You know that feeling you get when you figure something out? You know, when everything falls into place or some kind of realization? Back in the 80's when I was a kid, say seven years old, I would spend the weekends with my dad. One of the things we would do together was go to church. I can't say for sure why he became interested in Catholicism, but my suspicion is it was being used to help him battle alcoholism. I'm not so sure I was ever a believer but I did really enjoy going. I understand why many people like the other methods of worshiping better, like singing, dancing etc. But I would've never enjoyed all of the noise. Catholic mass is very quiet and structured. I enjoyed listening to the priests and all of the interesting rituals they would have. Probably my favorite was the 'incense burner'. They would walk up and down the isles holding these chains, which at the end had a pot with incense burning inside. They're just plain cool to a kid. I also enjoyed hearing the priest speak Latin and that funny singing they would always do. Oh you remember don't you? " ........, forever and eeeverrrrrrrrr"
At some parts of the service though, there was always a moment where we would all have to pray. The priest would say something like, ".......and now let us pray" At that moment the priest would go through some type of prayer, or sometimes it would just be a completely quiet one. Everyone in the church would bow their heads down and close their eyes. I would too. But after about 2 seconds, my head would slowly come up. I remember the feeling very vividly. I would look around the entire room, and remember just being perplexed in curiosity. "What do they all think they're doing", I'd think to myself. Occasionally you'd see another kid in the room doing the same thing. The two of you catching each other's eyes. It's quite the feeling. Knowing your not the only one. Knowing that your secrets are safe with each other. I also remember never being afraid of being reprimanded by an adult since, if they saw me looking around the room, then they were doing the exact same thing as me. Not praying to a god. If you are a believer, the next time you are at church or a mosque or whatever, look around the room for a second.
( hehhehe. I can't lie go check out my man Phil Hellenes on youtube. While I was thinkin' about writing about my experience with this, he beat me to it with a great video)
