Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sign Language.

Apparently Oprah decided she wanted to showcase the world's misunderstandings of who we are and what we're made for. On Tuesday, she interviewed a group of Dominican Sisters, a group of young and joyful women.

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Lisa-Ling-Goes-Inside-a-Convent

It only makes sense that Wednesday's episode would feature the touching story of a stud high school quarterback who had some de-constructive surgery, took a few pills, and is now a "woman." I put the word in quotation marks because anyone who has been shopping or driving can tell you that the gender difference goes far beyond a collection of body parts. Did i really accuse women of being categorically bad drivers? No, i would never do such a thing.
Anyways, what I found really interesting is how differently people responded to the 2 episodes. After seeing the show about the Sisters, a lot of people commented that these women had "gone too far," and that God doesn't really want people to give everything up for Him. Of course after Paul/Kimberley shared his/her story, the comment board was flooded with positive encouragements and friendly reminders that we should be open to all forms of self-expression.
What am I getting at? It's funny how we're supposed to tolerate everything except the truth.
It's interesting just how powerful Truth can be. People see a group of Sisters who say NOTHING to condemn or judge anyone, they just share how they are individually responding to God's call. And the witness, the example, of these Sisters is so powerful that it demands a response. The lives of men and women religious are visible challenges to our comfortable lives. When we see radical examples of people who have given everything, our hearts are moved.
We either embrace their zeal and devotion or we convince ourselves that they're just "crazy" or "too extreme" so we don't have to feel bad for the selfishness, greed, and excess that we can't live without. Wait a minute, I thought that we all believed that everything is relative, that you and i can both be right no matter what we believe? Deep down, we all desire Truth. Not the kind of truth that is just one of many alternatives, not just one of several "paths up the mountain."
But we'd rather stick to our current neurosis than embrace the hope that we were made for more. This is why we killed every prophet that God sent, we even crucified Truth Himself. Yet Truth hasn't given up on us. He's still seeking us, in churches, schools, and the set of Harpo Studios.

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