On the Other Hand...

I feel a little like Tevye these days with all the conflicting reports of Pope Francis. A traditional blogger says we can't trust him because Mahony is so enthusiastic about his election. But then I read that the orthodox Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet threw his support to Cardinal Bergoglio during the conclave to secure his election. On the one hand, his ecumenical activity is criticized as syncretism, but on the other hand the Eastern Orthodox patriarch will attend the installation, the first that time has happened since the Eastern and Western Churches split in schism nearly 1,000 years ago. Traditionalists are upset about what they describe as Pope Francis' hostile reception to Summorum Pontificum, but, on the other hand, Robert Moynihan shared correspondence with a friend from Argentina who said it was permitted and any problems were due to priests who weren't trained to say it properly.

We are living in interesting and often confusing  times which brings me back to my friend Tevye, a kind of everyman, who constantly converses and sometimes remonstrates with God. One statement seems appropriate for our own times.

"Sometimes I think, when it gets too quiet up there, You say to Yourself, 'What kind of mischief can I play on My friend Tevye?'"

The difference between our mischief and "God's mischief" is that His always has a purpose and is always for our good.