Don’t you hate it when you’re kind of mad at someone or something and yet at the same time you have to admit (silently of course) that some good has resulted anyway? It can be frustrating when you expect the bad to be all bad and the good all good, and then they’re not. I get used to it with people I know and love, but with all the rest (politicians, TV shows, neighbors…) it’s sometimes easier to just stereotype ‘em and come to a thumbs-up or thumbs-down conclusion. Ambivalence is the act of holding contradictory emotions or attitudes at the same time for a person or action; some say it’s a sign of spiritual maturity! In Praise of the Church Lady (in Christianity Today) wouldn’t be possible without ambivalence:
If every believer is graced with some spiritual gift, such as hospitality or encouragement, hers was the gift of disapproval. This woman never understood that good behavior in little boys did not entail their acting like little girls, so I am sure that her reprimands brought out the worst in me…
…But this company of the strange, the judgmental, and the hypocritical—in cooperation, of course, with the not-so-strange nor hypocritical—managed somehow to do me the invaluable service of laying a solid foundation for the faith of my adult life.
The church lady may not be a lady (or even be in church!), but she’s always there somewhere, challenging me to hear a message that may be disguised by behavior that gives me an excuse to ignore her.
