"Cranky Catholics" form two lines

In week two, we have finished our initial testimonies and head into an overview of our relationship with God and how it's changed through our lives.

This particular group has fallen into two camps: one group who's ticked off at the Church and want an immediate end to the male priesthood, celibacy and the Church's teachings on sexuality, especially homosexuality. The other group is falling in love with the Church and with the Lord and want to deepen their relationship.

We haven't had such a clear divergence of goals before. Usually, the two go hand in hand, with both needs warring in the same person. This group's dynamic makes for tension, because the yay-sayers are asking the nay-sayers to hush and work on their relationship with God. That's right, but we usually don't make such strong pronouncements, instead preferring to guide them into making that statement themselves (you can do a lot with silence and an expectant face).

I feel lucky: so many people report thinking of God as a stern judge and taskmaster and mean old spoilsport who peers down and spoils our fun. I never felt that way about God, did you? Me, I thought of God as being more like a statue, standing around, reminding me that there was something or Someone I was ignoring. Silent, patient, maybe a little bleak about the Truth, but not mean.

The main discussion of the evening settled into why we all have to pay for Adam's and Eve's original fall. Why don't we each get the chance to turn towards or away from God and, if turning toward Him, be united totally with Him as they were?

Philosophy and Betty Crocker brownies in the suburbs.