A Moment of Reflection at the Church of Ayios Titos

I don't know anything about this church except that Pris and I kept finding ourselves in front of it.

It was on the map, so I took photos (still trying to figure out how to upload photos without a desktop).

I'm not a religious person, but I've always enjoyed being inside sacred places and had a fascination with other people's faiths. When I was younger, I pretended I was Christian and attended services at other people's churches (the Greenawalt's throughout much of childhood) or would show up randomly for Christmas or Easter traditions (often the Kothe's). I played games and tried to fit in at the weekly JAM (Jesus and Me) sessions at the cool kid church in elementary school, and I sang along to the hymns in chapel every morning during high school.

I pretended to be Jewish in my last relationship, perfecting my rugelach recipe and helping host seders for Passover. I've learned to love Jewish baked goods. Sometimes I find myself craving hamantaschen.

When I go inside beautiful places of worship, I actually don't think about God that much. After all these years of trying on other people's religions, He's still kind of a foreign concept to me. Instead I think about the people who have filled these places in the past, and what it means for them. I really admire their devotion and am just grateful that such beauty can come from that. It's such a shame that it doesn't always end up that way though.

Anyway, that day I thought of a fine lady who I think was responsible for one of my last visits to church -- my dearest friend Julia. The BU Gospel Choir can put on a mean show. So I lit a candle in her honor and said my thanks for all the beauty her faith can bring her and for all the joy and laughter she brings to me.

Amen.