"I am an Atheist"

 I was walking across the day room at the Loadstar Day Resource Center when I saw him sitting in a chair looking absent-mindedly at the floor. I approached him and greeted him. We exchanged names. “How long have you been here.” “About a week.” “What is your plan to get out of here.” “I am permanently homeless. I lost my apartment about three weeks ago over a misunderstanding. I have been homeless before. What do you do here?” “I am the chaplain here.” “I am an atheist.” “Oh, that just means you don’t believe what I believe. What do you believe?” “I don’t believe anything.” “Really? Did you have breakfast this morning?” “Yes, it was pretty good over at St. Vincent’s. Biscuits and gravy.” “While you ate breakfast you were believing it was good for you. You believe something.” “I am an atheist.” “Okay, but you believe something just like the people whose bumper sticker says, ‘I believe I’ll have another beer.’” We both laughed. “What can you do for me?” “I can listen to you, talk to you, pray with you.” “Okay.” “You seem like a very intelligent man. I would like to talk to you some more. Please come by and we can have a coffee together and talk” (pointing to my office door). “I like to drink coffee and talk.” Pray that Tom will come by for a coffee and further conversation.

Ron Friesen (c) 2020