“Bless me, father, for I have sinned. It has been five months since my last confession.”
“Yes, son, tell me. What is your sin?”
“It’s bad.”
“God forgives all sins, but to tell, you must confess.”
“Did you hear about that burning building on 50th street?”
“The one with a suspected over 250 casualties?”
“Yeah. I did that.”
“Oh my god.”
“Gods name in vain?”
“This is an exception. Why would you do such an unnatural thing?”
“At that insurance company all we did was be productive. Like ants. We would give dossiers, take dossiers, like ants giving food and taking food. I know you don’t understand my actions, but what I don’t understand how it’s not a matter of time before one ant gets fed up with the useful routine of the society and creates a series of chemical reactions based on over eighty proof alcohol that engulfs the entire ant hill civilization in a one-hundred and thirty degree Celsius flame that—“
“Get out of my church. No amount of blessing can undo the sin of many purposeless deaths. God forgive humans but not those who are not human, and act without any human nature—“
“This is human nature. Human nature is not logic, reason, or compassion; it’s the instinctual and powerful emotions designed to overcome everything else. This act of wrath is what makes me human and deserving of forgiveness. Without this action, I’m just an ant.”
“You’ve committed murderous arson! You expect me to endorse your actions as part of human nature?”
“No. You’re a priest, it’s you, void of sin, who is not human.”
“I am human. Last week, I … I got drunk. I had such a busy yet fulfilling week… and I just, needed to lose myself. That’s ok, right?
“It’s okay to lose yourself, as long as you can get back.”
“Ah. So hear we are, two sinners. Both agents of the balance between creation and destruction.”
“So what’ll it be? 10 Hail-Mary’s for you and 20 for me?”
“Fuck it.”
“So, then, I guess I’ll be going.”
“Wait. I have to know one more thing. Why fire?”
“Well, why not fire? Try standing outside of a burning building. See how you, your work, your co-workers, and your productivity, get lost in the flames.”
“So just drinking wasn’t enough?”
“Well, like I said earlier, I had better uses for my alcohol.”