Dispatches from a Not So Lost Dog

Young, young, young
Only wanting the word
Sifting through the madness for the word, the line, the way
-Charles Bukowski “Neither William Shakespeare nor Mickey Spillane”

I was in the Lost Dog Coffee Shop in Shepherdstown a few weeks ago when I began to journal on a scrap of sketchbook paper which had been laying beneath a bulletin board. When I filled the page with my own words and turned it over, I discovered that someone had written on the other side in large purple colored pencil, “Fuck organized faith. Think for Yourself.”

The sign, though not espousing my thoughts on religion seemed destined for me. I had left seminary—and all the annoying group think of that system—a few weeks prior. I also left many good things—a solid community full of friends, who, in many ways know me better than anyone else, a diocese which cares about personal, spiritual and intellectual development, a spiritual guide able to shine light on dim paths.

I decided right then that although I espousing thinking for oneself, I wouldn’t leave my deep and personal relationship with organized faith behind. In the ensuing weeks since I have continued to go to mass and pray the office on my morning and evening commute. I’ve read four books and have continued to work on my own novel. I’ve made community with a beautiful family and find myself thrust into old relationships like big brother, dog owner, babysitter, errand runner. It all serves as a distinct reminder that love is best lived out with others.

In my work, I’m blessed to be around inspiring people actively actualizing their baptismal call to bring Christ into the world. It’s a long way from my previous life, which was long on future talk and granfallonary. But always present is God, guiding our actions, bringing us ever more into the now, presenting us with the chance to align our temporal concerns with his infinite grace, to be made perfect in our imperfection. Going forward I will deepen my relationship with the church. I will also continue to think for myself. As we enter the last two weeks of Lent, I believe, that in some respects, we really can have it all. Maybe we already do.