October 15, 2021
Dear Friends,
If I were to ask you, what is your favorite book, what is your favorite movie, who is your favorite actor, favorite athlete, favorite meal, etc. I would guess that you have a very definitive answer for most of the questions. While maybe for a book, you might try to argue author verses actual book, we have things that we can probably answer easily and quickly. There is a quote from a comic that says, “kids are awesome, who else would ask me what my third favorite lizard is?” I don’t have a favorite lizard, let alone a third favorite lizard. Yet, the very question is one that causes us to stop and think about things before just blindly answering.
At times, there is a danger to responding quickly to something without giving it much thought. While books, actors, movies, etc. are easy things to respond to, without thinking, I think we need to remember that should not be the case in everything that we do. At some point in our life, we all express regret at responding too quickly to a comment someone has made, sending an email without pausing to think about the ramifications of our actions, even blindly commenting on things whether it is on social media, news articles, even just to another friend.
I preached about this a few weeks back, but as we know, Fr. Brian likes to revisit certain things. While the responses are nothing new, I feel that as time has gone on, the notion of the online bully has just become accepted as part of what is. Sometimes we may be the bully and sometimes we may be the witness to the bullying. We cannot let this happen or continue to happen. We are reminded often in scripture by that call to love, just as I will always speak of love, we need to remember to live it as well. This includes online. We cannot think that just because I am in my office, on my phone, not next to this person, that it is ok or acceptable. We need to pause and think about what we want to say and if we should say it. Instead, pause and try to figure out what your third favorite lizard is. Hopefully by the time you come up with the answer, you are better able to handle the problems before you.
Happy Fall once again, enjoy the weather while you can. Open some windows and enjoy the day.
God Bless,
Fr. Brian