One great development at work.
No, not raises that keep pace with inflation! ;)
I and 5 other folks at the newspaper have formed a loose group for Bible study and the like. I tried to see if there was any enthusiasm for this a year ago, and was met with a crushing silence. Timing seemed to be better this year, so I tried again and did get some interested people.
It's nice to put together a group like this. Too often, Christians don't really feel welcome in newsrooms ... I get odd responses when people find out. Some smile and nod, like you've just told them you're joining the Raelians, some mentally survey a list of things they can no longer talk to you about. Some, without knowing about me, will get loud and nasty about Christians in general.
I usually work Christmas day, since we open presents Christmas eve and then Christmas morning, and the rest of the day is spent playing and napping and watching football. One Christmas a few years ago, there was an odd, hateful thing said. There was sectarian violence at the time in Pakistan, Muslims largely attacking Christians. Well, a "place of worship" was hand-grenaded, many dead. This was brought up in the budget meeting for the day. One person there said "Only Christians celebrate their holiday by killing people." I pointed out that the Christians were the ones who died (it was a church), and the Muslims were the ones who lobbed the grenade. He shut up, but I don't think he changed his mind.
So anyway, yesterday we had a devotional, all 6 of us, and it was a great time. The guy who led it is a reporter and teaches Sunday school. He said that when he was preparing for our meeting, he had his Bible out and was reading it. Some other person in the newsroom came over and started talking to him. Eventually, this person (he wouldn't say who) said "I'm a Christian, too, but I don't want people to know it."
If nothing else, I hope people here feel comfortable enough to practice their faith openly.
-Zube.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Hey, I think that's great! It feels awkward to be in a situation where I'm a member of such the super-majority: white, liberal, non-churchgoer (Well, at least I'm not male or middle-aged!). I know people are more diverse than that, it's just a tough environment to let it show. Glad you got a better response this year :-)
When did Christians start celebrating Christmas by killing?
I think some people think Christians are freaks. Some are. But so are other extremists. I don't go to church anymore. But I am Catholic and Christian. I believe what I believe, and I don't care what others think.
Anyway, good luck with your group.
Huh. Really? I didn't know the environment at work was like that. I know sometimes we bash Bush a lot, but I didn't think there was any animosity toward religion. Not at least on my end of the floor...
Maybe it's just me naively thinking that everyone is open-minded. (:
ann ... yeah, i didn't know where that comment came from. i thought at first it was a joke, but you could tell it wasn't. odd.
jodie ... i don't think anybody's getting knocked down because of faith, but i think there's discomfort because of the issues you can and can't talk about. most here are liberal (so if you're not, it's hard to be otherwise) and most here don't go to church (so if you do, it's hard to be a churchgoer).
Cool blog! I stumbled in it while updating my profile, hit on Newsboys and it took me to other people who listen to Newsboys. Looks like we're kind of similar -- I'm a Christian guy who works for a newspaper, too!
God bless,
Dave
Post a Comment