But Mom didn't get that far. As far as she ever knew, religion was a great meaningless jumble. She quoted Karl Marx to me who said religion is the opiate of the masses. Mom rejected the supernatural claims and never attended church.
All this took me to a position: religion was complex, potentially dangerous, and likely logically flawed. And best avoided until the proper time and energy was spent to choose wisely. In the summer between sixth and seventh grade, I plotted out a trajectory for my life: go to an elite college and find the best paying career path. It seemed clear at that time that a career path in engineering was the best way to execute this plan, so that is where the goal was set.
At MIT as a freshman, I was approached by two students from Campus Crusade. Their pitch was simple. They showed me two drawings, one of a life with goals and plans scattered randomly about and a confused soul at the center trying to manage it all. The other had the shining figure of Christ in the middle and all other goals and plans flowed through that center. The soul remained focused on Jesus and was a piece I was asked what picture represented my life and I said, “The first.” They asked wouldn’t I like a life like the second picture. I answered that I did not have the ability to deal with the issue though. I moved through my life in college with very little spiritual incident, and then into work in Cincinnati.
My wife and I had said we're interested in church but had never moved to pick one. Then one day she started looking at Saturday's newspaper where they listed church services for the weekend, and we went to the Vineyard for the first time that next weekend. it was May 1, 1999. I was moved to tears by the worship for reasons I could not understand. We ended up joining a small group, which answered many questions about legalism and grace and it suggested readings. One was a CS Lewis book, “Mere Christianity.” It is a book that does not shy from the hard questions. That book challenged me to commit to who Jesus is.
CS correctly states that Jesus can be only one of two things: the Lord himself incarnated in human form or a lunatic who must be wholly rejected. I chose Lord and rejected lunatic. Now I know and understand God wants me to love Him. He wants to hear my soul pray to Him. Invite Him into my most inner joys, fears, and thoughts and to praise Him for his creation of me and everything else that surrounds me. And to invite Him into my heart as my Creator, my Father, and my Friend.