I went to a Moms' group this morning with my munchkins. While there, I met a mom who went to a college just one town over from mine. She had three kids, so I figured she was my age. I clearly have no concept of what can occur in the four years after you graduate from college!Anyway...the college she went to is a very conservative Christian college. It is known for its academics, but it is also known for its rules. You are required to go to chapel services so many times a semester. They do not have any national fraternities or sororities. The main thing that it is known for locally, however is that you are not allowed to walk on the grass. Seemed too restrictive for me!
So I went to the neighboring small Christian college. It had national Greeks. There were chapel services, but you were not required to attend. You were allowed to walk on the grass! But the thing that drew me to it as a high school student was that you were allowed to find your own way. Nothing was spoon fed to you. It was strong academically, but while it was religiously affiliated, you were not faced with religion at every turn.
The other mom was impressed that I knew of her college, but even more impressed about where I went. I guess I went up in the "normal" range in her brain. She immediately began to talk about her spirituality. Ugh. I mean, this was a Moms group. Sometimes I just want to go and not have to speak. I really was far more interested in keeping my oldest from eating goldfish crackers off the floor and keeping track of my son's favorite tractor which another boy kept trying to kife and hide in his diaper bag.
But other moms were clearly avoiding her and I am just a weirdness magnet. So I got sucked into the conversation. "Do you want to be a missionary?" Um. No. Missionary position is good enough. "How are you spreading God's word." Doesn't spread like margarine. "Will you home school?" No. That's why we bought a house in a good district.
Ok. That was just how I answered with my inside voice.
I just have a very hard time with the Warm Fuzzy God Squad. Life isn't warm and fuzzy. I was a Christian Education major in college and really thought I wanted to work in a church environment. But I became far more interested in where people ARE and not where others think they SHOULD BE. So I turned to counseling instead.
I eventually was able to get out of her line of questioning and turn the tables on her. I did learn a lot about her and I think she truly is a good person. A bit misguided, perhaps. I do hope she never has to learn the hard way that life isn't always fuzzy with perfect green grass.
What sucks is that I know now she will seek me out at the next gathering.
5 comments:
Kind of is annoying when someone's identity is confused with their role as "witness" to something as if without them God won't exist.
It's a hard concept but if God did not create anything at all including us, God would still be there right?
This would be a good use for an imaginary friend. This friend could block in a tandem formation while you slide through the slipstream to a victorious rendezvous with another mom. Or not.
there are a lot of comments I could make here - like how HIGH-larious your inside voice is (and I get to hear it outside).
However this, "But I became far more interested in where people ARE and not where others think they SHOULD BE,"
is why I love you.
Look at it this way, you "Weirdness Magnets" always have the best stories to tell! : )
A couple years ago, I read a book on Zen.
The book had two beliefs that I found interesting. First, that every person contains enough love to cure everyone's problems. The book suggested we were just too stingy with our love.
The second belief was that every person we meet had something that we needed to learn. Whenever I meet someone who I'd rather not deal with, I remember this belief and try to find something positive from the encounter. Sometimes this helps, sometimes it doesn't. (Good luck!)
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