The church thing.

Even though I have no justifiable reasons for staying home again on Sunday, I'm going to make my excuses anyway.

So here it comes--the bullshitting words of a pastor's kid.

I grew up in the church, gave up my Sunday mornings, and during the week, couldn't attack a plate of food without giving thanks.  And now I write about whacked out degenerates who curse with God's name in the mix.

So when I started this blog, my immediate thought was that nobody from my church can EVER see this.

Bullshit.  They're going to find out someday that I'm not the pristine Christine they once knew.  But really, they have NO IDEA who I am.  No idea.

I already figured that at this stage and age, my toughest critics were going to be the avid churchgoers.  I've told them before that I've wanted to be a writer.  And here's what they tell me:

"Oh, that's wonderful!  You know what you should do?  You should write books for young people teaching them how to be better Christians!"

Aaaah.

So I know the church will someday reject me for what I do.  But that means that I'll be in the same leaky rowboat with someone else--my father.

Apparently, he tells me, the church isn't inspired by what he does.  To them, the idea of assisting the needy and providing them the opportunity to better their lives is not as interesting as sending donations to those hungry kids in Uganda.

I was part of a small faith-based group for a while.  I told them about my dad's work, tried to hype them up about it.  They approvingly said:

"Oh, that's great.  Well, good luck with that.  We'll pray for them."

Since that wasn't the answer I wanted, I pressed on:

"But I was thinking you guys to come out there and help.  I think it would make a good fellowship-building activity."

The answer I got instead:

"Here, try some of my wife's chili."

After not even a full year, I left that group for good.  I just stopped showing up.  And they haven't asked me why I don't come anymore, so you can see how much they obviously miss me.

So my father and I now share something in common--we do things differently for a reason, and that primary reason is because reality exists.  People take God's name in vain.  Couples and families are out there without homes and daily income.  And because we're not hiding ourselves in our Bibles and doughnuts like many churchgoers are, we get called out on it.    

So why go to a party when you know you're not invited?

Well, now I've said it--it's out for everyone to see.  And I know that if my church reads this, I will never be asked to teach Sunday school again.

And that's fine with me.  Those kids are awful.