31. Steal a choir suit, run around singing, clapping, and praising (32x32)

While I was living in Delaware, I sometimes visited a Baptist church in Kennet Square (not because I'm Baptist, heaven forbid). The rack of choir dresses was right next to the door to the bathroom and I would always have the urge to steal one in the middle of the day and dance down the aisle singing and praising like a Baptist. But I'm not, so it seemed slightly disrespectful to do so in their house, especially since I was guest affiliated with a different group. Wouldn't want to give alcoholics a bad name... Ha!

In 1980 my anut [sic] Pat lived on Capital Hill in DC. She converted to the Anglican Church after a lifetime in the Catholic Church and became a parishioner of St. Mark's Episcopal because a lady my dad used to date said that it was a congregation of recovering Catholics. My mom followed suit after divorcing with my dad and remarrying a Luthern. In 1986 we joined St. Marks, which was led by a man named Jim Adams, who gave mixed signals as to where he was in his spiritual jouney. My understanding (granted, I was pretty young still when he left) was that he wasn't actually certain that Jesus was the one and only. He believed in God, no doubt, but I think he may have viewed Jesus as a prophet/spiritual leader like Muhammed, Buddha, Confucius, etc. Sunday school for me growing up was not learning the stories of the bible but instead, reinterpreting all the religious dogma into something functional. I didn't and still don't have a working knowledge of all that business and don't think I really need it in order to have a relationship with other people and beings in the universe. Sometimes I wonder at the extent of religious versus political versus social versus economical impact on my moral and ethical compass. If it were a Venn diagram I think it would only overlap minimally. All that to say, borrowing a choir robe to sing and praise Jesus isn't my normal Sunday activity. Similarly, I doubt it is the normal Friday night activity for many people to eschew a bar or a club to go talk to people who have been abstaining from drugs for the past decade (on average, at least at my homegroup).

Retro is solely dependent on perspective I've concluded. And that's a good thing.