Are You a Lemon or a Honey?

When I was a teenager the girls used to have a practice called "lemon sessions." A group of girls would get together and take turns telling each other what was wrong with them.

Ouch! Great way to build up friendships, eh? 

I've been thinking about that lately and how wonderful it would have been to hold "honey sessions" instead, where the girls affirmed the goodness of each other. As St. Francis de Sales often said, you catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with a barrel full of vinegar. 

But, let's face it, our fallen human nature leans toward "lemon sessions." We are quick to see and condemn the flaws in others while we excuse and rationalize our own faults and failures. 

"It's my parents' fault! They_____(Fill in the blank.)" 

"I can't help it because ______ (Fill in the blank.)"

"I have a right to be happy!"

"I'm only human."

"The devil made me do it."

I was thinking of this particularly this morning while I was moderating blog comments. The divide over the Russia/Ukraine conflict is basically a massive lemon or honey session on both sides. Russia (read Putin) is evil incarnate and their history proves they have been evil forever. Ukraine (Read Zelensky) is a hero who should continue to receive billions from American taxpayers to continue waging war until the monster Putin is removed and the globalists can take over Russia's assets.

And if you switch to the pro-Russia side of the debate you get the evil NATO/America/Ukraine alliance and the heroic Russians fighting one-world-government. Stark divide, eh?

Regular readers, of course, know which side of the divide Susan and I fall on. But what I find particularly... not sure what word to use...interesting?...odd?...concerning? Well, whatever word you use I shake my head over some commenters turning the entire history of a country into a black and white assessment. Russia was evil forever with an evil history going back to the beginning. Apparently she never did anything good and, perhaps, she should be nuked and wiped off the map of the world. (To be fair, none of the commenters said that, but perhaps a few believe it.)

There is not a nation on the planet that has a snow white history. I cringe when Sean Hannity talks about American exceptionalism. As a matter of fact, I can't stand to watch his show. Sorry, Sean, the number of atrocities and wars inflicted by our country are legion. We have exported abortion, contraception, and eugenics all over the world. 

I love America and I love our Founding Fathers and the government that gave us such a positive beginning. Even that beginning, however, was flawed by the Protestant ethic. That probably contributed to where we are today. It is only too obvious that many of our government leaders over the decades have betrayed us, committed acts to deliberately bring us into wars for their benefit, undermined our security and financial freedom, etc.

What's the solution? Mary's peace plan, of course, outlined at Fatima. Her rosary can hold back the forces intent on bringing us to World War III. The question is, do we have the resolve to listen to her and her Son, Jesus? Each of us must answer for himself. But we do, indeed, have the power to be honey for the world if we choose to be.