It was a beautiful wedding and I really enjoyed seeing my oldest friend so happy.I think I came across sounding harsher than I intended in my previous post because we still get together a few times a year and for the most part we do enjoy each other's company. But rarely does our time together go by without religion coming up. Which is the part that I can do without. When she first moved to the Bay Area 3 years ago and we reestablished our friendship, I knew that I had some preconceived notions about her faith and I wanted to clarify them so I wouldn't make any judgments. I suppose those conversations led her to believe that I was searching for God and she thought of it as an open door to try to bring me to her church. She's also very blunt while I try to be conscientious in my approach of uncomfortable conversations and not hurt anyones feelings, so I haven't told her to just stop (I know, I need to). Whenever our conversations turn to religion, it just feels like her idealisms clump all the rest of us as sinners, and that makes me uncomfortable.
On a funny and somewhat predictable note, her pastor approached Jimmy and I and asked how we knew the newlyweds. He was advocating hard for the two of us to join him during his Sunday services. During our drive home, we chatted about how nice it was of him to want to save us from eternal damnation.
Since we're on the topic, I thought I'd share another one of my stories of a faith intervention. Spring of 1998, my car needed a smog check so I brought it in to the local garage. I forgot to turn off my stereo and was listening to a song by Cake called "Sheep Go To Heaven". After my car was serviced, the man approached me and gave me a business card - to his church. He said "I'd like to invite you to my church. You were listening to a song and the lyrics said 'Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell'. Those lyrics are wrong and you shouldn't be listening to music like that. I really think you might find some guidance here. I hope to see you next Sunday."
