My Childhood Meets the "Religious" Person

As a child, what did you think a "religious" person was like? How did you feel about that person? (Serendipity Bible Fourth Edition, page 1639).

I have no doubt that many worldly-wise people thought of my parents as religious, but I never did. For me, the "religious" person was one who expressed great emotion (not simply passion) in their faith. At a camp meeting, they would be the ones to stand up, raise their hands, shout, and dance around. They were also the ones who would corner you with a question – "Are you on the firing line?"  They are the sort of folks that H.L. Mencken would have a field day feeling superior to (though all Methodist in his book were considered silly).  I never felt superior to emotional believers, but I was somewhat intimidated by their volatility and had an underlying fear that they would put me on the spot with a penetrating question for which I had no ready answer.

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