Forgive and Forget

There was a very heated school board meeting last night. If there were ever a reason for me to consider homeschooling, the actions of some people who were attending last night's meeting would rank really high. The head of the athletic board raked our poor priest over the coals. Father didn't deserve it at all, but he took blow after blow with a humbleness and kindness that will be legendary someday. He even shook the hand of the man that accused him of so many things after the meeting. He is a true Vicar of Christ.

Change is hard. Our parish has gone through some shocking changes over the last 2 or 3 years that would be hard for any group of people to process: the sudden and shocking death of two veteran and well-loved faculty members from cancer, the retirement of the Priest that had been with our parish since 1993 and the arrival of our new Priest who has new and different ideas of what we should be as a parish, a beloved teacher leaving because of the birth of her first child, the Principal announcing his retirement, a new Bishop for our Diocese and the many shocking changes and budget cuts that often come along with a new Bishop. The list goes on. People are hurt and confused. So we are lashing out at each other instead of figuring out how to move on together in a new direction. You could just see the pain in the room last night. Change is HARD, but it is a fact of life. It is my hope that last night helped people begin to release some of the hurt and resentment that they were holding inside. I really want to be hurt and angry over everything that has happened over the last few months. But I know in my heart that most people were just running on pure emotion rather than logic. When you are hurt, the knee-jerk reaction is to lash out. I understand this; I spent 5 years in college majoring in psychology. It's just hard to be on the receiving end of all that lashing.

The only hope that we have as a school and church is to forgive and forget and move on from this sad and horrible place that we are at. I can't control what other people do, but I can make the decision to forgive and grow myself. So that is what I am going to do starting right now.

Have a great day everyone!