So who's the idiot now?

Yup, me. Again.

My last post invited you all to catch up on my latest writing endeavours, as I shared an article I wrote for my church on homosexuality. Unfortunately, at the time it went to print, I was still at a loss for words when it came to the all-important title. I was drawing a great blank, and, unwilling to submit any of the crap that was floating through my exhausted stream of consciousness, I submitted the article and left its christening at the mercy of our church secretary.

Which was the idiotic act in question. And in retrospect, one deserving of what happened next.

My wonderful, skilled, well-meaning co-worker, Mary, titled the article for me, printed the hundred-plus copies of the newsletter, prepared them for mailing, and took her family for a fabulous getaway down to Disneyland for a week. I, the incompetent hack, spent most of my week sleeping off a cold and forgot/neglected to mail these newsletters in a timely fashion, proving to all within the zip code how unreliable free labor is and how truly irreplaceable our dear Mary is.

Our senior pastor's wife, with whom I stay, commented to me this afternoon how much she enjoys my writings, and I surmised correctly that the newsletter must have arrived in the mail sometime today. So it was with anticipation that I sat down this evening to catch up on church news and, of course, to admire my work in print.

(Oh look- an announcement for a special drama presentation coming up this... oh wait, LAST Sunday... ooops. Perhaps that might have been more useful in last week's mail!)

Anyways, there it was, page 2. This wordsmith's latest opus, succinctly entitled...

"Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin"

uugh.

Well, if I had had any delusions of grandeur or innovative thought, I think that title pretty much killed them all. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I've just been shot in the foot.

Readers, if you are currently trying in vain to understand what it is about this seemingly common evangelistic phrase that is evoking such a violent uproar in my spirit, I will begin by saying that that phrase eludes to a current of theology and popular Christian thought that I definitely don't subscribe to and in truth find very dangerous and offensive. Reverend Ken Collins wrote a piece that I think provides a great foundation for understanding my objections to the phrase on his website, which I've linked to above... however, back to my rant.

Mary, if you're reading this, I love you to death and value you immensely. And you should be thanked for teaching me a valuable lesson. Whether or not I ever take up my pen professionally is still a query better directed towards the heavens; however, if I do, I will never again depreciate the value of a carefully-crafted title. After seeing in print the cadaver of my once-editorial, I can now profess the incalculable merit of a well-selected headline.

Alright. It's almost midnight, the shock is waning, and there's only so much a girl can lament such an ultimately fickle loss. So I am very nearly finished here. However-

I'd like to close with a moment of silence (hats off, please), as we conclude this sad eulogy. I'm very hopeful that you can, indeed feel my pain, for I myself am still a bit mournful at the loss; 1,032 words' worth of solid thought and careful commentary, so deftly nullified by 6 short, sloppy, and indiscriminate ones : one noun, its derivative, two antonyms, and two of the single most common word in the english language.