Its amazing how much attention a conversation can get. I remember having an indepth discussion with a good friend of mine, ex-Catholic. We always go over the same stuff and after many years, he’s still not Catholic. But, on that day, there was someone paying close attention.
When my friend and I got up to leave, the listener ran up to us as we were exiting the door. He addressed me. His fist comment was a warning about the snares of the Catholic Church and how the Church had fallen into paganism in the time of Constantine. I said to him, “I believe the promise of Jesus Christ, that the Church will never fall to the gates of Hell (Matt 16:18). Therefore, I don’t believe that ever happened.
Then he said, “you know the Catholic Church used to burn bibles.” And I said, “They only burnt bibles that were not translated correctly.”
Then he said, “they used to bind the bible to keep it from the people.” And I said, “On the contrary. Do you remember when the phone company used to tie the phone book in phone booths? Was that to keep it from the people or to keep individuals from taking it so that it could be available for more people?”
Around that time, the listener’s demeanor changed completely. His shoulders relaxed and he looked downward at my feet. Then he said, “You need to write a book. Why doesn’t anybody tell us these things?” And I said, “There are many books that have been written. That’s how I learned.” The internet was already popular back then and I gave him a few references to look up.
Just the other day, about two days ago, my friend (the same one) and I were discussing religion at work. We were sitting on a stone slab and another guy came and sat down nearby. I don’t know if my friend noticed, but I did. The other guy was sidling up closer and closer. So, I raised my voice another decibel so he could hear my side of the discussion at least.
Keep your antennas up!
Sincerely,
De Maria
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