Growing up in the 1950s my family went to a United church. Back in those days our social life revolved around the church and its activities. My grandfather was the church caretaker and all my immediate family and extended family attended. Even though I was about four, I have a few very strong memories about being in church. The smell of the wood, Sunday school, singing the doxology and Mr. Ross who used to give me peppermints.
I stopped going to church when I started high school, for the obvious teenage reasons: don’t want to, you can’t make me go, too much homework, none of my friends go, it’s not cool, etc. I didn’t feel it did anything for me at all. Sometimes I’d go at Christmas or at Easter, but it was mainly to make my parents happy, not for my own benefit.
Then a couple of years ago, two events started to gradually put my life into a new perspective.
The first was when my father-in-law died on Easter Sunday. He was very involved in his church and as a younger and middle-aged man he did missionary work in South America. He was an amazing man who made an incredible impact not only on my life, but also on those around him. He not only talked the talk, he walked the walk of being a good Christian. I felt that his death on this very special day was definitely not a coincidence. There was someone else’s hand involved in taking him on Easter Sunday. This thought has stayed with me and I think about it often.
Then my path crossed with someone who told me about a movie which had impacted him dramatically. It’s called Fireproof starring the Christian actor, Kirk Cameron. It tells the story of a troubled marriage that is saved when the couple discovers a book called The Love Dare. The book contains the basic principles of how to treat each other, how to respect each other and more importantly about unconditional love. It’s about their journey to faith and how they accepted Jesus as their Saviour, and how his unconditional love and forgiveness saved their marriage. The principles laid out in this book were so basic and so simple, it was right in front of me the whole time … how could I possibly have not seen it before?
I now believe there are no coincidences. God already has your road map planned out. He closes doors, opens windows, and puts the right people in your path at the right time in order to guide you.
The people I knew who went to church and had faith had something extra in their lives. Their marriages seemed more solid, their lives seemed more fulfilled, more whole. I saw family members and close friends going through difficult times draw on the strength of their faith. It was like someone always had their back; they always had someone to lean on.
I started to think that maybe I needed that extra something in my life. I thought maybe I should try going back to church. I didn’t tell my dad I was coming and wasn’t even sure he would be there the first Sunday I came in. He was … and I will never forget the look on his face. It went from incredible disbelief to being absolutely lit up with joy. Being at church with my dad is probably one of the best things I’ve done.
I can’t say that it is an easy path to follow. Then there are those days when I drive to work along Lakeshore Road and I see the sun rise over the lake, or ducks in flight, or the way the sun is reflecting through the clouds, and I take the few minutes to pull my car over and enjoy it and give thanks.
I took an introduction to Christianity course and one of the participants said something which struck me: “Being a Christian is more than just being a good person, you have to read and speak the word.” I always thought I wasn’t doing too badly as a good person, or I try hard to be one. But then I realized I needed to do more, so I went out and bought my first Bible and started to read.
I’m a work in progress. I’m still trying to find my way. It’s easy to talk the talk, but not walk the walk. So I try to be diligent about reading the scriptures, I try to always be mindful of my words and actions and putting others first. Some days I’m good at it and some maybe not quite so good. But I think as long as I keep putting one foot in front of the other I will eventually get there, especially surrounded by people like you.
