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Was I Becoming a Christian, or a Cannibal?

 Hello Clarice ...

Actually my story is even crazier than the Silence of the Lambs.  I was six years old, and my parents just dropped me off at the babysitter's before school.  Normally we would watch TV until it was time to catch the bus.  But today was different.

My best friend caught my eye as soon as I walked through the door.  "Hey guess what," he said, "I get to eat a body and drink blood!"  As a small child I was intrigued.  My friend was going through his First Communion classes in the Catholic Church, and that's what he got out of it.  It was enough for me though.  He was a year older so I would look up to him - whatever he did, I wanted to do it too.

But I had a problem ...

I was not baptized.  I arranged to go to the classes - many of my other friends were there too.  But I was told that you have to baptized before you have First Communion.  But that wasn't the biggest disappointment.  

You see, everyone else got to do this really neat thing called Confession.  They would go into this little cloth booth and talk to the priest.  I wasn't sure exactly what was going on but where there were going looked a lot like a fort.  I wanted in.

So I spoke with my parents and told them I wanted to be Baptized.  Then I could do it all.  I could have my First Communion.  I could go into that fort and talk with the priest.  Boy this was going to be great!

And it was.  Today I'm here because of it.  As I was writing down this story I realized something.  All the theology was terrible.  Maybe not terrible but definitely at a child's level.  We weren't going to understand the finer points of transubstantiation so it was, "Eating a body and drinking blood."  The confessional was not a fort, no matter how much I thought it was.

Despite being at a child's level, the experience was meaningful and effective.

St. Anselm of Canterbury described theology as, "Faith seeking understanding."  That means faith comes first.  My friend's story about eating a body and drinking blood ignited a faith in me that has never left.  The understanding came much later.

There are many people out there, while not children, still need their faith ignited by a good story.  You never know the impact your story might have.

To join me on this journey of storytelling, be sure to like and follow my Facebook Page.  And most importantly, tell your stories.

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