We knelt side by side at communion. We shared in the body of Christ together. That sacred ritual, that beautiful union, is now forever desecrated. A belief in something greater than us. A real bond now leaves a scar upon my memory. Our silly fucking meaningless play act! No, only yours actually.
How could I blame myself for believing in you? We talked about how nothing is scared. How truly terrible that is. About our baptisms and the joy of silent worship even if we were unsure about believing. No, I was unsure and you were certain. The meaning of that communion was real for you, or so you said.
Sean, you forever have the symbols of Catholicism tattooed on your body. You said you’re a bad catholic but still a catholic. Yet you truly believe in absolutely nothing. You don’t just preform belief you embody that sick nihilism. That is your world.
And yet, Sean, you will still be forgiven. I don’t believe in God but you do. I’m not particularly religious and you swore by it. Everything that makes that institution wicked is what offers you salvation. The mere fact that I can remember vividly kneeling next to you full of an honest feeling of kinship. Proves that this is a scar.
Lord forgive me, for I have sinned. Me, a non believer, has truly sinned. I did not know it was you whom I shared a connection with that day. There are so many others in my life I could’ve knelt beside and shared a true union with. People I will see on their death beds and hold their hands in mine. I certainly know tears will fill my eyes as they face something almighty and unknowable. I could have reminded you, Sean, about this very day with absolute clarity anytime you needed it. Anytime you needed to believe in something natural and real.
How quickly you shrugged your shoulders at all of this. How small your world truly is! That it could so easily be cast aside. If we did share that moment together as you assured me we had when I asked you that night. That we truly did have something. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?
Cowardice? Ah, so that is your existence. That probably gives you some peace. It offers me none. Absolutely none. That someone I loved was so truly cowardly that our true bond could be so easily broken. I reject that with love in my heart. No Sean, it wasn’t just cowardice that caused this. It’s that you never had the love for me to see what I could. You never had the love for yourself to see what I could.
So please keep telling the new people in your life that you pray. I’m sure they will be moved just like I was. I never once told you about my prayers. So here is one:
I pray that we never meet again.