The following was written in 1984 as a college English course assignment. It is a 500 word Classification-style essay and received a score of 99 out of a possible100 points.

Life With God

I consider my religious background to be fairly common. I have been through many stages of belief and disbelief. I remember them according to the incidents that occurred during these different phases.

Before I was ten, I was graced by God. I don't remember any church experiences, but I do feel that things were just fine between God and me.

When I was ten, I remember being sent out the door on Sunday mornings with my brother and sisters to attend the local Episcopal church to learn the details of God's life while Mom and Dad slept in - they already knew the details.

For two years, I learned that not everyone was graced by God. The priest and a lot of other grown-ups felt it took a lot of prayers and sacrifice before you were eligible for that high honor. I began to doubt my relationship with God.

When I turned thirteen, I joined the church youth group and discovered that a lot of other kids were in the same situation I was in; we had parents who were more interested in getting us off their hands for a few hours than in creating a family unit devoted to serving God. For three years, my relationship with God took a back seat to learning the details of the workings of the church. I discovered that there were a lot of kids attending church who didn't believe in God. They went because their friends were there.

At sixteen, I fell in love with my girlfriend's brother, who was nineteen, and I set aside activities relating to the church and God for ones relating to Leonard. I have wonderful memories of wild beach parties and late-night necking.

Two years later, Leonard was history and I was attending Sunday services with a group of free-lance Christians. Today, they call themselves 'born-again' Christians. I broke my leg during this time and when it healed in two weeks, verified by the X-rays, I knew I was back in God's good graces.

A few months later, I fell in love with Greg, who was big on sex and not so hot on God. It worked out, though. I had a conversation with a Youth For Christ representative and discovered that if you were a good Christian, you didn't have sex until you were married; if you did, you were sinful and a bad Christian - I didn't join the Youth For Christ movement, I didn't marry Greg, and I didn't feel sinful.

Greg and I broke up when I was nineteen. I started dating my cousin's friend, Jim. He was into new experiences and I was trying to rediscover my relationship with God so we both tried LSD. Jim and I no longer see each other.

My experience on LSD helped me realize that the past situations with churches, youth groups, boyfriends and drugs are merely distractions. My relationship with God is perfect just the way it is. The idea that something might serve to bring me closer to God is incomprehensible; I am as close as I can get.