The Slice: Near nature, but not church

There was a Spokane priest, a friend of mine, who had a pet peeve.

Now he had encountered and cheerfully engaged just about every imaginable form of hostility to organized religion. But there was one thing that made him slap his forehead in exasperation.

It was a certain cliché: The guy in a scenic wilderness setting who gestures toward the natural beauty and says, “This is my church.”

“Well, duh,” the priest said once in characterizing his reaction to that

His point? Just this. Everybody loves nature’s splendor. But the heavy lifting of faith and spirituality involves interacting with other people.

Admiring a magnificent view and acknowledging a urine-stained homeless person are two different things. Guess which is harder?

This priest had nothing against hiking, camping, et cetera — far from it. And he was well aware that church attendance alone was an inadequate measurement of what is in a person’s heart.

He just worried that sometimes, in Spokane, the desire to get away from it all leaves some important business behind.

Happy Easter.

“Slice answer: Lori Campbell said a special edition Spokane Barbie would come with front end-alignment specialist Ken and a freakishly large latte-card organizer.

Melissa Weller said Spokane Barbie would come with a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and flip-flops.

“By the numbers: The Slice had asked if clothing sizes for females are some sort of coded conspiracy. And reader Cindy Greenslitt shared an observation.

“I have noticed that the more you pay for women’s clothing, the smaller the size you wear,” she wrote. “I remember several years ago when Elizabeth Taylor went on television after losing a lot of weight. She said that she was a perfect size 5. If she had purchased her dress at Kmart, it would have been a perfect size 10.”

“Addressing the night visitor: Kim Guida’s 7-year-old nephew recently left a note for the Tooth Fairy, along with a tooth.

“Dear Tooth Fairy,

“Here is my tooth. I have a few questions for you.

“1. Can you fly?

“2. Are you available for sleepovers?

“Please check the Yes box or the No box using the pencil I’ve provided.”

“Late tax-filing tip: Having a thing for Charles Rowe is not deductible.

“Possible 2006 prom themes: 1. “Our music bites.” 2. “Blame our parents.” 3. “Mumble mumble mumble.”

“Gossips/meddlers in training: The Slice heard about a new local preschool called “Little Busybodies.”

“Today’s Slice question: Where has your search for meaning taken you?