So I got preached at today. One of the guys in garden came by and introduced himself even though I had talked to him before today and assumed he must have known about me by now. He asked about my background and when I said my mother was from Lebanon, he thought that was very interesting and asked if I was ever afraid of dying while I was over there visiting. I said no, but that I had heard a bomb go off before, and tried to tell a few stories about how my sister saved my parents' lives by being born when she was and how bullet holes can still be seen in the door and columns on the patio.
However, he had something else on his mind apparently, because he asked again if I was ever afraid of dying and I said no again to which he asked what I thought happened after. I was confused and responded with "to my body?" thinking he maybe meant how I wanted my remains to be treated which is more on the lines of what I think about rather than any afterlife. Of course, he was more concerned with said possible afterlife. So I tell him that I am not religious and don't believe there is anything after, though I do think it is compelling how people claim to communicate with passed loved ones and don't rule out there being some type of something else though I have to interest or need to seek that answer.
He begins this long and winding story about how he was mowing his lawn one day when he was around my age and newly married. A man approached him and asked what where he thought he would go if he died that very moment. "Would you go to heaven? Or hell?". The man telling me the story said he avoided answering by saying he had to continue mowing his yard and so he did, but the question gnawed at him to the point that he felt he needed to seek an answer. He said he tried to find it in the Bible at which point I interrupted him to ask why he went with Christianity and he said he had always gone to church and been a regular worshiper but never focused on any particular thing, essentially going through the motions.
He continues along on his story of seeking god in different ways by enlisting in the military to having a child and working in several different positions in the church, but none filled the void he felt he had, and he indicated over his heart at this point with a tap to his chest. I did my best to remain blank faced the length of his story, hoping it was not leading to what I knew it must, but it did. He told me he finally found the answer in a book that explained how to directly communicate with god and it was only when he followed it did he finally fill the void within him.
When he mentioned following a book I immediately thought of Scientology which freaked me out for the instant I thought he could be a crazy Sci-lon, but the reality wasn't much worse. He told me if I ever needed guidance in conversing with god I could go to him. At this point I just let go and told him I had no interest and no need for any guidance of that sort which he kind of shrugged off with an assurance that at some point I would. I got a bit annoyed at such audacity and emphatically proclaimed that even if I did I would never be a Christian again. The phrasing surprised me and much as him, I'm sure.
He was surprised that I had ever been a Christian, perhaps assuming I had come from a muslim family. I surprised myself it identifying myself at any point in my life as a Christian, but I was baptized when I was too young to decide, so I guess that counts. I fairly asked me what I didn't like about it and I was pretty harsh in saying I just didn't believe a thing it was about, I might have said I thought it was ridiculous or something like it. The poor guy left me alone after that.
However, he had something else on his mind apparently, because he asked again if I was ever afraid of dying and I said no again to which he asked what I thought happened after. I was confused and responded with "to my body?" thinking he maybe meant how I wanted my remains to be treated which is more on the lines of what I think about rather than any afterlife. Of course, he was more concerned with said possible afterlife. So I tell him that I am not religious and don't believe there is anything after, though I do think it is compelling how people claim to communicate with passed loved ones and don't rule out there being some type of something else though I have to interest or need to seek that answer.
He begins this long and winding story about how he was mowing his lawn one day when he was around my age and newly married. A man approached him and asked what where he thought he would go if he died that very moment. "Would you go to heaven? Or hell?". The man telling me the story said he avoided answering by saying he had to continue mowing his yard and so he did, but the question gnawed at him to the point that he felt he needed to seek an answer. He said he tried to find it in the Bible at which point I interrupted him to ask why he went with Christianity and he said he had always gone to church and been a regular worshiper but never focused on any particular thing, essentially going through the motions.
He continues along on his story of seeking god in different ways by enlisting in the military to having a child and working in several different positions in the church, but none filled the void he felt he had, and he indicated over his heart at this point with a tap to his chest. I did my best to remain blank faced the length of his story, hoping it was not leading to what I knew it must, but it did. He told me he finally found the answer in a book that explained how to directly communicate with god and it was only when he followed it did he finally fill the void within him.
When he mentioned following a book I immediately thought of Scientology which freaked me out for the instant I thought he could be a crazy Sci-lon, but the reality wasn't much worse. He told me if I ever needed guidance in conversing with god I could go to him. At this point I just let go and told him I had no interest and no need for any guidance of that sort which he kind of shrugged off with an assurance that at some point I would. I got a bit annoyed at such audacity and emphatically proclaimed that even if I did I would never be a Christian again. The phrasing surprised me and much as him, I'm sure.
He was surprised that I had ever been a Christian, perhaps assuming I had come from a muslim family. I surprised myself it identifying myself at any point in my life as a Christian, but I was baptized when I was too young to decide, so I guess that counts. I fairly asked me what I didn't like about it and I was pretty harsh in saying I just didn't believe a thing it was about, I might have said I thought it was ridiculous or something like it. The poor guy left me alone after that.
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