"Welcome!" said the Christian woman, gesturing us into her house. I could tell already that she was staff-- they have that perpetually wide smile and a nice cheerfulness about them that seems so intense it must be fake. But it never, ever wanes. Maybe that's just the Spirit of Christ, manifesting itself in the Intervarsity staff like a happiness disease.

I always imagined the Holy Ghost as a strong, warm glow that lived deep in my person, kind of the way a gas fireplace has that constant little flame way in the back that gets turned up in times of need or danger.

But for some people perhaps it is an all-consuming condition, kind of like being injected with botox, which makes you permanently happy and friendly no matter what.

We told her we were from the geology department, and from her reaction we could have told her we were from Mars... perhaps the geology department isn't the first place you'd expect to find Christians. After marveling at us, she said, "So you guys all found each other in the department, and then you found us."

She made it sound like a big secret club, like we had found out that we were all secretly communists, and after having admitted it one to each other, we'd finally found a den of communists with which we could sit and plan a revolution.

To be fair, it had been a bit that way when it all began. Angle had run into me in the basement and said, "Ah! I've been looking for you!" I am almost never in the basement, so I was startled. "There's a rumor going around about you..." she began, a little nervously. I had absolutely no idea how she would continue. "Sam told me that you were... lowering her voice... sort of, ok with... you know... the whole... going to church thing?"

That was pretty much the last thing I'd expected her to say, but I heartily agreed and she asked me to go to the Ash Wednesday service with her. She admitted later that she was nervous to ask, because if she got it wrong, how would I have reacted? It was a sensitive subject, particularly in the Geology Department, bastion of the Big Bang, the Ancient Solar System, Non-Geocentrism, The Origins of Life, The Theory of Evolution, The Non-Uniqueness of Man, and the Ultimate Demise of Modern Man at his own Hand to the Vast Indifference of the Universe.

We had found Cheeky the easy way-- Facebook. The Christian woman revealed to us that our beloved secretary, a veritable saint herself, was also a very active Christian. She told us it would warm her heart to know that we, too, were secretly Christians. So many new faces in the secret club! With the new students Mark #3 and Cheeky, and then Angle, Samwise and the Saint, we had 6 Christians in the geology department. Which, with staff, probably consists of about 80 people.

There may be others...

For the rest of the night we discussed such taboo subjects as where we went to church, what kind of church we grew up in, how one ministers to different age subsets, and how we could help in spreading the word about the group to more People Like Us. People who were Looking. People Like Us, who felt all alone in their departments. For the first time in a very long time, I felt secure to discuss my faith.

I drove home, and Angle discovered to her dismay that during the current storm (Tropical Storm Hanna) the roof of my car began leaking, dripping water on the backseat and the floor, much to the delight of several species of mold. It is leaking through the back window, which I had replaced five years ago when someone who didn't like my political beliefs smashed the window in with a baseball bat. Maybe, in these open and tolerant small universities, it is still best to save discussion of one's closest beliefs and ideals for behind closed doors during off-campus barbecues, among People Like You.

Sometimes I feel like that.
Though nobody's ever done me or my property harm...
» middaymoon on 2008-09-06 11:25:55

I'm sorry about the intolerance and ignorance that got your car window smashed :(

I wonder, do aetheists and agnostics have "People Like Them?"
» The-Muffin-Man on 2008-09-07 12:39:00

That's a pretty cool way of putting it. I know I felt like that a lot. Sometimes I wonder if there ARE "people like me".
» jinyu on 2008-09-08 12:58:40

Name.

URL.

[to enter your email, use "mailto:[email protected]"]
Subject.

Comment.

Word verification.

Copy the first 4 characters only.

If you are a member, try logging in again or accessing this page here.