church

173:365

Saw this as I walked to my car after work tonight. The campus was quiet, no one around. It was beautiful. And I was reminded again how very lucky I am to have gotten this job. I work hard every day, but I enjoy it and I laugh a lot with my colleagues. I work for a kind, gentle man who is surrounded every day by a whole posse of kind, gentle men. We are led by an abbot who is sweet and funny, and who I'm pretty sure has a direct line to The Big Guy Upstairs.

The thing is, they don't beat you over the head with organized religion. They don't thump bibles or blatantly evangelize. They just calmly and quietly live their lives with humility and grace, and inspire those of us lucky to be around them to do the same.

I have never thought of myself as a "traditional Catholic." I have lots of questions and doubts, and some outright disagreements with official Catholic doctrine. There are certain priests who make me uncomfortable, who make me doubt the veracity of my own faith because I know they wouldn't consider me Catholic enough, or Catholic at all for that matter.

But these monks. These monks are so accepting and understanding. They are inspiring, and they remind me of all the reasons I chose Catholicism in the first place.

I wish my chosen religious organization was represented in the media more by people like them, and by people like my colleagues. Not the squeaky wheels (okay, right wing nutjobs) who scream and beat their chests and cast judgment that, really, only God should. Who represent not the love and acceptance that Jesus proclaimed but indeed the exact opposite. I am so confused when I see so-called Christians acting in ways that are, in fact, very un-Christian.

I can't fix that, but I can continue to be inspired by my monks to live my life in a way that hopefully inspires others. And every day I can look out my office window, or walk along a campus path, and see this gorgeous church that so beautifully represents the goodness, the grace, the soaring inspiration of my faith.