Push Came to Shove
Submitted by Ford Prefect on April 02 2000 22:32:12
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I went with one of my dear friends today to a shrine where there was the longest rosary I've ever heard, and in a drearier tone than I'd ever imagined, followed by an insufferably pious and somber Mass, blessing of innumerable religious objects, and veneration of some crucifix that someone had on loan. The crucifix was sprinkled with holy water, and later seen to "bleed" from the wounds. But when one person wiped the cross itself and the paper towel picked up a brown stain, I realized it was the coloring of the cross itself that produced the "blood." Well, this was, in a sense, a chance I'd always wanted....to debunk one of these apparent "miracles." But when I saw the tearful faces of the women who had handkerchiefs, kleenexes, or paper towels with samples of what they believed to be the blood of Christ, and praising Him for it, I realized it would serve no purpose at all to do so and would, in fact, be wrong for me. Even though it was just brown stain from the wood, it was a message of God's love to these women, and I damn sure wasn't going to take that from them. Live and learn! ---Ford |
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