RELIGIOUS OBSERVATIONS

Before I start this little observational article I need to emphasize that I am in no way disparaging anyone’s genuinely sincere religious beliefs. As a matter of fact I feel that a person who holds and practices most any faith is the glue that binds our society together. As long as that faith does not preach death to us infidels it’s okay by me. So if I say anything offensive about your particular religion please forgive me. Maybe it’s a matter of my lack of understanding or some other flaw in my character and you can write my remarks off to that.

Today I took my walk through historic old Dover. When I do that, I park my truck at a local park and walk down into town and do little errands like going to the post office and to the bank on my two plus mile loop. It makes the walk seem less like exercise which makes sense to me because I truly do hate to exercise. As I was nearing the completion of my journey a gentleman of about my age approached me carrying a tire iron. That put me on my toes because in today’s world violent surprises can pop up just about anywhere. Since I had just walked a little over two miles I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run far without falling over dead so I decided to say “hi” to the guy and see what developed.

It turned out that he had a flat tire and the lug wrench he was carrying did not fit the lug nuts on his wheel. This was in spite of the fact that it came with the vehicle from the factory. Maybe that’s why Plymouths, which he was driving, are no longer being made. So I went to my truck and got my lug wrench out and went to his car to see if I could help him. As I was down next to his tire he began to tell me that he spends a couple hours at the park every day talking to folks about the Bible, if they’ll listen. Since I have a policy of not pissing people off when they want to talk about their religion, I made some non-committal noises and tried to change the subject to the problem at hand, namely the fact that my lug wrench wasn’t fitting the nuts either. So I stood up and asked him if he had a cell phone and could call a relative or friend to help him out. He didn’t have a cell phone, which put him a notch higher on my estimation of him as a good guy, so I offered to let him use mine. He called his brother’s phone number but got no answer. Then he stood there thinking about whom else to call and I asked him if he had towing service on his insurance. He slapped his forehead and said of course he did, so he dug a little folder out of the mess of Bibles and religious tracts strewn around the inside of his car. So we dialed up his Geico service number and he began explaining his problem. I have to give the man credit for fervent belief because he even tried to give his little sales talk to the girl on the phone. And when he was on hold he continued his presentation to me. Then at the end of his call with the service agent lady, he complimented her and asked to speak to her supervisor. When the supervisor came on he lavishly praised the service agent and then tried to engage the supervisor in a dialogue about his religious beliefs. The guy was amazing.

He was so amazing that I actually let him go on for a while about what he believed and what his religious organization was teaching. I’ll summarize his presentation as briefly as I can. God (Jehovah) reveals in the Bible that Satan is in charge of the world. Satan has control of everything including all the traditional religions, money and finance, government and societies. But the Bible is the guide that tells people how to find the narrow path away from the world. Math is involved which is why the belief in the Trinitarian nature of God is wrong. That part was a little murky. Also there were some other numbers involving 144,000, 12 and others I don’t recall. Bible study is only the beginning and it’s important that I find a Jehovah’s Witness congregation and I should do it quickly, because time is running out. This gentleman was absolutely sincere in his conviction. I told him I respected his attitude and I wished him well in his mission to spread the truth as he saw it. So I managed to get into my truck and leave the park and as I did I saw the tow truck coming to my new friend’s aid.

Now most of you folks know me and you know that I’m not very religious in the conventional sense of the word. I know there are a lot of you out there praying every day that I see the light and come to some church or other. It’s a good thing and I hate being a disappointment to you all so constantly and consistently. I could be a smart ass and say that with all you folks with conflicting views praying that I go your way, the Big Guy Upstairs is confused and can’t decide which way to influence my thinking, but I won’t.

No, I’ll just go on this path of my own and watch and learn from the true believers that I encounter along the way. Of course I’ll keep in mind something that an American philosopher named Eric Hoffer wrote some years ago”Spiritual stagnation ensues when man’s environment becomes unpredictable or when his inner life is made wholly predictable.”

Have a fine day.