They usually caught up, at least on one day of the weak.
When he had called at his house that afternoon he was out. His wife had told him where he was. They chatted briefly before he left. While there, his wife had told him that her husband had taken to a new mode of worship. Knowing that they were a religious couple he thought nothing of it. As he made his way to the church he thought about how intense his friend’s considerations were, regarding religion, compared with his own. When he entered the church he saw that only three people were there. He found his friend at the back of the church, deep in prayer. He sat off to one side for a while. He felt uncomfortable with the idea of interrupting him.
A few minutes passed and the man in prayer seemed to straighten up. He rolled his shoulders and looked around. He looked surprised to see his friend sitting close by, but his face soon broadened to a smile. The other quietly moved across and sat down beside him.
“I called in and was told I’d find you here,” he said.
“Yes, sorry. I wanted to make the most of it here, while it was quiet, I mean.”
“I thought it was a bit unusual. Your wife mentioned that your level of worship had changed.” He grimaced. “My words, not hers.”
“No. You’re right. It has changed.”
“How’s that, then?”
He looked around furtively. “I’ve found a new deity,” he whispered.
His friend was surprised. “A new one, you say.”
“Yes. It’s very exciting. Who would have believed it? I mean, I was just praying, the way I normally do, nothing out of the ordinary, when I found myself communicating with a completely new and unknown deity!”
“OK. Tell me more.”
The man shrugged. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, like what’s the name of this deity?”
The man looked around again. “It doesn’t have a name. Don’t you see? There is no name. If there was, it would mean that anybody could worship it.”
With raised eyebrows, his friend said, “Fascinating… I suppose.”
“Oh! Yes, fascinating, as you say. The thing is, you see, apart from me, no one knows of its existence. Nobody else worships it because they don’t know that this deity exists.” He smiled and touched the side of his nose. “My mode of prayer is completely private.”
After a short time of silence, the friend whispered. “I’ll call on you later this week, but in the meantime I’ll leave you in peace. OK?”
“OK,” said the man, closing his eyes and bowing his head.
He left the church quietly and made his way home.
As he walked, deep in thought, he was slowly coming to terms with the idea of a nameless God!