March 25, 1999

A Curious Story

Mary and David, each twenty-one with only being a month apart, met in church one day when while their minds wandered, their eyes slipped from the preacher and met. If any less pious people had witnessed it, many would have claimed to have seen a miracle filled at the room filled with a glowing light from heaven. The light caught for Mary's eyes the cut of his chin and the earnest look of his eyes and did the same for David, revealing the deep brown soul wells of Mary eyes and the toned facial muscles that only honest smilers develop.

And as it was, this sudden witnessing stirred up the feelings of worry and fear in the fresh-cut couple. Yes, David and Mary were feeling the pangs of earthly love, but they faced much more. It isn't everyday that a novice monk and a novice nun fall in love.

That's the beginning of the curious story. Where should it go? Is this a story that confronts religious faith? or the superiority of love? Does it end happily? What is a happy ending? Would that be David and Mary ending up together or the two staying with their religious calling? And who says it has to end happily? Couldn't one of them give up their faith while the other decides to stay? Or maybe we have a Romeo and Juliet parallel here?

So many questions, hence the curiosity. From the beginning of a story a whole range of possibilities come forth. Why finish the story and lose the savory complexity? Well, we're human and live on the last pages of a story. The possibilities are fewer.

For the sake of David and Mary, don't finish this story.