My (Catholic) therapist asked me recently (non-judgmentally), "Do you like working a secular environment?"
My response was instant. "Yes! I LOVE it!"
Working in a secular environment has stretched me in so many ways. I don't even necessarily feel like the person I was a year ago. (Note: there are people called to work in a much more Catholic or faith-based environment, and I'm not saying anything to bash that. That is also so beautiful and important.) What I am saying is that God knows my heart and He knows it can only find true happiness if I go out and try to reach, love, and see people who are different from myself. Whether I'll always work in a secular environment, I don't know, but I do know with certainty that I am exactly where God wants me to be right now--where He can do what a priest once described to me as His "heart surgery."
Working in a secular environment isn't always comfortable for me, but if anything that only makes me love it more because it stretched me. In each individual who crosses my path I see beauty, and I want to come to better understand and know that person simply because they are.
My coworkers don't typically share my beliefs on some of the hot topics (though I am finding myself to be more and more moderate), but what we do share is a genuine concern and love for each individual in front of us (and isn't that what's most important?)
Working in a secular environment has helped me to see things differently and to delve into what being the heart of Christ in the world really looks like.
~*~
A year ago you ask me about "trans people" or "gay rights," I would have pictured a distant population. Now, if you ask me about it, I see the face of one of my trans students, and the first thing I want to know (non-judgmentally) is, "What is your story?"
In that moment, as I see the beauty of the other, I'm not asking this question in order to change that person. I'm asking because I recognize the individual's beauty and know that individual has seen and experienced things that I never have. Instead of asking to change the person, I'm asking to understand so that I can better love that individual (exactly as they are -- regardless of whether their views on matters change or not).
As I look back on what I've written, I want to note that when I say "I will love you whether your views change or not," I do NOT mean that in a better-than-though way. I recognize that we are equal in our flaws and beauty and that I have as much to learn from you as you have to learn from me. (I thank you for loving me whether my views change or not too. 😄)
When I encounter individuals-who-are-unlike-myself firsthand -- as opposed to talking about them as some distant population -- my heart is moved and I am forced to discover new things and ask questions I may not have asked before.
Recently, I've been having a spiritual struggle, because I've found that I often (not always, mind you -- not talking in absolutes here!) see a greater amount of genuine love, empathy, and compassion from people who are open to and/or support the LGBTQ+ community than I see from Catholics I've developed friendships with over the years. (Please, please remember that I'm not talking in absolutes. Not everyone who supports or promotes the LGBTQ+ community exudes these qualities, and I have met Catholics who approach the world with an INCREDIBLE about of love, empathy, and compassion.)
Seeing so much genuine love and care from the people who either live in or openly support the LGBTQ+ community has forced me to see that the world isn't black and white and that we can always learn something from our brothers and sisters with different views.
I'm not saying I disagree with the Catholic Church's teaching on when we are or are not called to have sexual intercourse (inside or outside of marriage; with the opposite or the same sex). That said, I do think leaders and members within the Catholic Church could do a better job of being charitable to people who identify as LGBTQ+ and could do more to affirm their worth and the goodness in them (and the fact that desiring a special bond or union with someone of the same sex can bring some beautiful and unique qualities to the table). Book recommendation especially for my Catholic friends: Gay and Catholic.
I could go on with this topic more, but I think I've made the main point I'm trying to make here. I am in a constant state of learning and discernment and am especially working to lead with the heart before the head. (That's what Christ did, see: The Bible.)
~*~
Working in a secular environment has helped me to ask questions I would not otherwise have asked and to see the beauty in people I might not have otherwise seen the beauty in.
I have dedicated my summer to trying to understand people who are so often misunderstood (both through research and through direct encounter), and I don't want that to end with this summer. Life is an amazing journey, and how beautiful it is that God has called me to know and love such amazing human beings in such amazing ways on my journey as I come to know Him.
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