Not What or How Much but WHO! - pt 2

For as long as I can remember, I have felt a closeness to God.  I was raised in a strong and devout Catholic home, attended two Parochial Schools for all but one of my elementary years, served diligently as an Altar Boy and received all the Sacraments of the church through the rite of Confirmation as a teenager.  And then a funny thing happened on my way through life… I met a special and unique young lady who would soon become my best friend and later on, my wife.

I quickly came to learn that she attended a Baptist church, and for all right and purposes, I should have been very cautious about any unlikely conversation that steered itself toward religion…  For as my dear Dad always joked throughout my childhood, anyone who went to a church other than the Catholic church was known as a “Pro-test-ant”… protesting against the belief’s, practices and liturgy of the Catholic Church!  But what turned out to be a big surprise for me, was that we tended to talk A LOT about our individual Christian beliefs… and instead of scaring me off… it intrigued me!

I had never heard anyone talk about God… much less Jesus Christ in such familiar terms.  I’m sure that I mentioned in previous blog posts, that from what I saw and heard in Parochial school and during church services, Jesus was a sort of a “Mystery Man” to me.  His name wasn’t mentioned a lot and when it was, it was followed by the nun or priest making the sign of the cross or genuflecting in great reverence. 

I always remember going into the sanctuary at St Eugene's Cathedral one weekday afternoon and seeing a man I knew to be the father of one of the students in my class, kneeling at one of the side altars, with his arms extended straight out to his sides (like Jesus on the cross) and praying earnestly.  I remember thinking how uncomfortable that had to be and that it must be some kind of sacrificial prayer or indulgence for a deceased loved one that he was making to God.  I wasn’t exactly sure why… but it just didn’t look or feel right to me.  To me… it looked like he was begging God for answers.

When my girlfriend talked about Jesus, she did it with a smile on her face and joy in her voice… In some respects (don’t take this wrong), it was similar to the way she came to talk about me.  It was with an expression of, like I said earlier, close and loving familiarity, respect and honor… it was like they were not just friends… but Best Friends!  Yet a close friend of whom she had the utmost respect and honor for.

When she prayed she spoke in normal everyday conversational terms.  When she asked the blessing over the meal it was like she was talking to a friendly benefactor.  When we prayed over our meals at home, it was a traditional Catholic prayer taken from a book of prayers that we might occasionally add a line to if it were at a special event or if a special guest was present.  And in a public restaurant, we always prayed a silent prayer over our food… but not Piper!  She’d grab my hand, bow her head and softly ask the blessing… I have to admit though, that for some reason, I thought that was pretty cool, so I adapted to her bold tradition very quickly!

The more we talked about our individual views on faith, the more I wanted… or maybe even NEEDED, to understand what she possessed that I didn’t.  She seemed so confident when she went to pray over request.  For me it was always kind of a grab bag.  I never really knew how to pray.  I didn’t know if God was actually going answer me or not, if He really cared about my day-to-day life, or just the big events. 

The examples I had been taught seemed to involve almost begging God, paying to light a candle in the church foyer, promises to give up things in order to get God to move on my behalf, and/or to pray all kinds of prayers of repentance for any misdeeds.  Prayer for Piper on the other hand, was an inviting and spontaneous event.  It was almost as though she looked forward to it… which she did!

My understanding didn’t come quickly, but we sure did talk a lot about it!  I’m pretty sure that I wore a pathway into the hall carpeting in our home as I would walk up and down for hours at a time… almost every night from the kitchen where the wall phone was mounted, to the door to my bedroom, or as far as the 25ft extension cord would allow me!  My Mom would kid me about how their once coiled phone cord lost its coil and hung straight down and touched the kitchen floor!

By the time we graduated high school, I had begun to regularly attend Piper’s mid-week Youth Group meetings and more than just occasionally on Sunday mornings!  By the time we entered Junior College, we were leading the College-Career Group, which Piper had suggested that we rename “Faith Action!” …and everyone agreed!

By then, I was totally in… hook, line and sinker!  I enjoyed everything we did with the church group, and of course with Piper, and was beginning to realize that there was a lot more to being a Christian than I had ever known.  But to be totally honest… things didn’t really begin to hit home with me… personally… until a few years later when Piper and I were engaged, had spent some time at Chico State University and began to plan our wedding in earnest… but that will be for another blog post!

Stayed tuned to follow my journey of understanding as I began to realize that it is not What you know or How Much you know... but WHO you know!

...and speaking of Who you know... Today would have been Piper's 68th Birthday!  So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sweetie!  I hope that you're having a fun party in heaven and... have a slice of cake for me!