Today is Good Friday, Earth Day and for the Cato House it is also grocery day. Being at the store by 8am means minimal people in the store, and minimal anxiety for me. It also means that the checkout people are more willing to chat because they are bored.
The checkout lady was talking to Devon while I was putting the groceries on the conveyor belt and she asked Devon what she was doing today and Devon told her we were going to church and the lady said, "On Friday?" Devon was quick to point out, "Well it is Good Friday." (Such a sassy little bugger.) So, surprise, surprise the cashier says, "Oh, you're Catholic." I get to jump in now and say a friendly "Nope."
She was pretty confused and said, "Well then what are you?" My internal response was, "an alien," (and here my sass shows) but of course I didn't say it, only because she was truly curious. I told her Methodist because that's what she was wanting, a denomination . So she felt the need to tell me, "Well, we don't celebrate Good Friday. We celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus."
I politely said, "Oh." and that was that. I didn't know how to tell her as she was handing me my receipt that she just doesn't attend a Good Friday service, you can't celebrate the Resurrection without the death.
And this is why I need Church, to help me understand the why's of my faith. My sunday school sidekick gave me a couple of books to read, because he seems to really get my inner nerd and seemed to think I was ready for the material. One is The Cambridge Companion to Christian Doctrine, and even though it's a bit academic for me (he had to read it in seminary), I'm learning quite a bit. Isn't it great to have friends who give you homework. :)
