"I'm very religious"

Warning: downpost this post includes transcripts of several "that of God" moments uttered by a drunk, disappointed home team football fan on a Metro bus. That means the language is frank and probably not to your liking. It is recorded verbatim. Thank you in advance for any prayers you may offer for the soul who uttered them. RantWoman is certain he needs them and may even still have a hangover that would benefit from praying over too.

Once upon a time a long time ago, RantWoman was at a Pendle Hill on the Road workshop at our Meeting. The task of the moment was something like charades. One Friend was to start something in silence and other Friends were to join in as they discerned a pattern.

The first Friend simply found a chair and sat silently facing forward. At the end of the exercise she said she had INTENDED to be at Meeting for Worship. However, several other Friends besides RantWoman were led toward bus-themed participation. RantWoman does not remember exactly all the visuals but the cumulative effect was quite stunning.

Much as RantWoman appreciated the tableau that resulted, RantWoman is chagrined to have misrouted the first Friend's intended expression of her deep appreciation for Meeting for Worship. Unfortunately, RantWoman too frequently finds bus travel and worship bleeding back and forth in her head. RantWoman's experience is that public transit is rich with opportunities to scour all available evidence for even the faintest signs of "that of God" within some or another fellow passenger. Transit life also is rich with reminders of why anyone would pray, rich with reminders to be grateful to have only one's own problems, and incidentally rich in opportunities for linguistic research and intercultural appreciation, er intervention.

As an aside, Dear Friend sometimes treats all the peculiarities of bus travel like a personal conspiracy against him by the forces of nature. Maybe it is the praying, but RantWoman can never quite summon enough energy even to wade into conspiracy theories.

On the other hand, one of these days RantWoman is quite sure she is going to go all "testimony on equality" on some apparently able-bodied guy from another culture who is not only refusing to move for a random older person but even making his own wife and children stand.

Then there are sports fans. RantWoman knows there are Quaker sports fans, god love 'em. RantWoman herself is PROFOUNDLY sports-challenged at best, and best usually is someplace besides on a bus full of fans in any state of fandom.

A couple weeks ago, RantWoman departed from her Meeting's Year of Discernment retreat and got on a bus downtown. RantWoman was all full of warm and kindly feelings of enhanced community and work nicely done. The rest of the bus was full of football fans. There were a few fans of the guest team; a lot of the bus was really dejected home team fans despairing of an inglorious drubbing.

The bus was full. RantWoman does not remember whether Ambassador Thwack was doing escort duties. RantWoman does remember sinking gratefully into a seat near the front and not even trying to peer toward options further back.

Sometime after RantWoman got on, two young women got on. The first one headed back to find a seat; the second paid and then asked her partner "Honey, do you want your transfer?" About the time the second one took her seat, one of the drunk fans sitting by the window with a buddy on the aisle intoned "Fucking Dykes." A nice young man across the aisle suggested that was inappropriate language. Drunk fan said not to judge, "I'm very religious." The second young man said "you're very drunk."

RantWoman confesses, she is quite unsure any religion she knows of would sanction the phrase "Fucking Dykes." RantWoman does not remember any more conversational high points but does remember a multi-faith kvetch of appreciation when Drunk Fan and his seatmate got off the bus. He may have been "very religious." Perhaps it is good others on the bus were more so.