What Chris has meant to us: Walker’s Story

To celebrate the release of Chris’s book Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, we at Non-Prophet Status have taken it upon ourselves to share how Chris has impacted our lives. Read Vlad’s entry here, Stephen’s here, and Chelsea’s here. We hope that all NPS readers, regardless of their religious belief, will consider submitting their story for us to post at npstatus@gmail.com! Congratulations Chris!

So this one time Chris and I were laughing because we were appreciating how hilariously badass and brilliant both our moms were to us. Who cares what the stigmas are, who cares who they are to other people, they are awesome to us, and we’ve always felt that. Maybe Chris was always able to say so, but I don’t know that I felt totally comfortable expressing that feeling—citing how inspiring someone is in their enthusiastic compassion—before seeing how effortlessly Chris could do it. To honestly identify how others have shaped him, while still taking pride his individuality and self-determination.

Coffee shops and Tex-Mex restaurants, and I meet with Chris and we never end up talking about what we intended to, because we both love music and stories and life too much to do business. Every time, finding a new connection. Nothing relieves loneliness like that. Prolific and multilayered, honest and self-reflective about his shortcomings yet still confident in his accomplishments. It’s a balance that you never master—but every time I’m alone with Chris I’m inspired to continue to strive in that direction.

Chris has propelled me to the work I now dedicate myself to—just two days ago I spoke with him about an idea that casually crossed my mind, and in our discussion it evolved into a titanic initiative that I’m motivated to pursue beyond any single blog post or conversation. He’s given me the forum and the opportunity to build my vision for the world and help others in the way I feel I best can, and has never shot down any thought I’ve shared with him or said “no” to a proposal. He helps me mold my work and my life path, and always offers to take as much time as I need to counsel me and guide me when I ask.

We are all of us brothers. But it’s hard to come up with a better way to uniquely describe what Chris means to me: someone who comes to mind to give me strength whenever I get the creeping feeling that everything is fucking terrible and crumbling and everyone hates me. He’s taken more hits than I could ever imagine, and he’s still standing, proud and honest. When I was back in my hometown and someone shouted “fag” at me out the window of their car, I knew who to turn to to help me reflect and cope. It’s weird: I know he will always be on my side, and will always give me a new window to look through when I need one.

Maturity comes through strengthening your relationships with those around you, and learning to navigate those relationships, driven by compassion and appreciation of difference. I’m sitting here trying to think of someone who taught me this lesson more explicitly, and yet subtly, than Chris. The last two years I’ve known him have marked exponential increase in my admiration of empathy, and I think that’s no accident. When I first met Chris I saw this guy in thick-rimmed glasses who wrote for HuffPo who I accidentally dropped an f-bomb in front of because he was just too damn friendly and easy to be around. Every moment we’ve shared since then reinforces something else that I noticed in that initial impression: he’s an exemplar of sincerity. Wedding honesty, empathy, and passion. It’s not just that I feel comfortable at his side now—I feel like there’s nowhere else I belong.

My perspective is ever-evolving, as is his. Chris’s mentorship catalyzes that evolution, and seeds and grows in me precisely what anyone I’ve met since knowing him tells me they like about me. He’s not the only one who inspires me—but his inspiration permeates every ever-maturing aspect of myself in a way unmatched by my other heroes. A champion of my own vision, and a friend. Even in the darkest hour for either of us. Thanks; I usually only find idols like you in a book.

Walker Bristol woke up this morning and realized, to his dismay, that he is the President of the  Tufts Freethought Society  and the Director of Communications for  Foundation Beyond Belief . This is especially peculiar considering he grew up as a high school wrestler-pianist in North Carolina and intended to become Luke Skywalker for an undisclosed period of his life, eventually settling for a Star Wars tattoo. The Tufts Political Science and Religion departments suffer his enrollment. He writes about social activism and art in the  Tufts Daily , and about religion in the 2012 election for  The Unelectables . His diet consists of hummus. He tweets nonsense on all these fronts  @GodlessWalker .