"What are you doing?" I ask my fellow trainee, who is preoccupied with my left hand and is meticulously rolling up my jacket sleeve. She replies, "You could get raped in Saudi [Arabia]." I quizzically look at her, as if she just gave me a Zen answer. She explains, "I envy your hands, they're so feminine." She then proceeds to share this revelation to fellow females sitting around the table. They then unanimously and jokingly hate me because of my hands. In the back of my mind, I find the concepts "feminine" and "priest" in the same train of thought uncomfortable. True, women are more attuned to their emotional aspects that their souls are said to be closer to the divine. True, this concept of the "divine feminine" has led to sad misrepresentations in the form of nature worship (Gaia or "Mother Earth") and gay priests. Since I am heterosexual and have my mother's hands, I leave the thought to fester.
Today is the second day of training. Yes, I am still employed in a proper company, and yes, I am still being asked about the specifics of my priesthood. You know, the Apostle Peter was married and HE was the cornerstone of the Catholic Church - not to mention countless CELIBATE priests and popes throughout history! Of course, he was crucified upside-down so I guess he wasn't interviewed very often. I can't really talk much about the specifics of our training because we do have to keep confidential company info CONFIDENTIAL. Sorry. Anyway, the day proceeds in an alarming pace, and it makes me ponder the Theory of Relativity - time flies when you're having fun.
Lightning storm! The rain is really pouring it on thick tonight, and the flashes of light electrifies my soul. It's my favourite weather, lightning storms. It reminds me that God is more powerful than all His creations, and if one bolt of lightning can kill a person, how much more can its Maker execute? The glee I feel is only doubled when I glance at the TV in the lobby. Back To The Future III! One of my fave trilogies - along with The Mummy, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings - which brings mind-bending concepts to life on the big screen. In this case it's on HBO. As if in sync, the lightning outside the window echoes on the screen as Doc Brown races against time (literally) to conduct a lightning bolt from the clock tower to the time-travelling DeLorean with Marty McFly inside. Time Travel - Genius Concept! Spielberg - Genius! God - Creator of Spielberg!
Since the movie serendipitously begins just as the day's training ends, I sit through the entire thing. A friend of mine from another training group sits beside me and I give him the movie's story, practically word for word. If I inherited my mother's hands, I also inherited my parents' combined photographic memory. I target movies like this as well as TV series like Smallville (Particularly Lionel Luthor's show-stopping speeches!) and The West Wing (Great scriptwriters! Too bad the series ended. Good thing I have a VCD collection!), which quench my mind's insatiable thirst. (It's true what they say, you can only remember things that are most important to you. At least, I'm told, until age or Alzheimer's kicks in.
Speaking of debilitating diseases, the rules on punctuality and company attendance policies and even the "psychosomatic disorder" discussion I had with my fellow trainees yesterday is settling in. It's like I was previously existing in Heaven where time is not a fixed construct (though many scientists agree this is the case), and now I am screaming to the Heavens like my Biblical counterpart to "stop the sun!"
Then again, I like this lightning storm, the training day is over and I'm enjoying this movie.
Maybe tomorrow.
