I met a man named Carl on the flight. He sat to my left. Carl was heavily tattooed. He had a sleeve on his left arm and a partial on his right. The ink was religious. A large cross. A picture of Jesus descending from clouds, a WWJD badge. I figured him for a hip youth pastor, he was a software engineer. Carl regretted the tattoos. At one time he was engaged to a devout Christian named Molley. The relationship cooled, as had his faith. The tats remained.
He called himself an agnostic. He was really a theist. We spoke for an hour on general religions topics. I let him tell me his story. At times we flirting with deeper religious issues. I kept my atheism out of the discussion. I almost asked the dreaded, "Why are you so hurt" question. But stopped myself. I knew the answer; her name was Molly.
Regret those tattoos much?
