Photo - All Very Catholic - By Nigel A. JAMES
More Real
than a Book.
Andy
was not someone out of a book. He was real. As real as us all.
But, not really. Andy was more. He had two different sides. Andy
was very unusual.
One
of Andy's sides was his "alternative side". The other,
his conservative conformist side. And, these two sides worked very
well together. They had Andy in common.
And,
Andy believed in himself in a very strong way. This was his plus.
Andy's belief in himself was something that everyone liked. Self
belief is something that everyone wants. Andy was the perfect
example. Everyone liked him. He was a popular guy. He had charisma.
Andy was someone to follow.
Andy's
alternative side was his scruffy one. He dressed very badly.
He never used a comb and rarely shaved. He was a mess. He was lazy.
This, however, was something that no one seemed to mind. Andy had a
small business and ran it very well. His service was good, and, most
importantly, Andy was friendly and tolerant.
Andy's
other side was conformist conservative. Andy was a member of the
Roman Catholic Church. But, many other people were Catholics as
well. And, in this sense, Andy didn't stick out from the crowd. He
ran the boy scouts, and, occasionally sang in the choir. Andy was
an all-round modern free thinking tolerant Christian. But, then one
day, something happened. Andy revealed another side of his character
that, up until then, no one had known.
A
young girl of the parish became pregnant. She was only 15. And, to
make matters worse, the girl's mother taught at a private Catholic
school. Most people of the parish had no problem at all with the
girl's situation. She wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last.
Many have secrets. Many cupboards are stuffed full of skeletons.
But, Andy was shocked!
Andy
was through and through intolerant. This, it seemed, was his real
self. His smiles and friendliness were only for business. Happy
customers. Anything out of the ordinary was a taboo. And, the poor
young girl was definitely full out of order. People like us don't do
that kind of thing. But, they do. And, that was Andy's big problem.
And, Andy, too, was well out of order.
Intolerance
and arrogance are both the same thing. An unpleasant weakness. And,
maybe, Andy didn't like himself. People like us are not lazy.
People like us don't dress like tramps. People like us don't make
mistakes! We are respectable. Andy just couldn't be himself. I
wonder why not. He tried very hard and almost succeeded.
revealed
- enthült
stick
out from the crowd -
All Very Catholic - By Nigel A. JAMES
