You must have been wondering if I am so easily swooned that a twenty-something man’s mere stroll down that particular aisle would catch my church girl attention. You might have been asking yourself if your presence in the aisle of God would move me to consider what we would name our children, where we would raise them, and what style of dress our daughter would wear on her first communion day. What’s that? You also think dear Gracie should wear the lovely dress with a scoop satin neckline, sleeveless princess A-line with airbrushed mini fleur framing the neckline, center front blossom with rose bud detail?

Darling, we’re going to be so happy together!

But suddenly, just as I was deciding where to register –Williams Sonoma or The Pampered Chef, such a difficult decision as you realize –you jolted. You left me and all the plans I had made for our future behind. Why did you flee?

Heartbroken, I looked around me. What did I do wrong?

Was it my copy of “When God Was a Woman,” that unnerved you?

Or was it that I was holding Sue Monk Kidd’s book “The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman’s Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine?”

Perhaps it was my leafing through “Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible, and What He Wants to Do with You.” But, darling, fear not! This book emphasizes very ‘traditional’ roles for women, encouraging us wholesome princesses to be the 'hidden' support system of the family, the ‘submissive’ but supportive wife helping her husband pursue his destiny. We are, after all, inheritors of Eve’s confusion and bewilderment. Oh, that nasty devil who tricked poor Eve! You know what she needs now? She needs a savior!

So come take me, you Barnes and Noble Religion/ Christian Inspiration aisle walker. What a glorious future it would be!

But truth be told, The Boyfriend (the real life one) had a copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in his back pocket the night we met. He came late to the party because he was at a philosophy club meeting. And yes, that evening we proceeded to have the first argument of our relationship over the role of women in our Catholic Church. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the theologizing, philosophizing types.