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An Inexplicable Event
A recollection of this event is what triggered me developing what I now know is a 'True' faith. It seems to me faith is a 'process' that God works in us in His time. I say that because on my journey I have claimed to be atheist then true believer then agnostic and all the while antagonistic not only towards religion but also the world. Possibly something to do with the scriptures where Jesus talks about a house divided but I'm not sure on that and need further insight and or reading and meditation.
The following event occurred when I was 15 years of age in the year 1967. Some things I need mention which directly impinges on the event is my physical and mental state and my beliefs. At the time I was a self proclaimed atheist and would use alcohol and marijuana, hashish, quaaludes, pcp, angel dust and LSD on a relatively regular basis. I was allowed to drink alcohol at home from an even younger age. e.g. I don't recall when I first was allowed to drink but I do recall going to the taverns with my mother to get her beer and she would buy me a bottle of Thunderbird wine which I think cost about 69cents. And prior to this I was often allowed to have shots of Rock&Rye, particularly when my bronchitis was troublesome. There was always alcohol available at home. I believe that at times I was quite intoxicated because I would wake up early in the morning and wonder where I was. I think that was due to drinking but I don't know if maybe all kids have that occur at maybe age 9 or 10. This never occurred to me till just now and would find it interesting to know if it is unusual? So on with the event but also a quick mention that I was probably average in size but maybe on the skinny side, not that it is particularly significant. Most of the kids and myself were fairly well known by the local police for various crimes and I may have been to court on several occasions for burglary and vandalism but it seems the police and courts were really trying to crackdown on drugs. On that note I was just a user although the police were never sure who was dealing and would on occasion even roust me.
Finally the event. A bunch of us were hanging out and probably drinking and drugging and I asked if anyone wanted to go with me and break into the Catholic church that my family was associated with and two of the kids said ok. So we went. We found a basement window open and easily made entry. This is in Chicago and the building has heating elements attached to the wall and covered with sheet metal to prevent accidental burns by touching the elements. The three of us are in the middle of the room and for some reason there is a loud noise as though someone banged on the sheet metal covering the heating elements. One of the kids says excitedly, “that's God, let's get out of here”. I replied, “there is no such thing as God”. He calmed down fairly quickly and we made our way upstairs and behind the altar where I found what I was looking for, a chalice to drink my drinks from. I have no idea what made think of wanting a chalice in the first place. Now that I think of it! Seems strange. Strange kid? I did try building a coffin in my basement. It wasn't very good but I did sort of relax in it. Hadn't thought of that little gem till just now. Now me and one kid are by the altar and the other kid is off to a side room. And the paten (small plate used in serving eucharist at mass) goes flying and lands almost in between the pews and is spinning around on its edge. The kid with me excitedly again says, “that's God, let's get out of here”. I tell my buddy it was a breeze that caused that thing to fly and he replies, “there's no breeze in here”. Which of course there wasn't but I assure him there is no God and calm him down and we end up taking some microphones with stands and even found some wine in a safe. What a bonus! We make our way back to where we all ended up drinking up the wine. Tasted just like wine, even out of the chalice. I recall that we discussed hiding the microphones and stands and that the police would probably come by, if not for the theft, in search of one of the kids that they were looking for. I know we must have also talked about the strange things that occurred in the church building because I told the kids that if there were such a thing as God we would be caught first thing in the morning. Now this is something that I didn't think of until perhaps just the past year. But now I thing of my three denials of God in one evening and Peter's three denials. Coincidence? I knowing that the police would show up did my best to stash the microphones with stands in a closet and covered them with a sheet. Well, sure enough the police showed up at almost daybreak under the pretense of looking for the other kid they were searching for. Then they asked if they could search around about a burglary that occurred and the kids' mother that lived there gave the ok. The police were not real aggressively searching and one of them opened the closet door where I had the stuff stashed and when he went to close the door somehow, (a breeze), caused the sheet to move and exposed the glimmer of the stands. Busted! So now they cuff all of us and one of the kids says, “there is a God”, and I replied, “coincidence”. This incident was relegated to some fairly deep recesses of my brain as I had never thought of it until about five years ago when my neighbor's daughter thought there was an intruder in their house which is also an unusual incident possibly also inexplicable.
A recollection of this event is what triggered me developing what I now know is a 'True' faith. It seems to me faith is a 'process' that God works in us in His time. I say that because on my journey I have claimed to be atheist then true believer then agnostic and all the while antagonistic not only towards religion but also the world. Possibly something to do with the scriptures where Jesus talks about a house divided but I'm not sure on that and need further insight and or reading and meditation.
The following event occurred when I was 15 years of age in the year 1967. Some things I need mention which directly impinges on the event is my physical and mental state and my beliefs. At the time I was a self proclaimed atheist and would use alcohol and marijuana, hashish, quaaludes, pcp, angel dust and LSD on a relatively regular basis. I was allowed to drink alcohol at home from an even younger age. e.g. I don't recall when I first was allowed to drink but I do recall going to the taverns with my mother to get her beer and she would buy me a bottle of Thunderbird wine which I think cost about 69cents. And prior to this I was often allowed to have shots of Rock&Rye, particularly when my bronchitis was troublesome. There was always alcohol available at home. I believe that at times I was quite intoxicated because I would wake up early in the morning and wonder where I was. I think that was due to drinking but I don't know if maybe all kids have that occur at maybe age 9 or 10. This never occurred to me till just now and would find it interesting to know if it is unusual? So on with the event but also a quick mention that I was probably average in size but maybe on the skinny side, not that it is particularly significant. Most of the kids and myself were fairly well known by the local police for various crimes and I may have been to court on several occasions for burglary and vandalism but it seems the police and courts were really trying to crackdown on drugs. On that note I was just a user although the police were never sure who was dealing and would on occasion even roust me.
Finally the event. A bunch of us were hanging out and probably drinking and drugging and I asked if anyone wanted to go with me and break into the Catholic church that my family was associated with and two of the kids said ok. So we went. We found a basement window open and easily made entry. This is in Chicago and the building has heating elements attached to the wall and covered with sheet metal to prevent accidental burns by touching the elements. The three of us are in the middle of the room and for some reason there is a loud noise as though someone banged on the sheet metal covering the heating elements. One of the kids says excitedly, “that's God, let's get out of here”. I replied, “there is no such thing as God”. He calmed down fairly quickly and we made our way upstairs and behind the altar where I found what I was looking for, a chalice to drink my drinks from. I have no idea what made think of wanting a chalice in the first place. Now that I think of it! Seems strange. Strange kid? I did try building a coffin in my basement. It wasn't very good but I did sort of relax in it. Hadn't thought of that little gem till just now. Now me and one kid are by the altar and the other kid is off to a side room. And the paten (small plate used in serving eucharist at mass) goes flying and lands almost in between the pews and is spinning around on its edge. The kid with me excitedly again says, “that's God, let's get out of here”. I tell my buddy it was a breeze that caused that thing to fly and he replies, “there's no breeze in here”. Which of course there wasn't but I assure him there is no God and calm him down and we end up taking some microphones with stands and even found some wine in a safe. What a bonus! We make our way back to where we all ended up drinking up the wine. Tasted just like wine, even out of the chalice. I recall that we discussed hiding the microphones and stands and that the police would probably come by, if not for the theft, in search of one of the kids that they were looking for. I know we must have also talked about the strange things that occurred in the church building because I told the kids that if there were such a thing as God we would be caught first thing in the morning. Now this is something that I didn't think of until perhaps just the past year. But now I thing of my three denials of God in one evening and Peter's three denials. Coincidence? I knowing that the police would show up did my best to stash the microphones with stands in a closet and covered them with a sheet. Well, sure enough the police showed up at almost daybreak under the pretense of looking for the other kid they were searching for. Then they asked if they could search around about a burglary that occurred and the kids' mother that lived there gave the ok. The police were not real aggressively searching and one of them opened the closet door where I had the stuff stashed and when he went to close the door somehow, (a breeze), caused the sheet to move and exposed the glimmer of the stands. Busted! So now they cuff all of us and one of the kids says, “there is a God”, and I replied, “coincidence”. This incident was relegated to some fairly deep recesses of my brain as I had never thought of it until about five years ago when my neighbor's daughter thought there was an intruder in their house which is also an unusual incident possibly also inexplicable.
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