Biased Hearts

Years ago my sister and I attended a Christian Writer's conference in Colorado.  This was prior to the publication of my book, Heavenly Healing.  I was excited to be amongst such accomplished Christian writers, and even more energized after each breakout session. I knew I had found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Included in the conference fee were three 15-minute one on one's with your choice of magazine editors, agents, writers, etc. All bios were included, and one of my choices was to meet with an agent.  New to the Christian writing world, I had no idea if I would ever need an agent, so scheduled a one on one with an older, seasoned gentleman.  Our meeting time arrived and as I sat across from him, my stomach was in knots!  Who was I anyway?  Some nurse from Florida who wanted to write. The conversation began with my questions about becoming a writer. His answers were straightforward.  Then he asked me what I wanted to write about.  As I began to give him my pitch, the word "Mass" came out when I was describing a scenario.  He stopped me dead in my tracks and said, "Wait. Are you Catholic?" I said yes, and it was all downhill from there. He began a tirade of negative innuendos about "those Catholics." I don't know if I sat there with my mouth open, but all I remember thinking was, "this is a Christian conference, right?"  I was stunned.  I thanked him and searched for my sister. When I told her what happened (my sister isn't Catholic anymore), she couldn't believe what she was hearing.  She stormed off to find the conference organizer to complain.  The organizer came over to me apologizing profusely.  This was the first time I ever realized there were other Christian denominations disregarding Catholics as Christian.  I was confused, shocked, and disgusted. To me, loving Jesus is loving Jesus. Luckily, it didn't put too much of a damper on the rest of the conference.  I ended up meeting with an editor from Focus on the Family magazine who months later published my first paid article called Until Their Last Breath. 


Todays first reading (Acts 15:7-21) inspired my blog post: 

After much debate had taken place, Peter got up and said to the Apostles and the presbyters, "My brothers, you are well aware that from early days God made his choice among you that through my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness by granting them the Holy Spirit just as he did us. He made no distinction between us and them, for by faith he purified their hearts. Why, then, are you now putting God to the test by placing on the shoulders of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they." The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them.

One thing I have learned is to never judge anyone else's faith journey (not that I don't have suggestions sometimes . . . :-).  God loves all His children, the key word being love.  How we get to Him is completely different than how our neighbor gets to Him.  Focus on your own holiness.  You never know who is watching.

In Volume One, Thoughts on Spirituality, Anne describes how learning to love Jesus leads to love of our neighbor:

“Jesus loves you. Ask Him to put love in your heart for Him. He will not refuse this prayer. Ask Him all day long until you feel it. It will come. And then you will begin to know Him. And then you will begin to love Him. Shortly after, you will begin to love your brothers and sisters and there will be no stopping the progress of your soul.”

Today, lay apostles, try loving those who are hard to love.  Proclaim the Good News as Paul and Barnabas do in the reading today.  Remember, we want to draw others to the light of Christ, not push them away.

Thank you, Lord, for leading me to an unbiased heart through Your love and acceptance of my own faults and failures. 

God bless,

Bonnie