I had grown up with the idea that God wanted me to be strange, perpetually weird, perpetually different. For the first time in my life, I encountered people like Mr. Parke who seemed to share my parents' evangelical faith but didn't set themselves apart from the world. The thought that you could be a normal person and still believe was new to me.Crazy for God, Frank Schaeffer, page 181.
At GW, it was good enough to just show up in chapel, be polite, and let God do the worrying about how sincere other people were. There were several teachers besides Bubble who were unbelievers, and they were all in good standing.
When Bubble took chapel, he once had us sing some odd ditty he'd written, set to Wagner as the "hymn" and smirked while he read the scripture passage of the day. Mr. Parke bore this with a good humor that only served to make his faith seem unassailable. Mr. Parke believed what he believed, and Bubble believed what he believed, and there was room for all of us.
Friday, April 11, 2008
I've promised quotes ... long overdue:
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