Um, more.

So I ended up re-printing that text. But the printer ran out of paper. This is not my day.

Anyway, I got sidetracked while writing and ended up on some Catholic 101 website. It was neat.

Honestly, who says neat?

So I was raised Catholic and when I was about 11 my mother and I left the church because she didn't agree with the catechism curriculum at our diocese. But we still prayed and whatnot.

When I was about 15 I found myself in unknown territory for the first time in my life. This led to a profound mental and spiritual change which I continue to foster today. I realized that I believed in God. I had always gone to church, but now I knew what it meant. I kind of searched around for some religious community which would suit my needs. Ultimately I came back to Catholicism.

About a year later a "friend" of mine told me I was going to hell, because Catholics were idolaters, and that Mass wasn't real worship, but just mindless rote repetition.

Maybe I like repetition.

In fact, I do.

But what she said still made me cry.

I'm not an evangelist. I don't want to tell people how to live their lives. Mostly I don't care how others live. I believe in kindness and charity. But spirituality is very important in my life. I rarely go to Mass anymore, but I still pray daily. It has become habit. I don't even realize sometimes, but when I find myself in a difficult situation I will start to pray.

I haven't always been a good Catholic (heh heh). I didn't even get married in the Church, which still kind of saddens me. All I ask is a little compassion.

I see people all the time who are atheists. It doesn't matter much to me. But I don't want to be told that I am not intelligent or that I am being somehow duped. This is not mindless memory for me. This is a conscious decision that I made.

Apathy is not my thing. In fact, I think faith in something (Anything. Seriously, don't people believe in anything anymore?) shows character in a person. That everything is somehow just chance seems nihilistic for me. So if you believe in the power of art, then do it. Likewise with music, or writing.

But again, don't tell me that I am misguided in my beliefs. I don't tell you that you are misguided in yours.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (hahaha)

--E