The Moment of Truth

There are lots of them in a relationship. Say, for instance, when you break the news to your new beau that because of your deep-seated, old-fashioned morals, he's not going to be getting any real action for a very long time. And that he's going to have to give up alcohol if he wants a shot at marrying you. That he's still in it even after those two moments of truth will definitely indicate that he's a keeper, but this doesn't mean there won't be more moments of truth to come. Like your cat and his dog being completely incompatible. (A deal-breaker if there ever was one.) Or you wanting to settle down on opposite sides of the country. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Because the "moment" I'm referring to in this post is the day you bring your nonreligious boyfriend to church with you.

He said he was nervous, and I asked why. "Because this is important to you," he replied. And I wondered if he meant he was nervous he wouldn't like it, nervous he would be bad at it, or just nervous that the whole service would be whack. Whatever the reason, I think the whole thing went pretty well. Aside from the moment when he leaned over and whispered about the speaker, "I think he just contradicted himself," I have to chalk it up as a victory. My biggest fear (other than him actually thinking it was whack) was the speakers, because I'd asked beforehand and been told that the topic they'd all been given for yesterday was patriotism. Patriotism? 'Tis the season, I guess, but it's a topic that doesn't really give much insight into the overall beliefs and principles of our religion. Although my sister may have disagreed with me on that. Her comment to me went something like this: "Of course patriotism is important to us. That's why we all run for president." Which is just about the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. I do not deny that patriotism is important to us, but I had sort of been hoping yesterday for messages about faith, Christ, or family.

The good news is that he enjoyed the service, and while I have no idea what that means for future moments of truth, I'm glad that the annual patriotism Sunday was a success. And hey, if nothing else, at least it meant he knew a couple of the songs we sang. You can look forward to a future book chapter entitled "Brought Together by the Battle Hymn."

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