in Texas is being religion shoved down their throats. Well, here's an idea...STAY IN WISCONSIN! AND MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!!!

This group is just from Wisconsin, although they have more groups nationwide. I'm sure they all feel the same way. That's fine. If they don't believe in my God and they find our way of celebrating his birth offensive, that's fine too. But DO NOT tell us we need to remove our religious beliefs out of sight. They want us to be tolerant of their rights, now they need to be tolerant of ours. I have to pray many a prayer for my own tolerance, but today I pray for them. Ok, I pray for me too, because even as I write this I feel my blood starting to boil.

As I stated, I can be beyond stubborn. Although this is not always a good thing, sometimes it is. I've had more than one professor tell me I'd be a great debater (it's a shame we didn't have a debate team). It's not to say I never see the other side of things, I do. But just because I can see where someone else's ideas are coming from, doesn't mean I can be brainwashed into changing my own.

I wasn't born into a religious family and my parents didn't teach me about God. I found God through a second grade friend. She would go to a Bible Study group after school and would ask me to go with her. Once I went, there was no stopping me. I would come home singing the christian songs I learned and telling my parents about this guy named Jesus. It was only then that I found out that they already knew who God was. Didn't know why they had never told me about him. He was sooo cool. And the things this dude could do...WOW!!

Well, I guess I never shut up about him, because my brother always swore I'd become a nun and mom and dad took my sister and I out of public school and sent us to a parochial school. All of a sudden, things were a little different. I wasn't having so much fun learning about God. He was being rammed down my throat. I still loved him, but I wanted to love him the way I did when I first met him. I didn't want some nun with a ruler in her hand telling me how I had to love him and when and where. Needless to say, after graduating from the 8th grade, there was no way on God's green earth that my parents were sending me to a parochial high school. It was back to public school and no more church on Sunday. I still believed, but I was bitter.

I know there was a time when I was bitter, but my faith didn't waiver. I still loved God. I just didn't love the way the Sisters at school had portrayed my friend. And now that I was out of their grip, they couldn't force me to go to church. I turned into a "Holiday Church Goer". You know the ones, they go Easter Sunday and Christmas.

I still went to God when I needed him. I just did it alone. I did it at home or while walking. It wasn't until many years later, I just woke up one Sunday morning and, out of the blue, knew I had to go to mass. I didn't know if God was missing me or if it was the other way around. I just figured, if he was telling me to go..then I was going. I went to what I knew was his last known address, even though it wasn't in what was now my own parish. I was so hurt when I walked through the doors and to my pew. His home was no longer the same. Gone was the beautiful marble of the alter cross. Gone was the all the shiny gold that surrounded the inside of God's home. Everything had been replaced with wood. I thought maybe they had acquired all this wood from many of the pews that no longer existed. (I assume when you are trying to hide your assets after a scandal, this is how it's done.) I was crushed. I'd been gone so long, I had no idea so many changes had been made. I wanted to get up and leave, but God was having no part of it. I was frozen there of a will that was not my own. I'm glad I stayed. I learned a lot that day.

I learned on that day that the God I met in the second grade was still the same. I thought back to my catholic school days and realized that they never taught The Holy Bible, they taught Catechism. Not the same. This day the priest read from the Bible a story that related to exactly what had been going on in my life at the time. It was no wonder God called me that day. He knew. I also learned that he had another house that was closer to my own.

I still don't go to mass every Sunday. Not even close. But I do go when he calls me. And even when I'm not there, I know he's with me. And I know that I will always BELIEVE.

Now we have Christmas upon us. This means one thing to me, and one thing only: Christ's Birthday. Many of us celebrate differently. Because I am Christian, I will have my Nativity up, first and foremost. Yes I have a tiny tree and I will buy gifts for family and friends. Isn't this how most people celebrate a birthday? Not with a tree obviously, but with gifts? It's what we do. On Christmas, or any other day for that matter, we celebrate God in our own ways. If we put a Manger on our lawns or a cross adorned with lights in our front yard at Christmas then so be it. Stop your bitching. Under the First Amendment, we have that right. We are not trying to ram our religion down anyone's throat, we are just trying to celebrate our belief in God. This country was founded on Christian principles. You don't have to agree with it or even like it and under the Constitution you have your own right: The one to leave.

I don't want you ramming your beliefs down my throat either. Especially considering I disagree with them. I do agree that under the First Amendment you have the right to say what you'd like, I respect that, as I respect all the rights given to us under the Constitution. However, say what you'd like, just don't try telling us how we should or should not celebrate our God. Say what you must and then move on. And by the way...Merry Christmas! And Happy Birthday, Jesus!!! Really.