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Over the summer, while I was working in DC, I decided to visit every church within walking distance of the place I was living, so I saw a wider variety of services that the Catholic Mass I attend every week with my boyfriend.\u00a0 This led to a whole new range of stresses for me.<\/p>\n
Whenever I enter a new religious ceremony, especially if unescorted by an initiate, I immediately become convinced that there is a giant blinking sign above my head that says ATHEIST, and that I will somehow manage to do something incredibly disrespectful out of ignorance.\u00a0 This problem was probably at its worst when I stared attending Mass with my boyfriend last January.\u00a0 I had never been to religious ceremonies before, and I still had a room-shaking cough from my bout with pneumonia, and I didn\u2019t even know which parts were most acceptable to time my coughs for.<\/p>\n
But in DC, I had a new problem.\u00a0 Once I was at non-Catholic ceremonies, I had to make a choice about open communion.\u00a0 Catholics restrict the Eucharist to people in communion with the Catholic Church whose souls are in a state of grace, so I\u2019m disqualified on a variety of levels, naturally.\u00a0 Even more ecumenical traditions often limit the Eucharist to baptized Christians, so, again, I\u2019m out.\u00a0 However, over the summer, I was in several churches where I was both allowed and encouraged to receive communion if I wanted.\u00a0 I declined every time, but I was torn, and I\u2019m still not sure what the appropriate choice would have been.<\/p>\n