3/12/13 Guy about 65
At a Jason’s Deli today I asked a
man named Guy who was finishing his dinner if he would mind if I asked him an interesting
question. “I don’t mean to bother you,
but I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask” I told him, and he asked me what my
question was, with a curious look on his face.
Some people might think that asking this of a stranger is rude and
inconsiderate, but I figure that if people don’t want to talk about it, they
can just tell me. I am careful to never
make them feel like they are backed into a corner, and some do decline to talk,
though they are relatively few in number.
But Guy answered my question
about his beliefs by saying that he believes in reincarnation. He is a longtime member of a
Unitarian-Universalist Church – “Unitarian” because they believe God is a Unity
rather than the Trinity, and “Universalist” because they believe everyone will
go to heaven. They are popular these
days because they are seen as tolerant to all religions. For his part, Guy was tolerant of all
religions except one - Biblical
Christianity. He recounted how he had
been first attracted to the Unitarian Church – “I had grown up with a nominal Baptist
background and I figured I better have an answer to anyone who asks me if I’m
“saved”, and I liked their teaching that everyone will go to heaven”. He asked about my beliefs, but quickly lost
interest when he found out I am a Christian, telling of some of his experiences
when he felt that Christians were unloving or intolerant. I replied “It sounds like your main complaint
about Christians is when we don’t act like Jesus. Now I don’t claim to be tolerant of other religions
but since I really do believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life - the
most loving thing I can do is tell people about Him.” Guy didn’t want to hear about it. “I’m very happy with my own beliefs” he said
as he got ready to leave. Of course I
really wanted to be able to tell him more, but I guess his “tolerance” couldn’t
tolerate Jesus.
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