A bolt from the blue

In early May this year, I made the mistake (why it was a mistake you'll understand in a moment) of joining an online "Christian" discussion group (I have since forgiven them, so I hold no grudge against them) so I could join fellow Christians in developing an understanding of the faith and to bond with other Christians in fellowship. Anyway, when my Catholicism was knowledge to all, I fell victim to verbal abuse, fallacious claims, veiled remarks, irate argumentation, and a general prejudice and vehement disdain for the faith I followed. Many of that online "community" even went as far as to suggest that I wasn't Christian at all and was indeed part of a global cult. I'm sure you'd understand or be aware of some of the arguments they would have made: same old, same old, blah, blah, blah.

There was one kid in particular that made a stronger effort than others to try and "convert" me. He would have been no older than 16/17, quite intelligent, just a bit immature and perhaps a tad over-zealous.

Anyway, I left the discussion group quite disgusted and with a bitter taste left in my mouth, but as I eluded to earlier, since then I have forgiven them and moved on to better things.

So today I'm at work and I decide to check my Hotmail after coming back from teaching my morning classes (I teach high school religious education/theology). Low and behold, I find the following email in my inbox (names, user handles and email addresses have been painted over to protect identities):