Do you remember back in August we had Louie to stay with us? And while he was with us he stole my sandal and it was lost in the garden? Well, guess what Husband found yesterday in amongst the bamboo!
I say I was brave; some people might have thought I was interfering.
In Zac's last night Sean was talking about communion and the beatitudes (blessed are the poor in spirit etc). We have a lady who comes and she has some interesting views, too complicated to get into here. Everyone is very patient with her even though most disagree with much of what she says. If she just asked questions it would be okay but she likes to tell us where we're going wrong albeit in a very polite and smiling fashion.
So last night we were about to share bread and wine and Sean had suggested that we have a time of silence as we did it so we could all think and pray quietly. The bread was given out and I was handing out the glasses of wine (cranberry juice) when this lady stood up and began asking Sean a question, or rather in her way, began quoting Old Testament verses about not drinking blood.
Sean is too polite and lovely to tell her to shut up but my tummy started fizzing, in a "I've got to say something" way. So I did. I said, "Could you wait until after communion to ask the question?"
She gave me a look and said, "I was talking to Sean."
"And Sean asked for silence while we have communion so could you wait until after communion to ask your question?"
She sat down then and I was probably shaking as I gave out the rest of the glasses. Apart from anything else it just seemed plain rude to ignore the request for silence. No matter how relevant you think your point is. Which no-one else agreed with incidentally. As Tim shouted after, "It's not blood!"
We all have shutters and see what we want to see or not but I don't think one person's views can be allowed to derail an evening. We have another man who has some very weird views but everyone knows it so just accepts him/ignores his views.
Anyway, I brought out the cake then and we sang 'Happy Birthday' to Marcus.
Needless to say, afterwards I was in a quandary of doubt over whether I'd done the right thing but I slept well which I take as a sign that I had.
11 comments:
I agree with you on this one, Liz.
I wasn't there, but I feel certain you did the right thing. During a time of communion when someone has requested silence, then that is not the time to ask questions, even if the questions are well intentioned and I don't think her questions are. It sounds as if she's there to annoy people and to try to show off what she thinks is her superiority in her beliefs and thoughts.
Love,
Janie
Well done Liz. It was the right thing to do. I would have said something ..like I do in the "quiet" zone of the train. Annoys me intensely
Above reply is me Anne
Good job! It's hard to stand up to people.
You were firm but polite, not rude or confrontational. You did nothing wrong as far as I'm concerned!
Good for you for speaking up and calmly insisting on respect for the silence request. Well done.
I am not sure I understand the context. Do you have communion when you get together socially? I am asking because it doesn't sounds like church and didn't seem so from the photo. Aside from me not quite understanding the context, it doesn't seem to me as though you were inappropriate.
Thank you all for your encouragement.
Anvilcloud, Zac's is a very different sort of church. Our bible study on a Tuesday evening is our main meeting. Sometimes it will include communion. I've written about it in other blog posts. Try this one for more detail: https://liz-and-harvey.blogspot.com/2023/02/what-is-zacs.html
Good job.
I think I would have spoke up also and asked her to wait. It was rude of her to ignore the request for silence.
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