I [heart] God

Now that it's getting closer to my time to leave for "God school," as my co-worker, Vinnie, now so affectionately calls seminary, conversations more regularly turn to religion and philosophy. Given that I am a White, I tend to have a more passive role in these conversations than I should, but it's interesting to see how sophisticated a view of the Bible some of my co-workers have.

Ross is probably the most eloquent. He has attended church his entire life and still considers himself a good Methodist boy. On Friday, during a discussion of religious texts, Ross brought up Noah's flood. He noted the likelihood that the account was actually narrating a very large localized flood or that it was simply allegorical.

Of course, being Ms. Bible Major, I had heard various theories of Noah's flood, and presently subscribe to the localized flood theory. (Call me a liberal if you must...) Anyway, it felt strange to hear someone talk so freely about something that was "mine."

Yes, that's weird.

Theories of Noah's flood are probably much more commonly accepted than I know, but somewhere deep inside me, I lost a little bit of my sense of being special when he brought the topic up in casual conversation. Egotistically enough, I like to know things that other people don't know. Now that I'm an adult, I'm beginning to realize that other people know stuff. What's worse, other people know the stuff I know...

Worst nightmare come true!

My reaction to Ross's knowledge led me to contemplate my reluctance to "evangelize." I don't like to discuss religion at all with people who don't at least share my basic beliefs because it's such a contentious topic and I avoid or withdraw from conflict. Obviously, this attitude doesn't give me a good jumping off point for telling people about Jesus.

Ahhh...the conflict of personality and moral responsibility.