Not Right At All

Last updated on: April 29, 2011 at 1:00 am by Tara Edelschick

Not Right At All 2011-04-29T01:00:53-06:00 Tara Edelschick

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

After hearing us talk today about the tornadoes that swept through the South yesterday, the boys wanted to see video of a tornado. Jeff pulled up a montage from The Times. After a few minutes, Ezra, who looked disappointed, said, “I want to see screaming, and people running for their lives.”

I gasped and shouted, “Ezra!”

I was going to go on to say that we never want to see people running for their lives. But then I realized that would be a lie. We do want to see that, or there wouldn’t be so much of it all over the internet. And it didn’t seem right to say, “Look, Ezra, we are all a little callous toward human suffering. The trick is to hide it better. You need to shake your head and mutter under your breath about just how truly awful it is.”

That didn’t seem right at all so I remained quiet.

Later, when Jeff was praying before dinner, he spent a minute praying for the people who had lost loved ones in the storm and people who were without homes and dinner this very night. Throughout the prayer, Zach was eying his dinner with pure lust. He was literally licking his lips and saying repeatedly, “This looks so good.”

I shot him the evil eye, my silent version of the gasp. I was tempted to tell him that when people are praying for others, we don’t think about how great our next meal is going to be. But I realized that that too would be a lie. And I could hardly say, “Look, Buddy, I know you care more about the fact that there is a special sausage in your pasta tonight than you do about people who have lost everything. But when these things happen, grown-ups spend a few minutes in reverent prayer before we move on and act like nothing happened. You should start practicing now.”

But that didn’t seem right at all.

There is nothing like someone else’s blatant indifference to highlight your hypocrisy. God help us all, especially those who have lost everything. For real.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 28, 2011

Housework

Next Post

April 30, 2011 Who knew?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Reflections on "Mind In The Making" by Ellen Galinsky Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz