{"id":3291,"date":"2005-07-01T20:59:23","date_gmt":"2005-07-02T00:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3291"},"modified":"2015-05-17T09:35:55","modified_gmt":"2015-05-17T13:35:55","slug":"gnostic-flirtation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3291","title":{"rendered":"Gnostic Flirtation"},"content":{"rendered":"

I sat at the bar waiting to meet a friend. I had just gone to Barnes & Noble to buy some books for this Vatican II thing <\/a>I am working on. I have two spanking new books with me, a new adventure, I am very excited. Outside the sky is low and ominous, and everything is deadly still. Far-away rumbles of thunder. My friend is going to be a bit late. I take out my books. I sipped my beer. I read. It’s not crowded in this bar, it’s dark and homey, a common meeting place for my friend and I, because it’s mellow, and quiet. I start to read A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, by Peter Steinfels, a book recommended to me by my great-aunt Joan. I interviewed her the other night about Vatican II, and was on the phone with her for two hours. She was a nun, and experienced all of it first-hand. And I mean: really<\/i> first hand. Her stories were unbelievable. I couldn’t take notes fast enough. This woman is spectacular, what an intellect. So funny, too. I’ve got some really cool stories about my relationship with Joan, but I’ll save that for another day. She gave me a reading list a mile long, but this was the only book on the list which was readily available at Barnes & Noble. I’ve always liked Steinfels’ columns in the New York Times<\/i> (“Beliefs”) – he’s a wonderful writer, and I immediately got into the book. Sitting at the bar. It’s the incongruity of all of this that I enjoy. I didn’t feel self-conscious, or weird being by myself … I got lost in my book. The other book I bought was a bit of a tangent – not Vatican II based – but it called to me during my browsing. It’s called Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas<\/a>\"\"<\/i>, by Elaine Pagels. She’s written a ton of books apparently about these early Christian texts, the Gnostic gospels, and this is her book on the Gospel of Thomas. I have no idea what to expect, but I read a couple pages standing in the bookstore, and I very much like her writing style, and it’s a topic that very much interests me. So what the heck, I bought it.<\/p>\n

I sat there, with the day getting darker and darker outside the window … no rain yet, but you could feel something big coming, and flipped back and forth between my 2 new books, browsing, getting interested, I took some notes. I had no sense at all that I was in public. This is how I behave at home when I am completely engrossed.<\/p>\n

But of course I WAS in public, and someone was watching me. I have no idea how long I was being observed. He finally broke into my private world of Catholicism and said, “What are you reading?”<\/p>\n

A typical opening, right? No shame in that.<\/p>\n

No, no, all the shame was on my side because I was sitting in a bar reading about the secret book of Thomas and … I suddenly became conscious of how strange I am. I hesitated, and then … filled with embarrassment, I passed over Beyond Belief<\/i>. Whatever. I’m weird. I have to just deal with that.<\/p>\n

Dude was so funny about it, though. Like, he took in the title for a second – obviously that’s not something you run into every day – I don’t know what he was expecting to see, but I would BET that it wasn’t some book on the Gnostic Gospels.<\/p>\n

He said, “Oh wait … this has to do with those …. not the Dead Sea Scrolls, but …”<\/p>\n

“Gnostic,” I replied flatly, accepting my general weirdness.<\/p>\n

“Yeah, yeah! I’ve heard about those.” He immediately launched into a monologue. “Did you know that … these weren’t found in scroll form at all, they were actual books …”<\/p>\n

“I did not know that.” I thought it was hilarious and awesome, though, that he just started talking about the topic at hand …<\/p>\n

“Yeah, and I guess they’re still translating them … but there also was like … holes in the book, stuff ripped out …”<\/p>\n

I am not sure what his point was there. That someone tried to censor the books way back when, ripping out controversial parts? I have no idea. I just thought it was endearing how not only did he leap into my world, but he also began babbling about the Gnostic gospels. In a bar. hahahaha I love people.<\/p>\n

I said, “Honestly, I really don’t know anything about them. But the book looked really interesting.”<\/p>\n

“Totally!” He started flipping through it.<\/p>\n

I said, “Ah, yes. It’s my summer reading. You know. I was looking for something light.”<\/p>\n

He burst into laughter. “Right. Something to relax on the beach with.”<\/p>\n

“Exactly.”<\/p>\n

I said, “I hesitated before handing it over to you, because … well … it makes me look crazy. But now here you are, telling me about pages being ripped out of the Gnostic gospels …”<\/p>\n

He said, “I am the kind of person who knows at least one useless fact about pretty much anything.”<\/p>\n

And then we embarked on an enormous conversation about early Christianity. No introductions given, no “Hi, my name is.” Oh, no. We cut to the chase: WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON IN THE 3RD CENTURY??? This continued on in a completely enjoyable fashion until my friend showed up.<\/p>\n

I then put my book away. “Nice talking with you.”<\/p>\n

“You too. Enjoy your beach reading.”<\/p>\n

Laughter. “I will.”<\/p>\n

You just never know what the day will bring.<\/p>\n

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