Inspecting lettuce | Teen Ink

Inspecting lettuce

February 8, 2022
By amares813 SILVER, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
amares813 SILVER, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
5 articles 1 photo 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”<br /> <br /> ― Eugene V. Debs, Debs


In Hebrew my name means “whom God showed favor on.”

you’ve probably seen that

on floral prints in a Christian book store 

the names Hannah and Anna side by side 

Anna comes from the Hebrew word 

 חַנָּה

Hannah 

my best friend’s name 

but I could never shrink small enough

to fit inside 

wasn’t the small anna within those cute and curly h’s 

wasn’t that

picture 

perfect 

pink 

Christian girl 

“whom God showed favor on”

I was

Messy

Self-righteous

Indignant

since those first days

I absorbed lessons and world-views

a wet sponge

the youth group’s walls dissolving around me

moldy remains 

I loved Jesus

love Jesus

but he was always more than the painting of a white bearded man in the preschool room 

to me

so when I went into the library and selected the books with colorful binding 

I wasn’t disgusted 

rather entranced 

by the heroines who analyzed their faith

like skeptic children inspecting the lettuce 

on their dinner plate

I liked asking the questions

found comfort in the mental exercise 

sitting on Hannah’s polka dot bedspread

I painted my nails 

electronic blue 

and asked if she believed in 7th day creationism

11 years old. 


The author's comments:

This piece explores faith and how it alters over time as well as what it means to be an intellectual Christian. It discusses some of the taboo aspects of religion and what "child-like" faith actually looks like. 


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