Any secret society buffs out there? The Knights of Templar might ring a (church) bell? Kind of like an ancient version of the Hell’s Angels, they originally banded together to protect Christian pilgrims from meeting their maker (too soon) on the way to the Holy Land. They wore black hoods, white tunics and a blood red cross slapped across the chest to jazz up the look. The Knights took vows of chastity, obedience and poverty, and then proceeded to rack up a shit ton of money, land and power… Aint it funny how that always seems to happen?
Tomar was their headquarters and they had a pretty cool clubhouse. No Girls Allowed. They were serious about that. Couldn’t touch a female, even if it was to pick an eyelash off their sister’s cheek or hug their mama goodbye.
I was raised Lutheran. They are, for the most part, a quiet bunch. The only time I remember Lutherans making the news is when I was nine. The headline was, “Lutheran’s Approve of Masturbation.” The timing was impeccable.
I had problems with God from the get-go. I was six when the Sunday School teacher told me that kids that don't believe in Jesus won't go to heaven. I sat up crying all night, thinking about all the babies in Africa going to hell. This was before I was aware of all of the Christian missionaries in Africa that have long been trying to right this wrong…
There are a lot of people out there that claim to know the One Right Way, but as much as I treat life like a game of hide and seek, the One Right Way is not something I’m trying to find. I appreciate other people’s beliefs in the same way they tolerate the absence of mine, at least until the afterlife separates us for eternity. I guess if I believe anything, it’s that there are many ways to the top of the mountain. Just don’t push anybody else off on your way up.
We got back to the US a few days ago and after my standard 72 hour emotional quarantine in which I binge read home design magazines and take up to three shower/bath combos a day, I'm ready to face the world again. I've got a a backlog of blogs to post about our month in Portugal so, unless the excitement has been plucked out of this thing knowing that we didn't wander off the Iberian peninsula, there's more to read! We'll also be tourists in our old (New York) city for the next two months to fill the coffers before road tripping back to Wisconsin in late June, so I think I'll just keep this thing going. I mean, the name still applies, it's not like the college fund came and met us at the airport.
But thanks for reading this far, everyone. Enjoy your journey to the top of the mountain, middle of the desert, bottom of the ocean - okay that sounds like drowning but I was thinking scuba diving - anyway, enjoy the journey. And thanks for following along on a bit of ours. Godspeed.
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