the wrong side of the bed

my mother, once a nun*, thinks it incredibly odd that all of her children know "the our father." my brother, who worked at a catholic school before katrina destroyed that neighborhood, is quite adept at reciting "the our father." he was contractually obligated to do it on a daily basis. but, my mom didn't know how my sister learned it. as a nurse, she often recites the daily prayer with her patients because it seems to calm and reassure them. mom thinks that she must have just picked it up that way, but she still thinks it is strange that she knows it. when we were talking about this, i started to recite it, too. i didn't quite get to the end (i forgot the trespassing part) but i thought i did admirably for someone who has been to a handful of church services (and not all of them catholic).

but, how do you know it!
mom, you said it all of the time.
no, i didn't!
yeah, ma, ya did.
why would i do that?
why do you do anything? you are a total mystery to me.
you must have learned it somewhere else.
no, i definitely learned it from you. you made references to all kinds of things all of the time, mom. that was just one of your standards. you also would say "unhand me, greybeard loon!" i don't even know where that is from.
the rime of the ancient mariner, silly. but, why was i saying that?
like i said, i don't know why you do the things you do. i think you would say "unhand me, greybeard loon" when you were fed up with us. i think you would say the prayer when we were being unforgiving of others - you know, the forgive those who trespass against us part.
huh. i guess i did say it. i mean, that part is a good message.
so, that's why i know it, ma. i haven't secretly been going to church.
that's good.

* okay, she wasn't a nun, exactly. she never took her final vows. but, still, weird for us. we were raised athiests.
update: stinking henry caught some spelling errors again. if i wanted an editor, henry, i'd freaking send my posts to gwen before, um, posting them.
update AGAIN: sorry, henry. i just lashed out at you because of my own insecurities. that is no excuse for snarking at you.

i think it's funny that the one part you don't remember (about trespassing) is exactly the part she was trying to reinforce each time she brought it up in the first place!

I also know the our father. Having never gone to Catholic anything (besides weddings) and not having gone to church at all since about age 11, this seems, on the surface strange.

But I was in a dance group that said it every time before we performed. This despite myself, the atheist, and the several Jews in the group. We stood there silent but absorbed it anyway. So much for 'building community' or whatever it was supposed to do. Actually, it kind of pissed me off.

Then again, we were performing to excerpts from The Messiah, which didn't bother me a bit. Weird.

I know it, too. It was part of my Nazi Escape Plan.

As an actress, we used to sing Lord Bless pre-show. And as a Jewess, our rabbi always ended services with The Priestly Benediction WHICH IS LORD BLESS IN HEBREW.