Say what you Believe, Believe what you Say

Beliefs are very important.   Sometimes, though, we don't want to speak out because we don’t want conflict.  Some may believe one thing but say another; they don't want other people knowing what they really believe because they feel like it will change the way others look at them.   The bad part is, it can.

I’m not the kind of person to hide what I believe.  I am pro-life and I would yell that into the sky if someone asked me to.  But I have had some friends who they were pro-life and would never have an abortion.  Unfortunately, each got pregnant twice; both girls had a baby one day and then a few weeks later, no baby.   How do you even ask what happened? You really can’t.  Plus they knew what I stand for so they wouldn't tell me anyway.

Holding on to your beliefs isn't always easy.  Sometime it can get in the way of your friends being themselves.   But it doesn't have to be easy! Things were never easy for Jesus, but he never said “this is too hard so I'm going to hide what I say from everyone.”  Why can’t we be more like Jesus and show our love and make a difference in the world?  But sometimes showing our love means saying things that people may find hard to hear.  One of my favorite Catholic bloggers, Jennifer Fulwiller, wrote about contraception in this post for National Catholic Register; people may not want to hear what she says, but she has the courage to say it.

We didn't fight for the freedom of speech simply to say nothing at all. I just don't understand people who believe something but don't say anything about what is going on around them.  We can't make a difference in our world if we don't say anything.  If we don’t say anything, we really can't do anything about it.