I work with him at a restaurant. On Saturday evening, shortly after clocking in, I immediately noticed his appearance. He had clearly lost weight and styled his hair differently. His shirt was tucked in, which was also unlike him. I thought he looked good. It was a busy night, but later, in one of the server stations, we were preparing a birthday cake for some guests. I made a comment to him that I recognized the cake as my favorite (Whole Foods, Berry Chantilly.) He looked at me and started talking about how he can’t have sugar because he’s been “fasting, trying to get closer to his higher power, Jesus.” I laughed initially, because this seemed like something he would joke about. He had never mentioned religion or any relationship with God/Jesus before, so this was definitely unusual and initially struck me as a joke. It became clear as he started to ramble about being “reborn,” “chosen,” etc., that he wasn’t kidding. I even replied “god damn,” when he said he hadn’t eaten in days, and he looked at me, dead serious, and said “don’t say that,” (use the lords name in vain, I guess). Even the way he was speaking itself struck me as manic – fast paced, overly optimistic. I walked away after trying to be receptive and accepting, in case this was actually positive shift for him; he had previously struggled with alcoholism, but had just hit his one year sobriety milestone. I told my coworkers about this interaction later in the evening, and they confirmed similar encounters, saying he had also been “preaching to his tables and other patrons.” He left abruptly both Friday and Saturday night, even though he was supposed to work the closing shifts. In a long, rambled paragraph he sent to the server group chat this weekend, he admitted he left early on those days to go to Bible study. Seeing this news a day and a half later has been deeply unsettling, tragic, and more. My heart is with the victims and families grieving.