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God and the Foam PartyThis really isn't much of a sermon. It's actually a story about something that happened to me a little over a year ago. I feel it belongs here mainly because it is about god, and faith, and all of that other useless crap that helps maintain the sanity of the general public. On that note, I shall begin. The story starts with me, Johnny Healey, Atheist/Protagonist/College Freshman. Challenge was not present in my coursework, and my social life was nullified by my antisocial tendencies. So I sat around doing nothing for a good many days. This story start on one of those days. As a change of pace, I decided to do something quasi-productive and/or mentally stimulating (read a book). As a person who had just recently discovered that reading wasn't always a waste of time, I lacked a vast collection of books, so I asked Tim, my roommate, for one from his library. On a whim, he selected The Celestine Prophecy(1), the book which sparked the bizarre events to follow. I read the book. The parts of the book significant to this story all dealt with coincidence. As a huge Vonnegut/Cat's Cradle fan(2), I was struck by this. The main point that struck me was the idea that coincidence can be followed to point you towards your destiny. A couple days later(3), I walked to class. This is significant because of the downpour associated with that walk. I was quite literally dripping wet by the time I got to class. I took a quiz that day, and I failed miserably, which isn't significant to the story. I really do hate calculus. By the next day, my wet shoes had really begun to smell. It was some of the most foul shoe smell I have ever encountered. I wore my shower shoes to class, as they were the only alternative and grossing everyone out with my awful shoe smell didn't seem like the thing to do. Other than that, Friday was quite normal. Thusly, Saturday rolled around. Saturday was significant because my sister was going to a ball with her boyfriend(4). This matters because my parents were in town bringing in her fancy dress. So, they called me up and we went out to get dinner. Clearly, dignified people such as myself don't go to resturants in cruddy shower shoes, so I wore the awful smelling sneakers. As you may have guessed, we ended up stopping at a shoe store, where I bought a new pair of shoes. Dinner was good. I returned to campus with my new shoes as well as my old ones(5). Upon returning, I wandered into a conversation relating to the events of the night. Apparently, it was the night of the foam party(6). The discussion into which I was assimilated was about the great mess of the foam party and how it is an effective means of destroying shoes. Since I had just read The Celestine Prophecy and I had a pair of rancid shoes that sought destruction, I couldn't help but notice the clear sign that I was meant to go to the foam party. So, I went to the party. Much to my dismay, I didn't find god. After a little while, I went back to my dorm. I was dirty. I took a shower. During the whole shower, I analyzed the events of the previous week. I wondered if there was some sign that I missed. I wondered if there was some person who I was supposed to talk to at the party. Ultimately(7), I found myself asking god for a sign. And at that very moment(8), I heard the words, "Who's in here?" The shower door opened up(9) and I found myself face-toface with one of the girls who lived across the hall. She was intoxicated, and god only knows why she was in the boys bathroom. She smiled and walked away. That was the first time in my life that I felt some sort of spiritual fulfillment. That was the first time that I truly questioned my atheism/nihilism. Since then, I've had several other bizarre coincidences affect my life, but none so strongly as the time I went to the foam party. |
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