It is a fact that, more and more every day, it seems that we Christians are retreating into the private sphere, where no one judges us or gives us an opinion of our way of living our faith. Apart from the jihadist and political attacks that the Church has been suffering for years, it is easy to see how this religion is increasingly less well regarded.
I am not here to condemn what some call “Christianophobia”, but I am here to point out one of what, in my opinion, is the most important of Christianity’s unimportant problems: good manners are being lost.
Let me put it in context; in the Faculty of Law of the UCM (Madrid), there is a beautiful chapel with a constant trickle of people coming in and out. Some of them could register there; and I know this because I try to go there every day, either to pray (when I have time) or simply to greet the Lord. Either way, and regardless of what time I go, there is always one of my three rude neighbors.
Seriously, I’ve come to think of them as security guards to keep them from vandalizing the chapel, except that I’ve met all three of them in different classes. Our faces have been seen more often than Ben-Hur’s at Easter. And after several failed attempts, I have given up trying to get a “hello” back every time I meet them. They never greet, neither inside nor outside the chapel, neither students nor teachers.
When they see me, they look away as if we shouldn’t meet outside our headquarters, as if we were doing something illegal by going to the chapel or as if they were drug dealers and I their client. I don’t pretend we’re friends either, but they’re not going to lose a finger for saying a measly “hello.”
This whole situation irritates and annoys me, but I will keep trying and, maybe at some point, someone will appear who is not ashamed to exchange a couple of words outside the temple and, step by step, we will recover the good habits.