GOD'S GRACE, MY HUSBAND AND THE GAMES WE PLAY

     The Unification Church announced in August that, there will be a Special Grace Ceremony for the members. Although I left that church and became a Christian, I promised Taka to go there once a month for Sunday Services. I guess, a Special Grace Ceremony can be also counted as one of those occasions, when I had to put up an appearance there. 

     The more I thought about it, the clearer it became: the Unification Movement or it's leaders - the Moon family - have nothing to do with God. We all had to pay a couple of hundreds of dollars to receive "the grace and some holy objects". My skin crawled, as these words brought thoughts of the Inquisition, indulgences and holy relics. I went to the ceremony with Taka and Sonny, but didn't drink the "holy" wine or "amen" to anything.

     A few days after the ceremony, I, half-joking, told Taka that, since I go to his church, it would be only fair for him to go to mine, meaning Creekside Community Church in San Leandro. He refused, of course, but later on came to talk about it. For some reason, it was a news to him that I don't consider myself a Unification Church member anymore! 

     We sat in a darkened living room for at least an hour, as I tried to explain to my husband that, God's Grace comes to us for free, and those who demand payment for it are not to be trusted. 

     Because his English can be quite difficult to understand, I still might not have comprehended his reasons to stay in the Moon's Movement. I think, he meant, since joining  that church, he felt, he had no choice, but to commit to it fully and unquestioningly, as he feels now that there can be no choice for him to leave it. 

     From a discussion about our faith we moved on to discuss our marriage. Not for the first time I told Taka, he has to pay attention to me beyond a few words a day he manages to squeeze in my general direction. Something must've finally struck a chord, because Taka suggested, we do something special together every week. Hallelujah, there is a God in Heaven!

     We went out to eat. The next week Taka proclaimed, we have to do something more active. We played billiards. 

     I played billiards on Wii before and was pretty good at it. The real, physical game proved to be very different. Suffice it to say, I was sweating from the top of my head to the bottom of my soles.          We had to go down two flights of stairs to get to the tables, and at the end - two flights of stairs up to get to the street. It might not seem like a lot to all of you, young and spry folks, but to me, with the feet that start hurting when I just look at a stairwell, it was a challenge. The final decision: billiards is not my game!

     We finished our paid period in Tai Chi. For a couple of weeks we didn't do any exercising, except some Tai Chi practicing on the backyard. This Saturday Taka wants to play Miniature Golf. 

     So, my man designated a day a week, when he can pay attention to me. Is that normal? He still looks through me and  on other days hears only what he wants to hear! Should I be patient and pretend, everything is honky-dory? Should I still pressure him into a deeper involvement with me?

     To tell the truth, it's so much easier to spend time on my own! But I know, deepening our relationship is a right thing to do.