Always hard to come up with the right words in an awkward moment. I usually come up with the right words about two in the morning a day later. I have developed a friendship with the pastor of my elderly father's church...I drove him there for several years and sat with him during the service. It's a sect with beliefs that I actually find offensive, but the parishioners and this pastor are good people so I kept my mouth shut.

The pastor came and visited me in the hospital after a difficult back surgery, a much appreciated visit as I had some unwanted family pressures during my hospital stay, and I spoke to him in his pastoral role, as a sounding board and counselor. I then listened as he prayed, as they say in basketball, no harm, no foul;) Of course he knows I am not a Christian, and no doubt would like to change my mind, and I have no difficult religious past to overcome, so I don't mind.