Finding Strangers at the Metrolink

The Watchtower (A much more interesting one.)

One of the neat things about life in Saint Louis is having reliable public transportation within walking distance.  Just about every day, Allison and I leash up our dog Rosie for the mile or so walk to the MetroLink station.  Allison catches the train to work and I return home to continue work on my dissertation, while Rosie carries out the vital task of reading her peemail, sniffing every spot another dog might have been, and leaving her own comments on their blogs.

One sunny morning about a month or so ago, Rosie and I had just dropped off Allison at the MetroLink. Rosie was waiting patiently while I fumbled with my iPod, finding just the right thing to listen to.  It might have been Credence, might have been post-Credence Fogerty, or it might have been the Wilders--be sure and catch them if they happen to be in your area!  Whatever it was, I did not get much of a chance to listen before two people approached, wanting to ask me about something.  I pulled out my earbuds and fully expected to answer yet another person's question about where they might find the local polling station.  (I suppose it would be somewhere near the large "vote here" sign?) 

As it turned out, the two were not lost at all, but were a couple of Jehovah's witnesses, who were serving out their morning's mission to find lost souls.  Apparently, I was one of them.  There are several strategies for dealing with Jehovah's witnesses.  This being an encounter on the street, the oft used approach of simply closing the door was not available.  I do not tend to use that technique anyway, preferring to return the favor instead.  If they want a conversation, then they shall have it.  I listen to their points, then analyze their implications to exhaustion.  Normally, in exchange for the copy of the Jehovah Witnesses' Watchtower, which is usually destined for recycling after a cursory read, I normally like to offer a copy of The Mennonite or Mennonite World Review for perusal, but since this was a street encounter, this was not an option.

If someone asks me if I am saved, for example, I tend to be much more interested in finding out what "being saved" means to the person asking me than I am in actually answering a question about a concept that is somewhat foreign to me to begin with.  My view of Christianity is that it is much more of a constantly evolving journey than one specific decision.

Similarly, if someone asks me if I believe Jesus is God, I cite the many hurtful, even bloody, controversies this question has led to over the years, along with some of the salient arguments of each side, before answering that I find the question to be quite beside the point.  Whether Jesus is the ultimate teacher, or whether Jesus is a manifestation of God does not do much in my mind to affect Jesus' significance.  Either argument is powerful in making Jesus The Way, at least in my mind.   

It seems that to discuss Jesus too much inevitably leads to some antisemitic remark or other about how "the Jews" lack faith--and are outside of grace--because of their rejection of Christ and obsession with rules.  Never mind that God's grace and forgiveness plays a major role in Judaism.  Never mind that in the intervening centuries, Christians have given Jews very little reason to be interested in even considering the ways of Christ through their pathetic example.  At any rate, I am too far convinced by the works of the late Rabbi Michael Signer, Amy-Jill Levine, Mary Boys and others to have much understanding or patience for the idea that Jews are somehow less faithful or favorable in the eyes of God than Christians. As a side note, it is interesting that the "Jewish obsession with rules" argument often comes not long after condemnations of homosexuality...

"The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways"

On this particular occasion, the major questions focused around the various "myths" that are apparently circulating about God.  (Of course, some out there might point out that the whole concept of God is a myth of its own, but this dispute is quite irresolvable, with all arguments ultimately dependent on belief in God or lack thereof.)  In fact, the entire issue of Watchtower that they gave me seemed obsessed with debunking myths about God; first and foremost, the "myth" that God's ways are mysterious.  God cannot be a mystery, they argued, because the Bible "God wrote" was clearly designed to bring us into an understanding God.  Never mind that God transcends time and space, that God's power and wisdom are infinite.  Never mind that God is manifest everywhere, or that God cares and finds uses for everybody without boundaries, even for those who I find to be utterly useless and detestable.  Upon closer analysis, this "myth" of God's mystery is not really a myth at all, at least not if we are to understand "mystery" as being something beyond our normal abilities of comprehension.  In fact, many of the other "myths" in this particular issue of Watchtower seemed to be much more nitpicking based on very narrow definitions--and the accompanying snippet of scripture--rather than anything that could be seen as a comprehensive explanation.

This sort of analytical thinking does not seem to mesh well with the quick, clear cut sort of answers that Jehovah's Witnesses tend to expect.  As usually happens when these conversations get deeper, the Witnesses decided that they had better things to do with their time.  I quite agree, as I am sure do the many whose doors they knock on any given Saturday.  At any rate, Rosie has more peemail to read, more blogs to comment on.