June 14, 2022

  • Born Again

    I was talking with a friend who has long since left our shared Christian faith. There was at times the usual awkwardness that occurs when one has moved forward and the other is left behind. But we tried not to put the other one on the spot.

    There was a moment where we both discussed a desire for rebirth and reformation. This is summer 2021: we both had attempted various protective measures and odd rituals to stay afloat during the last pandemic year. We both needed a refresh.

    She was looking for a non-religious way to such rebirth, while I had a more mixed approach. But the truth that came out of our discussions was that we both wanted to somehow schedule this refresh, to time our rebirth, to be in charge of the revitalization process. But the frank truth is that we can't necessarily engineer being reborn. It takes the right stranger, the right meeting, the right book. We can sit there and talk about our need for change as much as we want, but I think it's difficult to be one's own savior (lower-case s on purpose).