I had an interesting conversation the other day in a local book store. A complete stranger engaged me in a fairly one-sided conversation. It was one of those kinds where getting any more than an occasional grunt or mmmmm in sideways is all there was room for. Verbal diarrhea comes to mind; overly opinionated and reckless with his conversation he proceeded to move from issues of race, religion, politics and even conspiracy theories. It was rapid fire and I found it a bit shocking and even a tad bit rude.
I'm pretty sure that he mistook me for an avid fiction reader and things progressed from there. At first I went along with it, I even mentioned a new novel I had heard about thinking it was fairly new and that he wouldn’t have read it yet. Was I ever wrong! He not only had read it but had read several of the same author’s books. We danced around the books on the shelf as he picked one after another out and asked me if I had read it but never actually let me respond. He proceeded to tell me the main plot and a summary of several books.
At one point he got stuck. He looked at me for help as he tried to remember the name of a fabulous mystery author but I was of no use and so we went to the till and had the cashier do a search.
Finding little satisfaction at the till he led me off to the corner where the Divinci Code was and that’s when the conversation got interesting. He told me that he pretty much had to believe that Jesus was a real guy but that the miracles and stuff were just sleight of hand and the stuff of legends. He then proceeded to put all his faith in the fictional book that Brown had written. The Divinci Code was the real deal as far as he was concerned. I kept on mentioning that it was a fictional book based on conspiracy, conjecture and a pretty good imagination. But he was not about to back down. He preferred it that way. It was easier for him to dismiss the real Jesus and his claims and his miracles and completely embrace a wild fictional character whose name was Jesus and he had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdalene.
It was a fresh reminder that the god of this world has blinded the minds of those in this world from the truth. I walked away from that meeting a bit frustrated and even sad that this man would rather believe in crazy fictional conspiracy than the real deal Jesus Christ who rose from the dead!
Happy Easter Everyone!
2 comments:
When I stop to think about it, I'm always staggered at the lies the devil has people believing...talk about sleight of hand!
It is tragic. People seem so ready to believe a fictional novel. I think that the reason why is because it is a convenient cop-out so that they don't have to deal with the truth of who Jesus is. And....if they think through logically who Jesus is then they have to deal with the reality of the consequences of not honoring him, and the consequences of sin. Life can no longer be all about ME!!
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