Interracial Unification
I first heard of Unification Theology from the young niece of a black client on the day of his funeral. I could save his home but I couldn't save him.
Carol was his twenty-two year old "niece." She was a "nice" girl who sang in the choir and was active in the church.
I'd met her and his extended family a few months before at a party in his home. He had several children, grandchildren and nieces and nephews as well as "god children" who were people with some kind of connection that was not blood related. Carol was among the single black girls who attended and one of them who was interested in me.
Carol was an attractive girl, medium height and medium build, with a pretty face and a smooth, coffee colored complexion. She had a wonderful voice.
Her relationship the family Patriarch was ambiguous. She called him uncle, but I had the feeling that he was actually her biological father by a woman who was not his wife. She was,well educated and worked in real estate like so many other family members. He was a successful real estate investor who made friends with minority real estate professionals and that opened doors for jobs for them.
Carol was very attentive at the family party a few months ago and was extremely thankful for my efforts. She was very religious but according to other family members she had some unconventional ideas about the subject. She believed in something called Unification Theology . The details were unclear, but there was apparently some kind of racial angle to it. I'd heard of Black Liberation Theology but this was different.
She wanted to explain it to me at the family party, but they kind of steered her away in another direction. I sensed that she was interested in more than talking religion with me and so did the rest of her family. If they thought I was interested, they were right. I'd hoped to run into her again, but it didn't happen...until now on this sad occasion.
The funeral ceremony was beautiful. The choir, all attired in navy blue gowns, sang beautifully and his "niece" was terrific. Her voice was strong, deep, smooth...in a word, wonderful. She really put her heart and soul into it. I notice that she noticed me crowd and looked directly at me several times. She had a very direct, concentrated glance.
After the service she drifted over to me, said how much her "uncle " admired me, how grateful was her family and how she'd wished she could have properly showed her gratitude to me beyond simply saying thankyou. That was more than enough, I assured her. Besides, it was ancient history.
She asked if I was going by the "house" afterward. I said I hadn't been invited to the
"house", actually.
"Well now you have." She was obviously flirting with me. I thought it was a little untoward on the day of her "uncle's" funeral, but who am I to judge? Weddings are hotbeds of sexuality and maybe, for some people, funerals are too.
She'd ridden over with another family member who took off and left her and she asked me to drive. Of course I said yes. She was still wearing her black full length choir gown, which seemed unusual, because no one else was.
"Let's hurry up and go," she urged. "I find all this weeping and wailing depressing. "
I was startled by her bluntness, but not entirely surprised. Much of the family devotion to the Patriarch was in a word, financial. Now would come the scramble for his estate. Maybe Carol though I could help her with that. Well maybe I can, I thought. If the price is right.
She got into the front seat.
"Turn left," she said.
"But the house is the other way. "
"My apartment is the other way."
"Come on up," she said a few minutes later when we got there.
"Have a seat," she said.
She began, "This is a sad occasion for me. I loved my uncle, but I have little use for the rest of the family. They have little use for me. I was sort of outside the rest. The actual issue of who my parents are is kind of vague. I'm sure there's a reason. I'm very different from the rest. I've always felt that way."