A gathering of faithful Catholics filled the church with the same solemn obligation like to many Sundays before. That day we were told that the priest was away, therefore volunteer speakers would be responsible for the days mass. It was a pretty ordinary thing so I knew what to expect. A few people discussed a particular passage of the bible they felt carried significance in their lives. Some brought forth stories they believed strengthened their faith in the Bible and reassured their belief in God. After twenty minutes or so the coordinator asked for any last volunteers for the day. Being only ten years old I prayed that no one would volunteer. I was steadily becoming uneasy, and could hardly remain seated. Yet to my disappointment one last hand arose from the crowd. A man I had never seen in church before, and so far, gone all day without noticing, stood from his seat and made his way to the alter.

Now maybe it was bad lighting, or just childish imagination, but to this day I w

I never saw uncle Lerret again. No one in my family ever talks about him and seems to change the subject when I try to talk about him. All I know is that he inspired my mom so much she named me after him, Terrell which is Lerret backwards.

I do not go to my Grandmothers church anymore. Now I spend a number of Sundays going to different churches, always searching for the one that fits me best. My religion is no longer composed of random facts stated by any one book, but a collection of ideals that I feel are true to me. It was my uncle that opened my mind to the concept of choice. He is the only individual I have ever met that could, if only for a second, get a room of closed minded people to lean back in their seats and say "Maybe!"

"Why are you here...the question of questions! It holds a thousand meaning and a thousand answers. But what I'm asking is not why do you exist are what is your propose for living, I just want to know why you are in this room, in this church, in the seat your sitting in right now? Why?" At the time I didn't understand the question, I mean it was Sunday...where else would we be?! I remember my grandmother telling me that the path to being a good person was through church, and who wouldn't want to be a good person?

ould almost swear the light itself feared his face. Every beautiful flicker of the candle that so dared the revealed the color of his eyes or the features or his face, seemed to shrivel and fall to his heals. Not to say he was a frightening man, but more like a familiar one. Like a man you've seen a thousand times but only just looked at. Through the shadows he appeared no more than thirty or thirty-five, yet carried with him the look of a man who'd seen many hard days.

Some common words found in the essay are:
, Jewish Jesus, Jesus Christ, Gossip Looking, Terrell Lerret, God Bible, English Team-A, That's Religion, person church, religion faith, bible hand, religion don't, word god,
Approximate Word count = 1261
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)