INTIMACY

Ha. That got your attention, didn't it?!! DOn't worry, you don't have to skip this one for fear of adult ratings. It's just, that was what was written on the chalkboard in the RS room at the beginning of our 3rd hour combined meeting on sunday. They promised us it would not be about marriage. I should have known that in any singles ward, "not about marriage" simply means "About the law of chastity". THere is nothing like sitting in a room with 200 people you are just barely meeting, and discussing the definition of intimacy. I was sitting between two new people. ONe I will refer to as "Polite Guy", who sat about three seats down from me in Sunday school, but when others got up and left, he scooted down and politely acknowledged my newness to the ward and made small talk with me. THe other was "Friendly girl". At one point I though she was trying to walk past me, so I stood up for her to pass, and instead she said "oh, I don't want to pass you, I want to meet you." It is odd to encounter such propriety and friendliness inn a Singles ward. Especially from a fellow female. I was intrigued, we chatted, then the word "INTIMACY" appeared on the board, and we both made a few inappropriate and uncomfortable jokes before the opening hymn. Of course it was akward. And for all they knnew, I was some sort of a harlot in my own past life, so why would they want to share such a topic with me? I tried to remedy the akwardness during the opening hymn. Some brilliant fool chose "Love at Home" for the song. Really? It was only too easy. I sang "There is beauty all around, when there's INTIMACY at home." And so forth. My new friends snickered. Not only had I moved past the creepy looking sideways at each other in order to figure out what the other person is thinking stage, I established myself as the smart-aleck that I am. After all, why leave a false impression?

It's nice to be settling in.