Does This Thing Come with a Manual?
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After we moved into our house, we started doing research on a washer and dryer. I like looking at customer reviews to see how well they stand up to their ads. One of the models for a washer we were looking at didn’t have the agitator in the middle (this is the top-load kind with the part coming up the middle from the bottom that would rotate back and forth). The ads said that it was great because it didn’t wear down the clothes as quickly. But as I looked at reviews, there was an overwhelming amount that would claim washers without the agitator weren’t any good – there’d be all kinds of soap build up, the clothes wouldn’t get cleaned well, etc.
But then I read something about how all those people complaining weren’t using the washer properly. You’re not supposed to fill up the washer as much as possible, just because there’s more room without the agitator in there. Those bad reviews came from people who probably never read the instructions.
We ended up buying that washer. I read the instructions, and we followed them, and haven’t had any issues.
The Catholic Church I think falls victim to this same problem. So many – millions, if not more – people complain about the Catholic Church. They don’t agree with what the Church teaches, or the Church’s practices or traditions. And this just isn’t from non-Catholics. Many Catholics don’t agree with all of the Church’s teachings, and a large majority actually practice the faith. And the reason they don’t agree isn’t because they know better, it’s because they don’t actually know what the Church teaches. It’s all based on assumptions and hearsay. Bishop Fulton Sheen said,
“There are not a hundred people who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church – which is of course, quite a different thing.”
I grew up not knowing much about my faith. I knew some of the things the Church taught us to believe, I knew some of the prayers, and I had an idea of how I was supposed to live. But I never knew the whys. I never went deep. I never read the Catechism of the Catholic Church (this is the book that contains basically every single teaching and belief of the Church). I just saw it, saw how other people were doing it, and followed suit. The problem with this is that a lot of people I followed knew about as much as I did. Or, they knew what the Church taught, but ignored it (which is definitely something I did and still do to an extent).
But the more I learn about the Church, the more I fall in love with what Jesus left us. The more I understand, the more it all makes sense – the Church is not just about faith, but reason also. It gives me more purpose and more drive to follow the Church’s teachings more closely. And because I understand more of why the Church does things in certain ways, I have way less complaints about the Church. I don’t know if I could give it a 5 star review, but that’s probably because some people who were in charge but didn’t read the manual were running It.
But the more I learn about the Church, the more I fall in love with what Jesus left us.
My thoughts exactly…great post and wonderful inspiration for me this day.
Have a wonderful week and many blessings to the family.