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Do you REALLY want to know? |
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Nov 4 2000:
I was thinking about the tough contentious appntmnt we had w/ that man in Rovereto yesterday. I learned a very important lesson. The man had some very tough experiences in his life and saw a lot of ugly things in the world and was just mad at God. At one point he asked us how God could let all this stuff happen. Of course that's a perfectly normal question that we hear all the time. But he said it in such a contentious and accusing way that I felt pushed to say - "Do you really want to know?" - and he said "Of course, I just asked you."
So I said - "If you really want to know we can explain to you the plan of God and why things are the way they are." He said "O.K." I felt a lot of contention so I asked if we could sing a song and say another prayer to invite the spirit again. He said "No, we don't have time - I have to go to sleep because I work tonight - just tell me the answer - if you really know it." He said "If you really had the answer, you could tell it to me in 5 seconds, that's how real truths are told - short and to the point - you can try all you want to trick me into your trap - sing, pray, dance, chant whatever, but it won't change the fact that you don't know the answer."
He proceeded to explain that he had talked for hours on end w/ priests and learned theology professors and none of them could answer him - so how could we... two young unstudied kids expect to answer the one most important question in the world?
We explained that it is true, we are not very learned in the way of the world or theology - but we bore testimony that we are called of God to bring the truth to people who really want to know. Then we asked him again if he REALLY wanted to know. He responded that he did - so I said "well, it will take about a half hour to explain it well and correctly" - he repeated his previous discourse. Finally we realized that he didn't really want to know - even if we would have explained it to him shortly - he would have ridiculed it and mis-understood it - so we didn't.
We left him saying we were sorry he didn't want to listen to the message that two of God's servants had brought him. - ("So what - now it's MY fault?") and we thanked him and left.
I learned a little bit about how God acts in regards to us through this experience. Sometimes we think all we have to do is ask Him with our words ("of course I want to know, I just asked you") When all the while the actual will to know is missing. The openness of mind and the faith that what will be presented to us could be something of great help and truth. We want it right here and right now - in "5 seconds" - when maybe it's going to take a song a prayer and a half hour presentation to present it how it needs to be presented - most of all it's going to take the will to hear and accept the answer to the question we ask.
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