MEMOIR | RELIGION
My Friend the Born-Again Christian
Discovering hate through Jesus
I have a friend named Denise that I’ve known since elementary school. Though we’d never been the best of friends, I had always known her to be a kind person. From our days making arts and crafts together, it had always been clear to me that she meant well. Back then, of course, religion was never a subject that came up between us.
After Denise graduated high school, she began exploring a spiritual route in life. We didn’t see each other much in those years, but in the little that we kept up over social media, she spoke to me of crystals, mindfulness, and meditation. As a strong advocate of meditation, I had been delighted to hear it.
When she elaborated on the different crystals that added to this mindfulness experience of hers, I’ll admit that I was cynical. But the practice was harmless. “You should use amethyst or rose quartz the next time you meditate, it can really make a difference,” she’d tell me. “Thanks for the advice! I’ll have to give that a try,” I’d respond. And while I didn’t quite believe her enough to actually take her up on the suggestion, the dubious healing potential of these crystals was far from anything worth confronting her about.
