A Reconciliation

Everyone always kind of assumes

that Catholics are intolerant.

And maybe they are,

but not all of them.

Some of us

are always immersed

in the business

of reconciliation.

In Neil Gaiman's comic book The Sandman

there's a character called Fiddler's Green,

who is based on the writer G.K. Chesterton,

an intellectual and literary figure

from just before C.S. Lewis,

who famously wrote

The Chronicles of Narnia,

an allegory

for Catholic faith

in which the lion Aslan

enacts the part

of Christ

and had subsequently

been counterpointed

by Philip Pullman,

whose works

have somewhat failed

to find the same public traction,

including with the film adaptation

The Golden Compass.

Now, 

I knew all this

when I went to see it

in the theater

upon original release.

I knew all this

and how desperately

Pullman's fans

would like his books

to be as beloved

as C.S. Lewis's.

I take no great pride

in suggesting

perhaps they never will be.

When I was growing up

the Catholic Church

was making strides

in revisiting the rest

of the Christian world,

in what it called

ecumenical assemblies,

which in practical terms

meant we were encouraged

to visit other houses of worship

which we duly did,

and in this way

we all of us saw

how close our times

really were,

one extended community.

Now, I have no idea

how everyone else saw it

or if there were tangible results

to bind back up

the wounds

of the Protestant Reformation,

or if this was all a coda

to a Christian world,

but this was one visible way

in which

a reconciliation with the greater world

was made clear to me,

which was why

in my subsequent years

I have navigated waters

and entertained ideas

such that I have read

comic books like The Sandman,

which otherwise

might be considered

to have ideas

not in strict alignment

with Catholic beliefs.

Too often

being Catholic

is viewed

as building moats

when it's really an act

of building bridges.

If Neil Gaiman

can appreciate Chesterton,

I can certainly

appreciate Neil Gaiman.

One can argue

which one wins

in the bargain.

We all have our ideas.