Being indecent

Matthew on Catholic Dads shares his view on An Indecent Family . There is a good conversation going on in the comments, so come over and join in.

My family and I go to a diner most Sundays after church. It’s our big event of the week and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Recently, two women sitting at an adjacent table engaged in a lengthy conversation about how crazy my wife and I must be to have four children. They didn’t care if we heard. “Oh my God, I would go crazy,” she said. “Why would you have so many? It’s just…indecent.”

She had searched for that word. And sadly I think she meant it. She wasn’t trying to be shocking or speak hyperbolically for a laugh. The other woman agreed and shook her head.

I saw my seven year old girl listening to them. She understood the words but I saw in her face that she didn’t really comprehend the cruelty beneath it. I was glad for that. But sad that one day she would understand. My wife just smiled at me.

There is a divide in America. It’s talked about incessantly on television and in the press. They say it’s Republicans vs. Democrats, pro-life vs. pro-choice, and haves vs. havenots. But I think it’s something deeper. The divide in this country is between those of faith and those without faith.

It is evidenced in all those other things including how we vote, how we live, how many children we have, where they go to school but the underlying basis is faith. Do you have faith in God or not?

I believe in God. I am a punch line for the secular elite.

The topic turned to responses to the judgmental comments we receive.

I have had more than one co-worker ask if I know how that happens. Too that I always respond with a big grin, "Of course. That is why we have so many."

To the ones that suggest getting "fixed" I let them know that neutering is for dogs and cattle.

There is a divide in this country. My side seems to smile a lot more. But we also whisper nice things while mean things are said loudly. Perhaps we should keep smiling but raise our voices a little more.

But perhaps charity and the quiet witness of the sign of contradiction is what our world needs. Catholic singer Marie Bellet has a wonderful song on this called, "What I wanted to say." The gist is, can't you see these children are the best of me.

Sometimes it is the Catholic friends that can be the harshest. They should know better, but their "fun" often hurts the most.

Funny thing is, some of these same people are the ones that LOVE getting hugs from our numerous children. I almost want to ask if they can see what they are missing.