Pedestrian

When people ask stupid questions, they deserve flippant and imprecise responses; therefore when people ask me about my religious background, I’m liable to say just about anything: from “Recovering Catholic” and “Polydactyl” to “Octagenarian”. My favorite by far is “Pedestrian”. It’s more than a non-religion, it’s a way of life.

In the movie Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson plays Jules, a hit man who achieves a moment of clarity during a tense restaurant stand-off in which he is a not-so-innocent by-stander. The experience hinges upon his appropriation of the scripture verse Ezekiel 25:17...

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

Previously he had employed this quotation as a proclamation of judgement just prior to the execution of his victims. Suddenly he sees it as a reflection of his own life’s journey and the possibility of his own redemption. He no longer sees himself as a messenger of vengeance, and seriously considers retirement from his chosen profession. In his own words, “...I’m gonna walk the earth.”

A pedestrian by any other name.