Sharing Faith
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Dear God: All right, today’s the day. I’m going to find a way to mention you—and my relationship with you—when I see Victor. At lunch last week in the teacher’s lounge he made that casual, teasing remark about being an atheist . . . and I sat there with nothing but a resounding, silent gulp.

He’s a nice guy, and the students love him, and he’s gone out of his way to show me the ropes here at Beecher. But he’s all science, all evolution, all empirical proof—“Show me the money!”—and things like streets of gold and mansions are just a fairy-tale placebo to him. So I need a lot of your wisdom right now.

I’ve thought all weekend about it, and I think I have the words: how your fingerprints are all over the place in our world. How your word has transformed so many lives, including mine. How so many horrible injustices in our world, like the scarring sex-abuse case we endured in our school district last semester, cry out for a Deity to intervene and set it right. How much healing good God’s people do in this world (when we manage to stay out of politics).

What I’m asking from you is two things: a gracious, not-too-obviously-engineered conversation opening that will help our friendship and not smother it. And second, a sense of calm when Victor and I get into it.

I’m excited! (And, yeah, nervous.)

In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Written by David B. Smith. Used with permission. Dear God © 2011 AnswersForMe.org. Click here for content usage information