Mortal sin, RCIA, no confessor, losing my mind

[Giovanna]

All right- I should stop beating around the bush with the more roundabout topics, and just get this off my chest:

I don’t know what to do anymore. I need RCIA to be over and done with. I am in a constant state of terror over mortal sin and Hell, to the point where these troubles keep me up almost all night, nearly every night, aggravate my OCD and chronic migraines, and leave me so tormented that my faith is being brought near the breaking point. So is my mental health. I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that, if I have to keep worrying myself sick about dying in the state of mortal sin before that Easter Vigil gets here, I’m going to go clinically psychotic, and spend a sizeable chunk of this Lent at the happy farm.

See this post (forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=90817)??) I didn’t write it, myself, but, I might as well have. I’m in a very similar boat.

The only difference is, after being turned away by both my RCIA teachers, the parish priest, a convent full of Sisters, and two other priests elsewhere, I finally found a parish whose priest would hear my confession. The only glitch was that he’d only allow me, still technically an outsider, this one confession, and told me I’d have to wait until the Easter Vigil for any further confessions. So, I agonized over making the most soul-searching, thorough confession I possibly could, sought guidance from the Holy Spirit, and faithfully made a valid confession of every single sin I could remember since baptism. I was absolved, and restored to the state of grace.

…For about 12 hours. Later that night, my mind saw a random naked picture (not a porn website- it was some rot somebody posted to MySpace before it could be pulled) on the Internet, promptly had a 2- or 3-second-long half-voluntary, half-involuntary random sexual thought, and boom- right back to square one. State of mortal sin; terrified of dying without Confession; in danger of eternal damnation. All over a fleeting thought I never meant to have, and wouldn’t have chosen without being provoked by an image I wouldn’t have looked at of my own volition.

…Only, now, because the one-and-only priest who would willingly hear the confession of an RCIA student, won’t be my confessor anymore, and all the other ones turned me away and told me to wait until next April, I have no confessor for four-and-a-half months.

I can’t even pray about it, apparently, because one mortal sin deprives me of God completely. So, I can’t even beg Him for forgiveness or recourse to sacramental confession.

I cannot stand four-and-a-half months of worrying myself to the lunatic asylum over things like this. I just cannot handle constant, chronic terror and misery.

So, what can I do?

 

[VociMike]

… Later that night, my mind saw a random naked picture (not a porn website- it was some rot somebody posted to MySpace before it could be pulled) on the Internet, promptly had a 2- or 3-second-long half-voluntary, half-involuntary random sexual thought, and boom- right back to square one. State of mortal sin;

Do you really think that you completely severed your relationship with God by that half-involuntary random sexual thought?! You didn’t. Most sins are not mortal sins, and it is by no means clear that you committed any sin at all. You need to find a good priest who can help you break out of this.

 

[LilyM]

2 or 3 seconds? I remember very vividly one of the nuns at school telling me it took at least five seconds for any thought to become gravely sinful …

Firstly you have NOT committed a mortal sin - mortal sin must be fully voluntary. And grave matter. Neither of these apply here. Secondly trust in God! He is not so pitilessly harsh as to withold His mercy from those who through no fault of their own cannot avail themselves of sacramental confession.

Anyone who makes a sincere Act of Perfect Contrition whilst not having the opportunity for confession will be forgiven. In fact it’s a good habit to say this prayer daily anyways. The Act of Perfect Contrition goes as follows:

“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.”

Don’t worry so much, get sleep (if you need medication to help you don’t forget to take that too).

 

[marci]

On the one hand we have those like a friend of mine who says that because she is “saved” no matter what she does from this point on she will go to heaven, and on the other side of the spectrum there’s, well, you.

Another post already related to you the fact that your 3 second picture show in your mind does not constitute a mortal sin, so I won’t elaborate on that.

My advice is to try to follow the commandments, avoid the seven deadlies, and pray the rosary. That’s good advice for all of us, if we could all do this perfectly the Holy Father would have to make massive lists of names for beatification.
What I’m trying to say is we all fall short. We are not perfect, that’s why we have confession. I always think about the part of mass before communion, when we all say “Lord, I am not worthy to recieve you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” Trust in God’s Mercy for his children who so earnestly try to be Christlike, but continually fall short of His Grace due to our imperfect human nature.

I will say a prayer for you tonight that you may find peace in the knowledge that God loves you, and knows what’s in your heart.

 

[I_A]

Perhaps God is bringing you to him in such a way where He challenges your OCD. It takes faith to believe in God, sometimes it takes more faith to believe God will give you what you need when you need it. He is calling you to trust in Him.

P.S. Since it wasn’t an intentional act it wasn’t a sin.

 

[AussieCatholic]

I don’t know what to do anymore. I need RCIA to be over and done with. I am in a constant state of terror over mortal sin and Hell, to the point where these troubles keep me up almost all night, nearly every night, aggravate my OCD and chronic migraines, and leave me so tormented that my faith is being brought near the breaking point. So is my mental health. I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that, if I have to keep worrying myself sick about dying in the state of mortal sin before that Easter Vigil gets here, I’m going to go clinically psychotic, and spend a sizeable chunk of this Lent at the happy farm.

Why wait until Easter?

If you’re ready to accept Christ through His Church get confirmed as soon as possible!

 

[servus]

All right- I should stop beating around the bush with the more roundabout topics, and just get this off my chest:

I don’t know what to do anymore. I need RCIA to be over and done with. I am in a constant state of terror over mortal sin and Hell, to the point where these troubles keep me up almost all night, nearly every night, aggravate my OCD and chronic migraines, and leave me so tormented that my faith is being brought near the breaking point. So is my mental health. I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that, if I have to keep worrying myself sick about dying in the state of mortal sin before that Easter Vigil gets here, I’m going to go clinically psychotic, and spend a sizeable chunk of this Lent at the happy farm.

See this post (forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=90817)??) I didn’t write it, myself, but, I might as well have. I’m in a very similar boat.

The only difference is, after being turned away by both my RCIA teachers, the parish priest, a convent full of Sisters, and two other priests elsewhere, I finally found a parish whose priest would hear my confession. The only glitch was that he’d only allow me, still technically an outsider, this one confession, and told me I’d have to wait until the Easter Vigil for any further confessions. So, I agonized over making the most soul-searching, thorough confession I possibly could, sought guidance from the Holy Spirit, and faithfully made a valid confession of every single sin I could remember since baptism. I was absolved, and restored to the state of grace.

…For about 12 hours. Later that night, my mind saw a random naked picture (not a porn website- it was some rot somebody posted to MySpace before it could be pulled) on the Internet, promptly had a 2- or 3-second-long half-voluntary, half-involuntary random sexual thought, and boom- right back to square one. State of mortal sin; terrified of dying without Confession; in danger of eternal damnation. All over a fleeting thought I never meant to have, and wouldn’t have chosen without being provoked by an image I wouldn’t have looked at of my own volition.

…Only, now, because the one-and-only priest who would willingly hear the confession of an RCIA student, won’t be my confessor anymore, and all the other ones turned me away and told me to wait until next April, I have no confessor for four-and-a-half months.

I can’t even pray about it, apparently, because one mortal sin deprives me of God completely. So, I can’t even beg Him for forgiveness or recourse to sacramental confession.

I cannot stand four-and-a-half months of worrying myself to the lunatic asylum over things like this. I just cannot handle constant, chronic terror and misery.

So, what can I do?

Dear Giovanna

 

[Marilena]

So, what can I do?

ok, i can tell you this my friend. i also have OCD. you need to if your not already, see a good OCD therapist. behavior therapy works wonders for us! so do meds for me!! Now that i said that, i know its practically impossible telling an obssessive compulsive to stop worrying as i tend to do that myself, and would obsess over the slightest little thing for days and hours with unwanted worrying thoughts about the safety of my husband, my daughter, and my family and friends when they travel. it got to the point where i would call everyone daily to make sure they were okay. especially my hubby andmy daughter. I decided to do what my older sister told me to do, leave it in Jesus’s hands. When your finding yourself obsessing relentlessly, leave it God’s hands. the relief you will feel is enormous, i know it works for me. if you haven’t done it yet, get your doctor to refer you to a good therapist. it does wonders for your OCD. Now, as for your worrying about mortal sin, stop and think. stop obessessing over it. If your worried you commited a mortal sin, ask the priest about it. don’t lose sleep over what your worrying about. if your truly worried don’t go to websites that are questionable anyways. i don’t. i only visit sites that are wholesome and spiritually wonderful. get your focus off what your obsessing about. talk to the priest and get your thoughts out in the open, and as i stated earlier, if you have not talked to your doctor about a therapist now is the time to do so.yes you can take anything to God. don’t worry about what you think He might not want to hear, He hears everything and He listens no matter how obssessive you are. Think the Father in heaven cannot handle your obsessions? Think again. He is loving and merciful. Take it to Him, and feel the peace in your soul. No matter what is bothering you, you can always trust God to heal your mind and your soul. Say to yourself, Jesus, I trust in you! especially when your worrying and thinking obsessive thoughts. Jesus, I trust in you! say a prayer whenever your worrying. Train your thoughts to focus on Christ and you will feel the peace and love that Christ has for us. also remember, your not the only one who has OCD, there are tons of us. So you have my support. i know what it is like to worry over every little thing imaginable. Trust in Jesus, and let your thoughts focus on Him. God bless you!

 

[MaryRose35]

So, what can I do?

It sounds like you are suffering from a serious case of scruples. Scruples is a “disease” (if you can call it that), of the conscience. It is the opposite of a lax conscience which does not recognize sin when it is committed. Scruples sees sin everywhere, even where it does not exist. Scruples also exadurates slight sins to make them appear grave.

There can be both a natural and preturnatural reason for this. The natural reason is based on inordinate fear. If you suffer from fear, you may also suffer from scruples. The preturnatural cause is the devil.

Just as God gives a lot of grace to converts, so too the devil almost always attackes them while they are still early in their conversion.

My guess is that you are suffering scruples resulting from both natural and preturnatural causes.

One sign of scruples is that you only later worry about the sinfulness of the particular act. In other words, at the time you do not consider the act sinful, or at most only slightly sinful, but then later you begin to “wonder” if what you did was serious. Then this state of wondering turns into fear, which increases and torments you.

The advise to those suffering from scruples is to focus on the goodness and mercy of God, just as those who have a lax conscience should focus on his justice and hell. You should try your best, focus on God’s love for you, and realize that he knows your weakness at this stage of your conversion.

The other advise to those suffering from scruples is DON"T WORRY. If you did not commit a serious wilful sin, do not worry. Realize that you suffer from scruples and just don’t worry. That may be easier said than done, but that is what you should do.

Pray for God’s help; focus on God’s goodness towards you and His mercy; don’t worry; and, if it still persists, offer the suffering you are enduring to God, united to the sufferings of Christ, in reparation for your sins (or some other good intention).

It may also help to do a google search on scuples and read up on it.

I will leave you with a word of encouragement: St. Augustine and St. Francis De Sales both taught that scruples in a new convert can be a good sign. It is not good that they have scruples, but it can be evidence that, once the person’s conscience is formed, they will have a good delicate conscience, which is what you want.

Good luck and God Bless.

 

[Marilena]

you cannot tell an obsessive to not worry, it is like saying to someone, hey, why don’t you just stop drinking water? it doesn’t work that way. people with OCD need a therapist or at least BMT. Telling someone who has OCD to not worry is pointless because they will anyways no matter how good your intetions are. I can say to her or to myself, don’t worry! its not that easy. We must learn to focus our attention on Christ and not our OCD. The other thing for her to do is to talk to her priest. Whether she suffers scrupulosity is up to a therapist to diagnose and treat, and not up to us to say. We can suspect it, but we are not trained to diagnose it. OCD can be managed very well. It is not curable, but it is manageable. We can live almost normal lives.We can enjoy life to the fullest but we have to learn how, and we have to learn to deal with situations that trigger the obsessive thoughts or rituals. This is where good therapy comes in hand. We also can learnt o put our trust in Jesus, and know that He will help us even in our obsessive rituals and thinking. Learning to trust in Him is not easy for some, but when one does learn to focus on Christ life is very very easy, and learning to re focus your mind is hard, but it is well worth the effort.

 

[decn2b]

A fleeting thought of nakedness that “jumped” into your mind is NOT a MORTAL SIN. It is not voluntary and certainly not grave. If you continued to entertain that thought you would likely be on your way to mortal sin but I think you actually have to act on it.

 

[servus]

Dear Giovanna,

One thing that I would find helpful in a situation like this is thinking, What kind of person is God? Do you have a father? How would your Father react, if he were in God’s position in this situation? Wouldn’t even an earthly father understand? Why wouldn’t God? God knows your thoughts without you telling Him. He knows how you feel, He knows how contrite you are. Let me tell you, the Holy Spirit is working in you more than it is in most Christians, just judging from what you have written here.

When you took the first step in deciding to follow Christ, you not only became Christ’s follower, you became His Child. That is a family relationship and God is now your Father (Isaiah 63:13). When you became Christ’s servant, you became more than a servant, you became His friend (see John 15:15).

I don’t care who told you that you cannot pray to God in a state of mortal sin, that is a bold faced lie. Were the father of the prodigal son’s ears open to his son’s plea to come home? The father did not even allow the son to get one word out before he had put a ring on his finger and a robe around Him (see Luke 15:11-32). Even the hairs of your head are numbered (Matthew 10:30).

You do not need a confessor to make a confession to God, and be fully absolved of your sins. Jesus said that when we pray, we should enter into our closet, shut the door, and then pray to our Father, and the Father who hears us in secret will answer us. (read Matthew 6:6).

“How precious are your thought unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more than the sand: when I awake, I am still with you” Psalm 139:17-18

Yours,

Servus

 

[DailyBread]

It becomes a mortal sin when you start to entertain it with a serious desire of the will to get pleasure out of it. A temptation in itself is not wrong and something tells me that in the 2-3 second span, you really did not have time to make a serious desire. Christ himself was tempted with the devil showing him the nations of the world and offering them to Christ if he worshiped Satan. Obviously Christ did not sin by seeing the nations and experiencing temptation. What matters is what you do after you start to experience the thought. DO you procede to try to cause arousal or do you say, whoa, i dont think i should be doing this and call on christ’s help (a short prayer of “please help me be chaste jesus is really helpful”) If you briefly entertain the thought, then its a venial sin and if you seriously entertain the thought with the hopes of arousing yourself, then its a mortal sin. I doubt in 2-3 seconds you severed your relationship with God.

 

[puzzleannie]

Make a good act of contrition every night before bed, say the Our Father with intent to follow God’s will, make a resolution for tomorrow, and sleep in peace with a light heart. Ask for a regular appointment with that priest who promised to help you, lay out your situation just as you have stated it here, and take his advice on cultivating positive habits of virtue to counteract harmful habits. Just that priest, don’t priest-shop.

 

[Tom]

Gio, I am sorry to hear about your OCD, I have the exact opposite condition, what me worry, maybe we can help each other?
The answer to your problem is explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1852 - 1876. I’m sure you have a paper copy, but if you’d like there is an excellent form on the net.
scborromeo.org/
CCC www. scborromeo.org/:

1855 Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave violation of God’s law; it turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to him.

CCC www. scborromeo.org/:

1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation:
When the will sets itself upon something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object . . . whether it contradicts the love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as homicide or adultery. . . . But when the sinner’s will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial.130

CCC www. scborromeo.org/:

1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."131

CCC www. scborromeo.org/:

1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart133 do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.

CCC www. scborromeo.org/:

1860 Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.

CCC www. scborromeo.org/:

IN BRIEF
1870 “God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all” (Rom 11:32).
1871 Sin is an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law (St. Augustine, Faust 22L 42, 418). It is an offense against God. It rises up against God in a disobedience contrary to the obedience of Christ.
1872 Sin is an act contrary to reason. It wounds man’s nature and injures human solidarity.
1873 The root of all sins lies in man’s heart. The kinds and the gravity of sins are determined principally by their objects.
1874 To choose deliberately - that is, both knowing it and willing it - something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of man is to commit a mortal sin. This destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Unrepented, it brings eternal death.
1875 Venial sin constitutes a moral disorder that is reparable by charity, which it allows to subsist in us.
1876 The repetition of sins - even venial ones - engenders vices, among which are the capital sins.

Great reading.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

All right- I should stop beating around the bush with the more roundabout topics, and just get this off my chest:

I don’t know what to do anymore. I need RCIA to be over and done with. I am in a constant state of terror over mortal sin and Hell, to the point where these troubles keep me up almost all night, nearly every night, aggravate my OCD and chronic migraines, and leave me so tormented that my faith is being brought near the breaking point. So is my mental health. I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that, if I have to keep worrying myself sick about dying in the state of mortal sin before that Easter Vigil gets here, I’m going to go clinically psychotic, and spend a sizeable chunk of this Lent at the happy farm.

See this post (forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=90817)??) I didn’t write it, myself, but, I might as well have. I’m in a very similar boat.

The only difference is, after being turned away by both my RCIA teachers, the parish priest, a convent full of Sisters, and two other priests elsewhere, I finally found a parish whose priest would hear my confession. The only glitch was that he’d only allow me, still technically an outsider, this one confession, and told me I’d have to wait until the Easter Vigil for any further confessions. So, I agonized over making the most soul-searching, thorough confession I possibly could, sought guidance from the Holy Spirit, and faithfully made a valid confession of every single sin I could remember since baptism. I was absolved, and restored to the state of grace.

…For about 12 hours. Later that night, my mind saw a random naked picture (not a porn website- it was some rot somebody posted to MySpace before it could be pulled) on the Internet, promptly had a 2- or 3-second-long half-voluntary, half-involuntary random sexual thought, and boom- right back to square one. State of mortal sin; terrified of dying without Confession; in danger of eternal damnation. All over a fleeting thought I never meant to have, and wouldn’t have chosen without being provoked by an image I wouldn’t have looked at of my own volition.

…Only, now, because the one-and-only priest who would willingly hear the confession of an RCIA student, won’t be my confessor anymore, and all the other ones turned me away and told me to wait until next April, I have no confessor for four-and-a-half months.

I can’t even pray about it, apparently, because one mortal sin deprives me of God completely. So, I can’t even beg Him for forgiveness or recourse to sacramental confession.

I cannot stand four-and-a-half months of worrying myself to the lunatic asylum over things like this. I just cannot handle constant, chronic terror and misery.

So, what can I do?

First you need to learn the difference in venial and Mortal sin. go to your catechism and read the section on sin.

Did you intentionally go to the website, looking for naked pictures? Did you intend to spend some time there and stare at them? I would guess that your answer will most likely be no.

 

[AndyF]

Giovanna:

Join the gang.

You have the prime ingredient my friend that will guaranty absolution, you are remorseful, even if it is for now with a gun to your head. Remorse is a feeling of inadequacy, as you wish to bring yourself to Christ’s standard, therefore wish to live the Word. Fear of God is permitted, and as Sirach (OT) makes the point, is an expression of Wisdom. You hold Jesus with respect, and are working forward to turn away. You are responding to that nagging guardian angel you have who won’t let up. (You got a tough little guy there it would seem.)

When one qualifies for the Eucharist, and in order to receive this Sacrament, you need to be absolved first.

You will eventually change, and see things in a loving light, and the force of temptation will diminish. You need a devotion of some sort such has the Rosary, to help stem the avalanche of temptation and to help you discern your choices. You will receive a cool response initially, but that is a test of resolve that our Holy Mother has a right to since she can offer much.

What to do.

You are a Baptised Christian, so on that credential alone you can go to confession. If your not, your making it worse for yourself and evil will take advantage of that. Don’t mention your state of denominational acceptance, it’s irrelevant, what is is your state of remorse and desire to make amends and to reconcile. If the priest sees your not remoresful he may refuse you. He may question to see on that. Examine your conscience first. Connect with Christ and really understand the harm you caused him and ask him for help in that department. Learn the Act of Contrition. Go to confession, state your sins, that’s all. You can talk about your sin related problem if he has the time to listen. Say the act of Contrition after your done, then do penance as your instructed. Voila!

For the sins, take yourself away from the occasions, substitute something else to do,etc. Pray to Sts. Michael and Ignatius. If you qualify, go to Communion. How you doing in the charity department? Either donations or even offering some help as a regular routine. How’s the sacrifice department? Let something you like go for Christ.

AndyF

 

[rcwhiteh]

Hey, Giovanna;

I guess the old formula for defining mortal sin works best here. It requires:

• A grievous offense (like INTENTIONALLY going online and looking for porn);
• Sufficient reflection; and
• The full consent of the will.
  You didn’t do it on purpose, and when you felt yourself being tempted, you shut it off and immediately felt remorse for the temptation. You’re okay; turn it over to God and let Him deal with it. He will forgive you; after all, that’s His line of work!

I struggle with such demons myself; pray for me that I will be so fervent in my desire to please Him as you are.

 

[Cristiano]

I am not going into the discussion of mortal sin vs. venial sin. I am just going to say that if you committed a mortal sin and you are deeply sorry about it because you offended God and you firmly believe that you will do your best to avoid repeating it in the future, then He has already forgiven you because of His infinite mercy. You should also resolve to go to confession as soon as possible to be reconciled with the Church before receiving communion, and if your priest says that you must wait, then you must accept that constraint that you are being given as part of your penance. Forgiveness from God does not automatically require a confession to a priest followed by an absolution; however, it is a requirement for the reconciliation with the Body of the Church.

 

[daeve]

Giovanna, you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t fall sometimes.

I’m not as learned as many on this board, but I have some simple advice for you, from an old Italian Catholic Grandma. When I was in grade school – a VERY long time ago – Sister told us that whenever you’re faced with temptation, say “Get thee behind me, Satan”. I still say it, sometimes in my head and sometimes outloud. I occassionally obsess over some real or perceived slight, and that’s when I really need it. In doing so, I recognize the temptation, and dismiss it.

You’re little glance doesn’t sound like a mortal sin, probably not even a venial sin. A major characteristic of sin is the desire to – whatever – in spite of knowing it will offend God. Here came the thought and BANG – you dumped it. It sounds like you did exactly the right thing. Now you say you’re sorry and move on.

If a sin was enough to remove us from God, we’d all be in big trouble. The more you sin, the more you should pray and attend Mass, and say the Rosary. You’re not receiving Communion yet, but that’s the one thing you can’t do if you’re in the state of mortal sin. Once you’ve made your First Communion, receive as often as possible, at least every week. Confession every couple weeks is a good idea too, and as soon as possible after mortal sin. Going to Mass and receiving Our Lord is the most grounding and centering thing I can do for myself. It helps me battle my depression and fears every day. Talk to Jesus whenever you have a problem. Pray the Rosary – a great comfort in times of strife. You have a permanent rosary attached all the time…individual Hail Marys on the right hand and decades on the left.

If someone told me not to worry, I’d say, “Yeah, right.” Instead, I’ll say you’re doing great; keep up the good work.