MuseOfFire wrote:
well, i get the same stuff hurled at me by people who are not mentally ill.
it's a drag. all we can do is stand our ground, as nicely as possible, and keep saying what we think is right.
some people come around. some don't.
i move in some circles of serious Christian-haters. i just try to stay cool and be a good example of a friend, listener, etc.--some people never get it, but others do come around to at least not berating me all the time.
The fellow in the dorm across the hall was scared to death of me because I had a huge poster/icon of Christ in the window of my dorm room, because he is gay and feared that if I found out I would preach to him and yell at him about it.
I only discovered this a few nights ago when he was talking to me, thinking I was my roomate, and was asking about whether I was one of those \"annoying, preachy types\". Somehow this really amused me. Anyway, I told him about why and how I came to Orthodoxy and he now (at least, so he said to me) has a completely different view of what a \"real\" Christian is, after having met me in person.
I forgot what my point here was, if I had one.
Oh, yes. Just be calm, and gentle, and try to explain things without seeming forceful. After all, there was a saint who said (forgive me, I do not recall exactly which one) \"Preach the Gospel at all times, but use words only when necessary.\"
