In my first blog, I gave a brief history of my political life, but the picture wouldn't really be complete without a spiritual history. So, since we're starting in the 60's, it was "a long and winding road".
From an Illinois farm boy, raised in the heartland and in the Methodist church, life at Knox college in the late '60s was a tumultuous time. It was not a time when anyone seemed to have faith in anything. Time magazine ran the famous "God is Dead" cover, and we didn't trust in God or anyone over 30. Many of my professors encouraged skepticism in matters of faith, and even the campus minister for the Methodist church was more concerned about protesting the Vietnam war than encouraging the students to have faith. So by my senior year, I was pretty much a man of the times; without faith, skeptical and rebellious.
So what happened? Well in word, God happened, in the persona of Steve Harris. Those of you from Knox will remember Steve as the only visible Christian on campus during that time. We were both selected to go the the Argonne semester our senior year, and even one of my professors warned me about spending too much time with Steve. I assured him there would be no problems, but I was wrong.
One day in the lab, Steve asked me if I wanted to go get lunch. It seemed harmless, and I was hungry, so we trudged over to the dorm area to get some lunch. In casual conversation over lunch, Steve asked me if I believed in God. I told him that I didn't think so, any more. Then he asked if I considered myself a scientist. Well, being in one of the worlds premier high energy physics labs, the answer to that was obvious! So then he said, "If you believe in the scientific method, then why not do an experiment. Ask God to prove He exists. If he answers, you have learned something valuable, if if not, what have you lost?" I found it hard to argue with that so I gave a grudging assent and we went back to work in the lab.
Later that night, I was pondering how you could possibly test God experimentally. I decided to take a walk through the woods to clear my mind. (Argonne is in them midst of a large forest preserve, to keep prying eyes and stray radiation from the general public.) While thinking of all this, I decided that the enterprise was foolhardy, and decided to go back to my room. As soon as I turned, the forest came alive. Ducks flew out of the reeds near a pond that I had just passed, and all the animals in the woods began to call out. I was somewhat startled, and turned back around and continued walking. The woods calmed down. After a bit, I thought to myself, that I was being melodramatic, and that nothing had really happened, so I turned again to go back. Once again, exactly the same thing happened. More birds, more animal sounds and this time I was more than a little terrified. I turned around, a believer in God, and vowed to continue to walk forward with God from that day forward.
Now from that day, the road became even more winding. I was baptized that spring (this was 1971), married my childhood sweetheart, and moved to Pittsburgh to start grad school at Carnegie-Mellon. In Pittsburgh, I was introduced to a strange breed of Christians called "Charismatic Catholics" and eventually received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. My problems were not over though. My wife left, and I had to leave CMU, and went across the street to Pitt to study Bio-Physics. I eventually met a pastor who helped me put things back together. I met my current wife in his church, and we married in 1976, then moved with Pastor Joseph to Mobile Alabama in 1978 to be part of something new there, called the Covenant Church Movement.
Through all this and subsequent events, I learned a great deal about following Jesus, the Bible, and hearing the Holy Spirit. We have been part of a few different churches in Mobile, and are currently part of the leadership of Gulf Coast Christian Center, which is a multicultural, urban church, with ministry throughout the region and in many parts of the world. I am on the worship team (still playing trombone and bass guitar after all these years!) and am a Bible teacher and missions department coordinator for the congregation.
Well, that's the short version of my "long and winding road". The Lord has been good to me and I've been to places that I never imagined I would go and have met people and made friends from many of the nations of the world. So if my ideas seem a bit different, just consider the road I've been on....
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