Is that underwear? They look like shorts but that waistband reminds me of underwear. "Who has white cotton shorts?" I think to myself as I walk into the living room illuminated by candles.

It was August 14. Fortunately, I was not in an elevator or the subway when the power went out in New York City. I was sitting at my desk and to be honest, quite bored. I embraced the flickering lights and confusion with enthusiasm.

How am I going to get home? It dawned on me suddenly that even if I could get downtown and across Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn, I didn't know how to get home. I have never gotten there above ground and I have never wandered more than about two blocks away from my apartment. Why would I? The subway is a block away and at the other end of that tube is Manhattan!

I made a decision. After a beer with some co-workers I started walking uptown from 60th. I knew that I could find my friend Willie's apartment at 149th and Broadway. However, since all 8 million people in Manhattan were inconsiderately all trying to make calls from their cell phones at the same time, and unbeknownst to me, Willie was stuck on the A train, I couldn't reach him. He has three roommates though and I assumed at least one of them would be home. I had only met two of them once. The third was a stranger and I knew he was crazy. I based this judgment on a story Willie told me about Ryland, the roommate, going to the summer blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" dressed as a pirate. At the box office he exclaimed, "ARR! Do you have any discounts for pirates?" the manager let he and his friends in free. He is clearly a certified wacko... maybe even crazy enough to give me, a total stranger, a place to sleep.

At 149th and Broadway I felt my way through the dark halls and knocked on his door. I could see the light of a flashlight moving toward the door. The flashlight holder tried to shine through the peephole. I tried to explain through the door that I was one of her Willie's friends, and I couldn't get home. At her roommate's name and the information that I was stranded in Manhattan for the night, the door swung open and the welcome mat was unraveled.

Lin led me to the living room where I found Ryland sitting in his underwear and a tee shirt reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Ryland offered me something to drink. He was having Southern Comfort on the rocks. Lin offered me her favorite tee shirt and a towel so I could shower and get cooled off. Once I was cleaned up we started chatting.

I had just settled in when Lin announced that she was an atheist. "I can't stand people who just follow the faith of their families and try to force their beliefs on others," she said boldly, "they are so sure they are right and have all the answers."

I knew that Lin, and many others, are often fooled by the falseness of some practicing Christians. She dislikes Christians because the only ones she hears from are the ones that are born into the faith, grow up with it, marry into it, and never stop to question it. She sees these followers as the ones that proclaim to have all the answers to all of the world's tough questions. And although she didn't say it, I suspected that Lin might've grown up Christian but something happened along the way to make her lose her faith. But I don't think simply losing your faith can catapult you into atheism. I think agnosticism is the next stop on the train. I decided that she was an agnostic that didn't like Christians.

"Would it be fair to say it's not necessarily the religion you disagree with but the closed mindedness?" I ask cautiously, watching Ryland for a warning glance in case I was straying into dangerous territory. He had a knowing but patient look on his face, as if he knew what she wanted to say, but wasn't sure how she was going to say it.

She started by saying that the most vocal Christians are closed-minded and have little understanding of other religions. She doesn't believe that anyone should try to convert an individual to another religion without first understanding the individual's own religion. "I also don't believe in the church," she finishes, "it's so political. Religion is used to validate questionable actions of the members of the church. They claim they are acting in the name of God."

Lin went on, and cited Ryland's existentialism. I asked him to explain.

Ryland punctuates all of his points in his gestures -- I wanted to move the candles a little further away from him.

"At the core, we are all the same," he said. "I can relate to anyone because of the one thing everyone has in common. We are all human. I feel a bond with the people I am surrounded by."

He went on to say how he feels God is inside of him and how he is at peace. He says that he does not pray to a supreme being outside of his body but believes that he can turn into himself for to solve his questions and find his purpose. Laughing, Ryland jokes about the vanity of his beliefs. "While Christians live their lives serving a supreme being I serve myself and the needs of those around me."

Ryland admitted that he believes there is no way of knowing whether a god exists, or what happens to your soul when you die. When I asked if I could classify him as Christian or agnostic, he said that I would be right and smiles warmly.

I go out on a limb. "Ryland, can I ask... do you think Jesus existed and if he did, who is he,"

"Good question!" Lin said sitting up on the other couch. I was momentarily distracted by the fact that their living room is large enough for two couches but Ryland's reaction shocked me.

He lurched forward toward the coffee table full of candles and just about jumped up. "OH MAN!" His face lit up and he got more excited then a child on Christmas morning. "Of course he existed, and he was AMAZING!" I did not need to urge him for an explanation "He was one of the greatest minds that ever lived! Like many great minds, he did not fit into the society in which he lived but he was right on with how we should act. I am not sure how I feel about all the miracles. I can't explain them, but I don't think he picked up two fish and they magically transformed into tons." He spread his arms wide in attempt to illustrate how many fish he was talking about. I could only laugh.

The following Saturday night I had the opportunity to witness Ryland's bond with the rest of humanity, or at least the East Village. I caught up with Ryland and Willie a little after midnight. Thankfully, Ryland was wearing pants. Within a few minutes of my arrival at the bar we left for a house party. Ryland stopped to talk to a blonde girl on the way out. He did not know her at all. In about five minutes he had almost convinced her to come to the house party with us. What was most interesting was he was NOT trying to pick her up, merely invite her to join us. She was did not seem at all uncomfortable and smiled at Willie and I as we left. Willie told me about how on the way to the bar Ryland had struck up a conversation with some other people and within 10 minutes they abandoned their other plans to join Ryland and Willie.

Usually, I try to escape conversations regarding religion with people I don't know very well -- I'm good at avoiding them. I am not a great debater. My answers to religious questions are based in faith. I am a Christian. I believe in God and Jesus, but I don't have any answers for the tough questions.

"If God exists, why do we suffer?"

I don't know.

"Will someone go to hell if they have never had the opportunity to hear about Jesus?"

I don't know.

"So what is the Christian belief when it comes to drinking? Sex?"

I don't know. Dammit, I DON'T KNOW!

I have no supporting evidence for discussions like this. I really haven't done my research. I don't now much about other religions. I grew up in the church and I have not known anything else.

But I do believe in keeping an open mind. There are reasons why Lin does not believe in God, reasons why Ryland is so good at connecting with others. These reasons are valid in their eyes. Christianity is the only religion I know and I don't like having to defend it. My reasons are just as valid as theirs.

I had one of the most non-confrontational religious discussions that night in the dark. Willie got home, and beliefs aside, we spent the rest of the night drinking and laughing. I am lucky that at the end of my encounter with strangers, I have two new friends.