The Book That Changed My Life

We all have one... 

The book that turned our world upside down and made everything, well different!  For many of us this happened during the formative years of college. This was certainly the case for me.  At 21 years old, I found myself in one of the most conservative Christian liberal arts colleges in the country, Hope College, home of the Dutchmen.  As a religion major I was required to take one course in World Religions (how embarrassing is that, only one!)  

People had warned me that class was dangerous, some people apparently started to question their TRUE Christian faith from taking that class...

The last day of the semester, Boyd Wilson, the wonderful professor of this class, read us this excerpt, from Diana Eck's book, Encountering God. Now this was after, months of honest, sincere inquiry into not only the world's religions, but also those religions followers. I was so deeply moved by this class, but the impact hadn't hit me until he read us these words...

"In Chaim Potok's novel, The Book of Lights, a young rabbi from Brooklyn, on leave from his post in Korea during the Korean War, travels for the first time in Japan. 

"One afternoon he stands with a Jewish friend before what happens to be a Shinto shrine with a clear mirror in the sanctum or perhaps a Buddhist shrine with an image of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. We are not told which, and really it does not matter. 

"The altar is lit by the soft light of a tall lamp. Sunlight streams in the door. The two young men observe with fascination a man standing before the altar, his hands pressed together before him, his eyes closed.  He is rocking slightly. He is clearly engaged in what we would call prayer. The rabbi turns to his companion and says,

"Do you think our God is listening to him, John?"

"I don't know chappy. I never thought of it."

"Neither did I until now. If He's not listening, why not? If He is listening, then--well, what are we all about, John?"

Now my memory was that my professor closed the book there and wished us all a good summer.  (Upon discussing this with him recently, he said their was quite a bit more lecture to go on that last day, but apparently this is where my mind was full and stopped retaining what was happening.)

So he might as well closed the book right there.  I remember stumbling out into the daylight in totally confusion.

If He's not listening, why not? and if He is, well then what are we all about...

The book and the question that changed my life.

25 Things You Would Probably Rather Not Know About Me

Feels like the height of egotism, but I do love to experience the heights!  There is that facebook thing going around, 25 Things about yourself...

Yeah, I did it.

Here it is.

1. I am doing this because Brad threatened to do it for me, and truth be told, that terrified me.

2. I am sorta afraid I will forget people who previously tagged me in their note, and I will spend more time worrying about it, and focusing on the fear of potentially hurting anyone's feelings, than I would like to admit.

3. Therapy is one of my favorite things (thinking i might need more after writing #2) If i could afford it I would spend all my time paying people to discuss my neuroses.

4. About 5 years ago, my mom offered to bring me some hamburger patties that a woman at work was selling from her farm. She said everyone said they tasted really fresh. I said, fresh? What does that even mean? They taste like the cow? They taste like the cow eating grass? I passed on the patties, started a meat avoidance phase, and now 5 years later own up to being a vegetarian.

5. I went through two meat avoidance phases as a kid, but always bounced back.

6. As a kid I thought a mistake had been made and i was supposed to be born black. I watched tons of movies on civil rights movement, and tried to memorize MLK's I have a dream speech, to correct the mistake.

7. Ironically, my home town was home to Malcolm X at one time, and he said it was the most racist town he ever lived in.

8. I'm an only child.

9. I tend to be both cynical and deeply idealistic to my core.

10. About now i am thinking i should have done the list of 16 rather than 25 things.

11. I am a scorpio and Enneagram #4. 

12. I LOVE change and resist it more than anyone i know.

13. I just received an email from Brad with his first suggestion: I have not sat under my desk and cried yet today: TRUE! 

14. You really don't know me if you haven't seen me cry, i have no shame with sharing the tears.

15. My iPhone: I love my iPhone, I love my MacBook, I love everything Steve Jobs has ever touched.

16. I once touched Tiger Woods. I was sure with that one touch our eyes would lock and he would realize I was his one true love. I was 17 at the time. (I somehow still believe those insane fantasies of mine!)

17. I have a dream of being discovered, not sure doing what, but discovered all the same!

18. I am a yoga instructor, but i don't feel like a yoga instructor, it is something i do once a week more so than something that feels like it defines me.

19. I love cable news and dream of spending a day with Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, the late Tim Russert, Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, and Doris Kearns Goodwin. 

20. During the election I had multiple dreams about Barack Obama, he was usually seeking my advice on something, and dreamt of Robert Gibbs (his communications manager and now White House Press Secretary) on at least two occasions.

21. Some of my favorite people in my life are the ones who incessantly make fun of me. I think it is making up for the brothers i never had.

22. I am extremely sensitive to things around me. People's moods, body language, energy between people, lighting in a room, smells, sounds, all is very clear and unavoidable to me. Sometimes feels like i am watching the special features on a DVD and feel bad that most around me are missing the subtleties. 

23. I have been to an intuitive reader twice, loved it, and have a strong intuition myself.

24. My brain is quick, and it is hard for me not to finish people's sentences, to cut people off and move on to next point and I do it a lot while watching tv or movies i have never seen. I am trying to learn the art of patience.

25. My life was changed by taking Boyd Wilson's World Religions class at Hope College and through reading Harvard Pluralist Scholar, Diana Eck's book Encountering God. I owe so much to the two of them!