Keeping The Faith

It seemed to me, as a 12-year-old, that excommunication was the most awful thing that could ever happen to a person, worse than death; an all-encompassing, church-wide determination that a person had failed to 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 and had become a heretic or, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦, an 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦.

To experience it myself, then, many years later was shocking. It implied I had not measured up to the expectation of Christian living, and this judgment sits uncomfortably with me. I had no glaring moral issue or unrepented sin that would give cause for such action. And yet, I felt like Hester Prynne, with the letter 'A' (for 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦, in my case) painted in bold, vivid red on my back for all to see.

The seeming dismissal of the authenticity of my faith was and still is painful and difficult to understand. I wondered silently, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 I failed to 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩?

https://carrielloydshaw.com/keeping-the-faith/