“Don’t Feed the Soap Opera Demon”

Yesterday I walked upstairs to speak with a young friend of mine at school.  He was trained in eight years of Catholic seminary, but stopped short of ordination and is now a husband and father.  He’s a delightful, courtly young man and I greatly respect his spirituality and his intelligence.  I explained that I needed to speak with someone who understood the spiritual implications of decisions made at work.

In vague terms, which I will use here with you as well, I described a situation in which I felt that I had been wronged behind the scenes and wanted to somehow expose the wrong and defend myself.  I told him that although I felt that God was using this situation to expose my pride and that it was for my best, I still struggled with whether to accept the situation or press it. He said something that made me guffaw–loudly:  “Don’t feed the soap opera demon.”

Oh my gosh, what wonderful advice!  My navel-gazing introspection and self-pity evaporated immediately–poof.  Although he called it a demon over Latin America, I believe we all are affected by  it every once in a while.  Thank God for friends who speak the truth in love.

Photo credit:  http://www.threadless.com/threadless/greatanother-soap-opera/