Wilssssooooonnnnnnnn!!!!

Jon and I joked about how I’ll need to get a Wilson volleyball, like Tom Hanks had in the movie Castaway, to talk to after he left. I found I do unexpected things when I’m by myself for extended hours. I spontaneous say aloud what I’m thinking in my mind sometimes. I also beak out into song when a tune jumps in my head. The most recent…the church hymn Pan de Vida (Bread of Life). 😆

Fortunately, the morning walk, due to the threat of rain, had me delay my departure which coincided with the time Seline departed from her Alburgue (she is the Northern California young adult going for her doctorate in Psychology). Due to pushing herself beyond her physical limitations she pulled a tendon in her ankle. This had her skip a day, take a taxi another day, and ship her backpack ahead so she can walk with an ankle brace. She was a bit down when we first met. We spoke for the morning walk (about 6 miles).

She riddled me with questions about my faith, having not grown up with any of her own. Thinking about her line of questioning and some of her responses, she seems to have a hard time believing that organized religion is nothing more than a construct created by humanity to help cope and control. I shared a bit of my faith journey. She was curious, considerate, but seemingly unconvinced ( my impression, not her words). She has been the second or third person since the start of the trip to reference the common set of issues that would make it difficult to consider Catholicism.

Having a bit of a “hot spot” on my foot I needed to stop and check to be sure a blister wasn’t forming. I stopped at a random church surrounded by farmland. Seline continued on.

As I reflected back on our conversation I wish I had the foresight to add that for the most part my faith has mainly been influenced by the everyday faith of the vast number of laypeople who have modeled that faith for me in life. For most people, since the Catholic Church is 99% laypeople, the laity will be the primary evangelizers and influencers of others when considering their faith.

While issues of homosexuality, women clergy, sexual ethics are all important topics, it’s been through the day-to-day witness of the laypeople in my life and how they have wrestled with these complicated topics that have had the greatest influence for me. It’s different to say the church has a certain belief about homosexuality and then your child comes out as gay. Or that I’m pro-life but I or my child becomes pregnant. How a person applies one’s faith, in all the complex facets within their relationships, will ultimately be the testimony about Christianity for those around them. And many are looking at potential inconsistencies between the faith professed and how one acts.Leia mais