Peter in White on a Summer Sunday

Jennifer Paige©1995

Peter in white on a summer Sunday

            (The Brady’s did go to church, right?)

Ahem, Peter in white on a summer Sunday

Praying quietly at the end of his family’s mahogany pew

Hands clasped tightly together

Head resting lightly upon them

Sitting across the aisle from me

            I can see his lips moving

            And I wonder what he is praying for

The pastor’s sermon echoes in my ears but I leave quickly through the back door

            I just watch Peter

            In his summer white

            Sunday’s best

“Psst!”

Getting his attention, I smile

It’s my best “Follow me, I’ve got something to show you” smile

Dad thinks I’m going to the bathroom so I quickly leave through the back door

            And in a moment Peter is there

            I take his hand

            Laugh and the uncertainty in his eyes

            And lead him through the trees behind the church

I stop

I’m smiling again

At Peter in white on a summer Sunday

Stripping him of these robes of Purity

Captivating him with sun-speckled shoulders

            Bare skin to bare skin

Sacrificing the innocence in his eyes

            Until he rejoices, singing

            “Oh my God!”

This is religion

Not the man behind the podium pretending he’s the Lord

This is the religion they speak of in books

The one that enriches

            The mind

            The body

            The spirit

No preaching

No rhetoric

No collection plates

No rules

Just the blinding, white-hot light behind those sacred sighs of pleasure

            For your divine crucifixion

            Your now hallowed altar

            Your Sunday best

Peter in white on the next summer Sunday

He isn’t praying today

He only hears the pastor’s sermon half-heartedly

He isn’t even listening

He just smiles at me from his pew across the aisle

            In his tarnished Sunday best

A “Psst!” from his lips

And I meet him outside

And he asks

            “When can I worship again?”

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