Jesus and me: to live for the King (3)
In other words, these people seem unable to ascribe a conversion to the ongoing, time-consuming process of actually seeking a higher truth, and that the mind - as much as the heart - is massively involved in it. So, instead of making a leap of blind faith when evidence is pointing to an opposite conclusion, a person may well come to Christ after carefully considering the astounding claims Jesus made about himself, at length arriving at the conviction that he is God.
FOR MORE REASONS THAN ONE
In most cases, perhaps, the reasons people choose to follow Christ are varied, complex and even highly personal. But, as in my case, more often than not, we make the ultimate decision having spent months and years brooding things over, exploring and researching other possible ideas and philosophies before coming full circle to the faith of our ancestors.
From as far back as I can recall I was fascinated by the possibilities of extra terrestrial and ancient, extinct life forms. Dinosaurs, UFOs and galaxies were the staples of my mental diet. In my vivid imagination, which I would habitually feed an installment of Carl Sagan's "Cosmos", or "Star Trek", "Moon base Alpha" or whatever was on the TV set at the time, I would travel back to the plains where T-Rexes swarmed, and I would travel in tandem with my TV heroes to the remotest corners of the Universe. But even if Sagan as his naturalistic cronies would vigorously and with unflagging determination fight the concept of theistic evolution or creation for that matter, very early on in my life signs showed up indicating that the damage seemed to have been done already.
THE 'ALIEN' GERM
The germ that would contaminate my entire being had been sown years previously, chiefly by my maternal grandmother and grandfather. They were the ones who at intervals would bring me to church, they were the ones who would be sitting in their sofa in the afternoons reading portions of Scripture, me being the silent bystander. Funnily enough, at no point did they intrude into the process of my own quest for truth, attempting to bring me to a confession of faith in Jesus. Behind the scenes, as it were, they would interminably interceed on my behalf, that I somehow arrive at the desired conclusion on my own accord.
All these formative years, I never doubted the tenets of evolution. I loved speculating what life must have been like in pre-Cambrian times, and I relished in the images concocted by skilled artists depicting my then still developing human forebears chasing game, exchanging snorts and grunts for want of a fully developed language system. All that, and much more, I believed and clung to as a prized possession. Because, after all, how could scientists lie to me? I believed them as staunchingly and fervently as I believed in the assurances given to me by my mother that I would get a new pair of jeans once summer was through. Because I eventually got my pair of jeans, see?
FAITH - BECAUSE OF REASON
So, how could the germ of faith survive in such a hostile intellectual invironment? I never prayed for God to show up, although I was so hungry inside for something more than the cold, impersonal Cosmos where nothing dwelt except dust, and billions of infinitesmall creatures called humans, a rather attractive byproduct of an haphazard chain of events called steps of evolution. Well, perhaps, that's precisely what swayed me, finally, in the direction of embracing a will higher than my own. I wanted - more than anything else - to come across the satisfaction of knowing that which would add meaning to my life. Because being here by chance, a dismal existence with no direction or purpose, didn't quite appeal to me. Certainly, there must be more, mr. Sagan?
Rationally, the concept of a superior Intellect behind the Universe seemed reasonable enough. Consequently, once a girl of my age came along catching my attention, the scene was set for a transfer from one reality to a far greater one.
More on that soon.
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