Infrason

La chose que j'ai encore du mal à comprendre, c'est comment une chose aussi bénigne, aussi inoffensive, a pu mettre ma vie sens dessus dessous.

Mia had a millennial righteousness that I found both irritating and intimidating. At her first meeting, she introduced herself and her gender pronouns—My name is Mia. I go by she, her, hers. Emily and Nora had no idea what she was talking about, so she explained. And then everyone else, I suppose feeling a bit put on the spot, went around and introduced themselves the same way—Howard. He, him, his, and so on. Everyone except Damian. And to be honest, I was a little indignant at first too. I thought: take a look at this group, is this really necessary? But then I caught myself and thought—is this what it is to grow old? To become defensive and resentful when confronted by my own assumptions and biases? By new modes, new sensitivities?

Mon sentiment en la matière : j'avais les choses bien main, je n'avais pas besoin de Dieu. C'est à peu près ce que j'éprouvais depuis l'âge de seize ans, quand j'avais soudain pris conscience que Dieu n'était pas différent des types de mon lycée ; il ne s'intéressait pas à moi, à moins que je sois à genoux.

My feeling on the matter was: I had my shit together, I didn’t need God. That’s pretty much how I’ve felt since I was sixteen, when it suddenly struck me that God was no different than every other guy in my high school; he wasn’t interested in me unless I was down on my knees.