It makes me wonder

Yesterday while I was on my daily walk, I ruminated over how my faith has changed over the years, and I wondered whether I was going forward or going backward in my spiritual journey. I was pondering those questions when I met a man who was walking his dog along a dirt lane.

People in Europe are quite reserved and not prone to greeting passersby or engaging in any kind of casual chit-chat with a stranger. However, this person not only spoke to me but greeted me warmly in English, commenting on the beautiful morning.

I was surprised, almost shocked, not only by his friendliness but that he knew my language.

When I responded in English, he asked if I was English, and I explained, no, I was an American. He noted that I didn’t have much of an American accent.

When he said that, I couldn’t help quoting a comment that my English friend Bernie had made at a party a few weeks ago. He’d said, “I don’t speak with an English accent, I simply speak English. You, however, speak English with an American accent.”

I shared the comment because I thought it was clever and funny, though David, the man on the lane, responded in a serious way, saying something to the effect that no matter where we’re from, we have more in common than we think, that every person deserves to be treated with dignity. (Hear that Bernie! I think that applies to grasshoppers and cake eaters too. Ahem. Everyone else,  don't mind the inside joke)

Anyway, while assuring me he wasn’t a “Bible Thumper,” David recommended a book to me called Conversations with God. He said it had made an enormous impression on him, and that it was a spiritual book rather than a strictly Christian one. He even told me where I could buy it locally.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

I think it’s beyond remarkable I met a friendly, English-speaking person on quiet dirt road who recommended a book called Conversations with God just at the moment I was launching my own conversation with God on the meaning of life and religion.

The book is written by a man, who in a fit of anger and frustration, dared to ask God the hard questions, scrawling them on a legal pad, and then was shocked when he felt God was actually answering them, sending him messages to record below his questions.

Let me tell you—this kind of thinking is not my thing. The first word that comes to mind when I hear about people like this is "fruitcake."

 And yet.

 And yet.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

Can I put aside my distaste for spiritual self-help books and check this one out?

Can I remain open to the idea that perhaps I’m meant to read it, whether I like it at first or not?

Can I put aside my skepticism and cynicism long enough to accept I can still learn something from someone who may be a fruitcake or an opportunist?

I’ll let you know.

August 31, 2006

Comments

[Elisabeth]

God (pardon the pun), did this post resonate with me! I don't even talk about my "faith" anymore, having resigned myself to the fact that I have turned into a self-proclaime atheist. I wrote about my relationship with religion fairely recently (http://walisabeth.blogspot.com/2006/07/on-religion.html.)

But - I have been mulling over the "spiritual" side of my life lately.

I absolutely loved your story about meeting this man and his dog. I'd say, check that book out. Buy it used on Amazon, it won't be too much of a monetary investment (well, shipping to Belgium might be, actually...).

[Tom]

I checked out the book thru your Amazon link, and I can tell you I'm already planning on reading it. "Spiritual journey" is a topic with which I'm endlessly fascinated, and from some of the reviews this book sounds like one that will add to my internal library. I freely admit that I come to this search with an open mind but a wary eye toward writings that don't allow for true thinking and critical discussion. A friend bought me Lee Strobel's book, "The Case for Christ" and I couldn't finish it because it was so single-mindedly focused on proving Jesus' divinity. So, anyway, I'm saying this book hasn't raised my "fruitcake" flag and it sounds very interesting. One last thing: a few of my favorite recent readings on this topic are "Honest to Jesus" by Robert Funk, "The Heart of Christianity," by Marcus Borg, "The Five Gospels" by the Jesus Seminar, and "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong.

[Arabella]

I think you can get something out of virtually every book. I'd say go for it.

[amber]

This has been a very popular book, at least in "fruitcake" California, for some years now. I know a lot of people who feel it has changed their lives, and the way they choose to relate to God. I have not read it, but I might.

I think you question about how your faith has changed an dif you are going back or foreward is a very interesting one. I had a thought sort of like that just yesterday! I got a part time job at our church, and as I was driving away, I was thinking about how my personal beliefs don't match up with everything my church believes, and I wonder waht they would think of that, if they knew? I don't really care, because my faith is personal. I still learn and grow at my church, and Ilearn and grow from journeys and thoughts outside of church, too.

If this had happened to me, I would pick up the book, I think. I don't think it hurts to read something, and who knows?

:)

[Angela]

I hope you at least find a copy to flip through at a bookstore. I don't believe in coincidences, either. I believe that God does speak to people, just not many people choose to listen. Especially if the answer isn't something they want to hear. I may have to look into this book, too. I'm entering my own spiritual journey soon through a program called Familia.

[Lisa]

What I'm wondering is how can you NOT do it? That, my good lady, was an angel if ever I heard of one. And while I believe in angels, I must insist I'm not one of those spooky ladies who see them dancing on the edges of cupcakes. I simply believe when a thing is needed, it'll appear. And many has been the person who performed the task of an angel when it was necessary. Sometimes without even knowing they were doing it.

[Mary]

Please do keep us posted!

[Nancy]

ooh, I have to go look for that book myself, since I have been struggling with the same questions. Please let us know how you like it, if you do seek it out. (I also believe that things like that happen for a reason -- that you were somehow supposed to meet that person and strike up that conversation.)

[Granola-grrrl]

I have heard good things about that book, and have been considering reading it. I don't believe in coincidences either, Godmama, and this may just be enough to make me put it at the top of my queue. ;)

[Elizabeth]

You are right; there are no coincidences. As we age, our spiritual selves do assert themselves: I'm convinced. I literally became a Born Again Christian, after years of agnosticism/atheism.

So there...