The Five Rules of the World

In "Operating Instructions", Anne Lamott writes of a Catholic Priest named Tom Weston and his "Five Rules of the World". They are as follows:

1. You must NOT have anything wrong with you.

2. If you do have something wrong with you, you must get over it as soon as possible.

3. If you can't get over it, you must pretend that you have.

4. If you can't pretend that you have, you must not show up; you should stay home because its hard for everyone else to have you around.

5. If you are going to show up you should at least have the decency to feel ashamed.


Yep, that pretty much sums up the way the world works. Good thing the Church isn't like that, huh.