9/21/20 Felipe about 27
A thoughtful young man named Felipe, whom I happened upon while he was reading a book at the park, has had an interesting spiritual journey so far, and he told me all about it. Felipe has been reading C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” and is now devoted to reading the Bible, having committed to reading it through entirely by way of a daily Bible reading plan. It’s an admirable goal, especially for someone who has emerged from many years of staunch atheism.
While Felipe wouldn’t describe himself as a convinced and committed Christian, he does seem to be headed in that general direction. But I have to admit that what first attracted his attention to spiritual things is very troubling to me.
Felipe told me that the thing that caught his attention to the existence of the spiritual, when as an atheist he couldn’t see beyond the realm of the physical, was hallucinogenic drugs. He told me how they helped him see beyond the limits of his own thinking, and even his own existence, and that he felt “one with the universe”.
Now I do believe God can and does get people’s attention in a variety of ways, but it just seems to me that it’s not just “spirituality” that drives us as Christians, but a dynamic relationship with our living God. And just as we intrinsically know that any human relationship that depends on a mind-altering drug to thrive, so would a relationship with our Creator, I would think.
Our dependence needs to be on God to know God, not on some outside help. Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” and although we so easily understand this to refer to other religions that proclaim another way to God, I think it would apply to mind-altering drugs as well.
Nonetheless, I believe God has Felipe’s attention, and I just pray Felipe will shift his hope and trust from cheap substitutes to the real thing – a living relationship with God the Father, through faith in Jesus the Son, and with the indwelling help of the Holy Spirit, all working together to build a relationship with our Creator that no drug can begin to compete with.
Thanks for a very interesting conversation, Felipe! It can be seen on my YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/ZP6iVG0qg14
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