the Peacock 33

 "Do go on", sighs Carol in near exasperation.

"Well, for one thing, let me explain a thing or two about this woman, Gloria.  She tended, like a lot of people at the church, to take everything literally, all black and white, no sense at all of nuance or irony, no sense of paradox.  In fact, for her and so many in St. James, a paradox is something for docking a pair of ships, and nothing else."

I actually find this quite funny and everyone is looking at me as I burst out laughing.  So I say, "But it's true you know. I have always noticed this about people at St. James, and you know what?  No one there even has a sense of humour.  About anything."

With a very wicked grin on his face, Aaron says. "Just like you Carol." And now he is chuckling.

"I hardly find that funny", she snorts indignantly.

Now we are all laughing.

"Oh will you stop, please!" she sputters. "All of you!"

"Carol", says Melissa, smiling, and she has a beautiful smile, "We're not laughing at you but with you."

"Oh, Aaron please do proceed, will you!"

"As you wish, Madame.  So, as I was saying, it really began to heat up when Stephen, the priest who was actually my friend, who also unlike the others there actually had a really good sense of humour, and nuance, and irony and paradox.  In other words, he had a brain and wasn't afraid to think with it.  Anyway, the rector, being an absolute coward, like most Anglican clergy, enlisted his aid in forming his own little inquisition about me.  I was the one to blame you know.  I was gossiping.  I was simply reporting what I had already seen and heard.  But I was also committing that most cardinal sin.  I was making the church look bad...