LSD Saved My Soul

Reading Rainbow played on the TV on the stand in front of us and all the after-care kids sat at the surrounding library tables, chattering and laughing and barely paying attention to the TV.

A girl named Amber, who washed her hands so much her skin was always dry even in the Florida humidity, began to talk about her religion.

We were eight. I’d been to church two times in my life and both times I’d been taken away for a dumbed down version of “kid church” where we played games that had almost nothing to do with God or the Bible.

I had decided, given the circumstances of my young life, that if God indeed did exist, he’d punished me with a terrible life. My father hit me, always drunk or high, and my mother ignored me. The only person who paid me any attention was my older sister and even she bullied me. God was not looking out for me. And since I could not imagine that a God so cruel could exist, I did not believe. It didn’t feel like anything or anyone was looking out for me.

But Amber seemed so excited about it. She talked about how God had a plan for everyone and how He had it all laid out for us, like a winding pathway we were meant to trod. I was fascinated, caught up in the love behind her…