Don't read Facebook before you have your morning coffee.

Teriyaki Pork Stir-Fry

I learned my lesson.

My friend who is a youth pastor in the US posted a FB status that had to do with people (i.e. politicians) blaming everyone else (i.e. other politicians) for the problems in the country, when they should really take a look at the individual first. I couldn't agree more with this statement. I'm sick of the blame game, and that goes with politicians in Ireland and the UK too! My friend and I don't always agree on everything, but we've been friends a long time, I helped out with the youth group and confirmation at church, and we respect each other.

Some guy (that I don't know) posts that unfortunately liberals don't have any respect for morals and family values and all they want to do is make big government the family and take God out of everyone else's family. Yeah, this liberal didn't appreciate that statement. So, I responded and just said that in fact liberals do appreciate morals and family values and no one is interested in taking God out of the family. I told him that conservatives like to use the religion crutch to gain support, then are well known to fail when it comes to upstanding morals. I told him that just as I wouldn't assume all Republicans are like that, I would appreciate if he didn't make sweeping generalizations about the liberals. So he responds (I'm paraphrasing) that politically he does agree with some of their agenda but liberals support abortion, so they don't have family values and morals and if I believe that, then I have no place in church because God knows all (or something to that effect).

This. This really ticked me off. 

So I told him I wasn't going to get into an abortion debate with a conservative male and I thanked him for judging me and millions of other people he doesn't know. And I agreed that yes, God does know all (implying that he'll see your judgemental ass when you get to heaven!).

So my friend ended up deleting the conversation and said something about posting a less controversial status update. I felt bad (it wasn't his fault), so I emailed him to apologize for arguing on his facebook. He sent me this reply:

Hey - you have nothing to be sorry about. The guy that's arguing with you is an a-one jackass, but he's also a member of my church and helps to pay my salary, so I felt compelled to but didn't want to get into it with him as well. He has a very simple-minded approach.

I totally understand why he had to delete it and I actually didn't think he was angry with me, yet I still felt the need to apologize. Being a liberal and Christian at the same time totally throws those radical conservatives for a loop sometimes! They can't make hide nor hair of it! I remember telling a well-educated woman I worked with that I was a Democrat and an active member of my church and I watched her head spin around on her shoulders. She honestly had no idea the two could co-exist!

Later that day I had to walk to the grocery store so I could buy the stuff to make Sunday dinner for my family (you know, all that family values and crap), I passed this church. The sun was shining through a back window and illuminated this bit of stained glass. All the times walking past this church I've never seen that before. It was a wordless conversation and felt like I was getting a hug.

It made my heart smile and put an extra skip in my step.