Wondering Wednesdays (Vol. I)

Maggie, over at From the Heart does something cool called: "Wondering Wednesdays." Where she essentially "thinks out-blog" about different things that she has questions about. I assume she is looking for a little feedback, but at the same time, just the process of typing out your thoughts is a helpful exercise, especially if that is how you think and process things better.

I decided... hey, this is a good idea. So here are a few questions I am wondering about:

___--1--___

How should one fight for the faith? How should one act to defend the faith? I ask this in the context of parish life and how one should defend and fight within the parish community? We all have our ideas about the faith, and although no single person knows the full TRUTH and FULLNESS of the Faith, there is clearly a spectrum upon which most people reside. So then, what is a person to do when faced with the reality that they are apart of a parish that does a lot of things that are difficult for them to flush with the Catechism and teachings of the Church? Is peace and civility the answer? I know that there aren't enough facts for folks to really chime in... but this is a question that literally haunts my dreams right now.

___--2--___

When does participation equal support? Isn't it better to participate when you are trying to affect change... then to refuse to participate while screaming for change from the sidelines? I know this isn't ALWAYS true... so I assume there must be some spectrum... so some guidance or thoughts would be nice.

___--3--___

Where does one find someone to help spiritually guide them? Obviously a priest is the best and first answer, but where I live, there are so few priests, and our parish doesn't have a pastor, that this easy answer doesn't really apply to me. Some have suggested driving far for a Spiritual Director, but that is difficult, since the CLOSEST I could find one would be 4 hours away. Once you get away from an "area" the locality and understanding of context, for certain things is lost. The same goes to an online relationship with such a person. So then where does one look? Finding other guys to "listen" to me, and even offer "advice" is hard to come by, let alone any type of "direction" from someone or finding someone to "challenge" me has proved in possible. Any ideas or thoughts?