Thursday, February 24, 2005

Are you going to church?

I spent eight years in North Carolina. Church was a big deal. The best night of the week to go to the grocery store was Wednesday because all the Baptists were at prayer service or had to stay home so no one would see that they were not at prayer service.
Still in those eight years only two people asked me about church. One was a minister that I was interviewing. He asked me were I went to church, when I told him I didn't go, he gasped. Then told me I was looking for to hard for something that fits and that I shouldn't be so picky.
Another was a very old man who came into the newspaper office to complain. We had mistakenly cut off a wire story before it ended. I ran upstairs and printed out the entire story for him. He really just wanted to know what happened to the people in the story.
"Are you a Christian?" he asked and before I had a chance to answer he said, "I hope that you are."
I told him I was.
I have lived in Ohio for just over two months and I have had three invitations to attend church.
I never know what to tell people.
I just got off the phone with a woman who knew I was new to town but has never met me. She invited me to church this Sunday. I am planning on working. I hemmed and hawed for a while and then said, "I'm Catholic."
So she let me off the hook. I just hope she doesn't report me to the monsignor.

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