i have some religious friends. i saw one last night. i was reminded of her beliefs quite a few times. i did not feed into her prodding for a religious discussion. We went to a play and i kept my mind focused on the activity at hand. afterward, i figured she would put a religious spin on the story, which would have been fine - i'm receptive to her interpretation as it relates to her. (she didn't associate it with religion, but wanted to talk about the logistics of the play's production. - win!)

But, this particular friend, i met when i was eight or nine years old. She was the kid in drama club who wanted to be an actress. We watched soap operas together from recorded VHS tapes and wore out the pause and rewind functions on the remotes to recreate scenes in her living room. She always wanted to be an actress. problem was, she wasn't very good at it. So we grew up and graduated, and she moved to L.A. - got small parts and some voiceover work. (She was an extra in Independence day, and third rock from the sun...) And then she made a pilgrimage to Israel to find a husband. It was surprising. She had never been religious and complained when she had to go to services and sunday school. She made a point of challenging her mom when holidays rolled around, crossing the line over protesting religion, to protesting familial traditions. But now, she sleeps in a separate bed from her husband who she calls Tattie because sexual contact is only used for procreating and her six children have to be enough for her, so says hashem, because the two miscarriages after the six was her message from beyond.

Anyway.... I had brunch with her sister a year ago. And her sister does not speak to her. Her sister is more liberal than my friend and apparently the relationship soured when her sister was open with her daughters sexual orientation, which does not fit into my friend's idea of 'normal'. ---- OH>>> same friend, i started fasting for MY reasons, and she questioned why i would do something so radical if not for religion. To digress, I was having brunch with my friend's sister and revealed, "i feel like she's trying to play this part - she even changed her name (took her hebrew name and will not respond to the name we know her as) ... I think she's trying to fit into this role. She made a pilgrimage, got married and lived in Israel, because that was the set. Her sister laughed and told me she thought for sure that she was doing research for a book when the whole thing started.

So I'm with this old friend, who didn't ask before she broke out a tupperware container in my car to daven (pray) over her meal while I drove to the theatre. And we were walking down the street to the show and she pointed out that a man wearing a kipa was on his way in. She asked me if i looked for a religious show just for her. Um, no. Then she pointed out something else in the theatre that affirmed I hadn't dragged her too far from her religion. Her husband buzzed her phone incessantly, and on the car ride home, she read aloud one that in essence said, "If you are not going to be home in so many minutes, you need to call me."

i ignored all of the religion she tried to push into me. She made a point of telling me that she goes to a jewish dentist, and her children always find the few christian books to read in his waiting room. ???? some christian tried to witness to her in the drug store while waiting for her kid's prescription, and she responded, "we don't need the son. i go straight to the ...." and she paused. twice she said this and paused. i did not take the bait. She is offended at the deluge of christianity in her community while she is crying out that she is jewish, hear her roar!

I'm still not convinced that she's NOT researching a role. She has made herself quite a character.