God as an Atheist Idea Anonymous

Walking into St. Joseph’s chapel on the day before winter break, I felt as if I was walking through a portal. Outside was freezing and dark, but the inside of the stone walls was filled with a certain warmth and light that swelled through me the moment I walked through the big wooden doors. As students, we were required to be here, and looking around, it would be a lie to say you couldn’t tell. Some students were on their phones, and some even looked as if they had already fallen asleep. At most of the chapel services we are required to attend three days a week, I would have been one of the kids sitting there, bored and counting down the minutes until we could go. However, something about this night was different: a certain feeling washed over me as soon as I walked through the doors. It brought me back to four years ago, to my first meeting with Craig.

“I’m an atheist and you will not be able to change that” was the first thing I said to the priest. Looking back, I cringe at twelve-year-old, self-righteous Honor, but Craig was unfazed.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll let you in on a secret--I don’t believe that there is a big man in the sky either.”

“I like this guy,” I remember thinking From then on, we met every Thursday at 4:00 for...