I looked at John and then we see all the faces on our older kids drop. They have been playing all summer with these two wonderful neighbor children whom they found out were Lutheran. They love Alex and Noah and were devastated to hear they "hate Catholics."
We returned home from the wedding and the next morning they were outside playing with Alex and Noah. Long and behold, Lillie tells her the devastating news that "Lutherans hate Catholics." She then comes inside crying. I had to reassure her that they DO NOT hate Catholics and Alex does not hate you. Do you think that was the end of it? NOPE. Not by a long shot.
Rose then comes in to report that Alex said her church "doesn't have a crucifix" and "she didn't even know what one looked like." She then pleaded with me to take one out to show her. All I see from the window is lots of convincing andRose's hand pointing.
Next up, Dominic comes in crying. Man, this morning isn't going well. "Dominic, what is wrong?" "Noah said he's never coming over again because he said he doesn't believe in purgatory because he's never heard of it and it isn't even in the bible. I assured him that he would be back. He then grabs his bible and headed outside to which I see the following.
After all the scuffle, I decided it best that I call their mother to make sure she knew what was going on and where it all started. She's a real sweetheart and we laughed at the intensity of their discussions and agreed it was good they were talking about such pressing issues at the ages of 5,6,7, 8 and 9. First things first when your playing with neighbor kids.
*For the record: I KNOW LUTHERANS DON'T HATE CATHOLICS* ok Martin!
Seriously, your children are wonderful little people. And Rose holding the crucifix......
ReplyDeleteI love it! A similar thing is beginning to happen here; our children were told that Catholics don't like single-parent families like the next door neighbors (homosexual mother). Blah! I know the mother better than that, so I know that something was misheard and/or misrepresented along the way. So I explained to the children that something had been misunderstood, that the only thing that Catholics hate is SIN. We'll see how long that explanation lasts!
ReplyDeleteStumbled upon your blog from Rachel Balducci's. This post made me laugh! As a Missouri Synod Lutheran, I can assure you we don't hate Catholics! In fact, I quite love them! And our church has many a crucifix. .. though I know many Lutheran churches don't. I enjoyed your blog - you have a beautiful family! :)
ReplyDeleteShelley
mammamilk.blogspot.com