The River Always Moves

The pack of cigarettes looked lost and out of place on this altar of learning that briefly reminded Tony of what Sister Joan called "a sinful habit."

Father pulled out another cigarette, lit and continued.

"Because God is perfect, He never changes. We are at the opposite end of the scale, and we constantly change. The curse reveals itself in our most basic need--food. Food never stays the same. We need it to get hot to make it edible. We need to insulate it to keep it hot. In order to keep it any length of time, we need to keep it cold. With food we are always fighting its movement--its change. In this instance food is symbolic of people.

"You see, Sister resists change and appears staunch in her resistance, but she will change in some way and on some issues because change is inevitable." Father made his point, but to them then it really meant little.

"On the blessing side of change, there is always the opportunity to better ourselves. We can always change for the better. This is how we differ from angels, boys. Angels do acts that are final--once and for all. But we humans have the blessing of change, and we can always change for the better until our last breath." Father's words sparked a sense of wonder on Tony's part as to how Father might speak so assuredly of angels. He gathered that priests knew of these things while the rest of humanity were starved in this area.

At this point Tony wasn't sure if Father still was talking about Sister Joan and their problems with her, or had mysteriously entered that realm called religion class and he was the teacher today as he was many times in their lives at St. Michael's. If this shift in subject was intended, he thought Father pulled off a beautiful bait-and-switch tactic, only he was trying to sell some unknown product that did not especially interest Tony and Charlie.

"We never stay the same. We are always getting better or worse--the river always moves. We should always have the opportunity in life to change our name when we grow up because at that point we are a different person--the young person is dead."

Here Father paused and enjoyed his cigarette. He knew he had their attention. He was showing the art of timing in the world of inspirational sermons. He blew his smoke with his lips pressed tightly together, causing a muted whistling sound and displaying deep pleasure from the toxic waste he emitted.