I love da' crazies
So, I've got this hard-core Christian woman who sits in the cube next to mine at work. She's absolutely batshit crazy. I've got no problem with somebody having faith or being devout, but one of the first things she asks people when she meets them is if they believe in God. Now, not if they're religious, but if they believe in God. If they say yes but they're not Christians then she'll tell them that they don't, in fact believe in God. Because Jesus is the One and only. Yeah... I can't figure out why she hasn't been fired yet, either.
The first time I met her she asked me a different question. She wanted to know if I'd read the bible, because I walked into the lunchroom while she was having a discussion about it with someone else. I informed her that yes, I had read it twice. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, because that must mean that I'm a believer. She seemed rather put out when I told her that I'd also studied the Vedas, Tao Te Ching, some Buddhist philosophies, along with a lot of "pagan" mythologies in my search for Truth. Jesus of Nazareth was a great guy with a lot of good things to say, as was Siddhartha. "Good guys," I told her. God's too big for one book. This isn't the point of my story, though...
Last week she pops her head up over the top of my cube and asks if she can practice her presentation on me. Her church is very big into congregants speaking, not just the pastor, and actively spreading the Good News. I'm pretty sure I know what's coming and agree to listen.
"So you look around the world that God created and see that everyone is hurting... yada-yada-yada. What do you think life is?"
Life is suffering, I tell her. She smiles, because I'm following where she's leading me.
"You're right! But, why do we suffer? The richest man can have almost everything but still suffers because he doesn't have something else. Everyone wants more yada-yada-yada."
Desire is the root of suffering, I reply. Now her eyes are twinkling.
"And that rich man, even if he did have everything would STILL suffer. He simply can't have everything in the world, it's not possible. yada-yada-yada. What is he really looking for?"
Spiritual fulfillment was the answer, and I gave it to her.
"So some higher power created us and we suffer so that we can search for spiritual fulfillment. What do you think?"
So I looked her in the eye and and tried not to smile as I told her that she'd just given me a pretty decent basic description of Buddhism. When her eyes went crossed I couldn't suppress the smile, though.
The first time I met her she asked me a different question. She wanted to know if I'd read the bible, because I walked into the lunchroom while she was having a discussion about it with someone else. I informed her that yes, I had read it twice. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, because that must mean that I'm a believer. She seemed rather put out when I told her that I'd also studied the Vedas, Tao Te Ching, some Buddhist philosophies, along with a lot of "pagan" mythologies in my search for Truth. Jesus of Nazareth was a great guy with a lot of good things to say, as was Siddhartha. "Good guys," I told her. God's too big for one book. This isn't the point of my story, though...
Last week she pops her head up over the top of my cube and asks if she can practice her presentation on me. Her church is very big into congregants speaking, not just the pastor, and actively spreading the Good News. I'm pretty sure I know what's coming and agree to listen.
"So you look around the world that God created and see that everyone is hurting... yada-yada-yada. What do you think life is?"
Life is suffering, I tell her. She smiles, because I'm following where she's leading me.
"You're right! But, why do we suffer? The richest man can have almost everything but still suffers because he doesn't have something else. Everyone wants more yada-yada-yada."
Desire is the root of suffering, I reply. Now her eyes are twinkling.
"And that rich man, even if he did have everything would STILL suffer. He simply can't have everything in the world, it's not possible. yada-yada-yada. What is he really looking for?"
Spiritual fulfillment was the answer, and I gave it to her.
"So some higher power created us and we suffer so that we can search for spiritual fulfillment. What do you think?"
So I looked her in the eye and and tried not to smile as I told her that she'd just given me a pretty decent basic description of Buddhism. When her eyes went crossed I couldn't suppress the smile, though.