The Everyday Club

6/4/10 Jolly, about 35
While out jogging today I stopped to walk at the park where an "average American" looking guy was sitting - sport shirt, shorts, baseball hat, dark sunglasses. I would never have guessed he is a Hare Krishna from India.(I guess I would have expected a flowing robe, beard, and John Lennon glasses!)  I began the conversation by asking "What do you think happens after this life?" He brightened up at this and invited me to sit down, where I spent the next 20 minutes finding out all about Hare Krishna beliefs. "Jolly" (his Americanized name I guess) is married to an American woman who grew up in a Hare Krishna family. They home school their children and live alternately between the U.S. and India, avoiding our cold winters and their hot summers. He joined the Hare Krishnas while in college, introduced by a friend and attracted to the sense of peace he attains through the practice of chanting, which is a major emphasis of the religion and believed to be a source of forgiveness and cleansing. Listening to all this help me gain Jolly's respect in sharing the Gospel. I knew that the traditional American evangelistic approach - which assumes a Judeo-Christian world view - wouldn't help someone such as this who has no concept of sin, God's holiness and justice, judgment, and his need for a savior. All this I shared over the second half of our conversation as he listened with the same interest and respect I had shown him. So we went on our way, both having gained a better understanding of each other's beliefs, both trusting that the truth of our own belief's will win the other over.