Ah, good ol' guilt... I still get tied up in knots over simple stuff like that decades after the fact, plus the simple stuff since. I will be following this thread to see if any new ideas come up. I'm still taking it one guilt attack at a time.

As for the other...

I take the need to preach - whatever the ism - as a sign of emotional distress. Not easy to take when I, too, am in emotional distress, but two people in emotional distress triggering one another is common enough that I believe I need a go-to response for it when I am distressed. My go-to response is, "Damn, I went to a hardware store for bread AGAIN!" I look for the quickest, most respectful exit possible and resume my search for a bakery. To quote the Dalai Lama, "If you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."

Whenever I am able, I try to care about their distress, in whatever form they have to express it. Oddly, each time I am able to give the gift of tolerance seems to lighten my guilt load a bit. Maybe? Seems?

I hope I didn't offend. I offer prayers in generall, but I hope I didn't come off wrong. I know I've said I'm Catholic, but honestly, I'm so badly lapsed I'd probably be hit by lightning if I get near a church.

I was hounded on DS by someone who insisted my spiritual status and so on was their business. I am sooo sorry you feel that you were spiritually intruded upon.

I know many are sincere in their faith but I have often found that the ones most insisten on an "ism" are using it as a coping mechanism, sometimes not too constructively.

Gentle hugs,
Leo

Leo...you did not intrude at all! I have no problem with the general "sending prayers" I have used it myself when I know it is appropriate just because I want someone to know they have my well wishes and support without turning it into a statement about what i do or don't believe.

What i do take issue with are the responses that include chapter and verse. Usually I just let it go because honestly it is usually not meant to offend and the person would have no idea of why or even that I may be sensitive to it ( after all that is my own issue).

I don't want to make people feel like they have to be completely politically correct. I don't mind cussing but I know other's do so I try to remember to not do it on a public forum but I am sure I have lapsed.
I would NEVER go to someones journal entry and say I was offended by the language in their journal. I would never go to there journal and tell them I think their spiritual beliefs are silly.

No...I am not talking about someone saying'Oh I will pray for you" That is a fine and good thing.

Lilly....we must have been typing at the same time. I appreciate your feedback. I worry so much about these things. I know I get angry sometimes and I don't want to take it out on people but at the same time I think I should be able to speak my mind. I guess I can't make everyone happy and maybe that is something I need to start being ok with.

Maybe the one thing I can take from it is that it is ok to be me...the good bad and ugly and to have an opinion which may or may not be the same as other's.

I've been having some trouble with my kidney disease and diabetes both this week. I've gotten through the work week with all tasks fulfilled at work, but I've given myself blood sugar tests and had really low blood sugar, felt tired, and so forth.

I let some people at work know, so they wouldn't think I was depressed or anything as my health slowed me down some. I'm getting better at asserting myself and speaking up at work about how I feel, good, bad, or indifferent. I used to live in silent desperation, so it's been good for me.

So I came back to my office after lunch today and somebody had shoved an anonymous note under my office door. It listed a bunch of verses from the bible about miracle cures from prayer and so forth.

I'm an ordained minister myself as a former hospital chaplain, so it's not the religious wishes that bugged me. It was shoving them under someone's door and staying anonymous. Like that prank ringing a doorbell and running away when I was a kid.

I'm sure the person who did it meant well, but it's not the best way to show solidarity with someone who's having a tough day. That's all I'm saying.

So I thought about that when you spoke about being preached to by someone. Empathy goes a lot farther, and is more spiritual if you ask me. I don't blame you for feeling put out at all. That note under my door didn't lift my spirits, either.

Hang in there. Sorry I can say it out of my own similar experience, too, this very same day, but at least I can freshly and honestly say you're not alone.

Cecil, OMG, my DS person is why my journals are private or friends-only (and they'd been a friend before their "conversion", for lack of a better term).... THey hounded me in PMs, too. It was AWFUL.
Glad i didn't offend, I know this is a touchy issue for many people, me included:-)