Entertaining angels

Rod Dreher has an interesting post (to me, anyway) up on his blog on the notion of entertaining angels. He relates a conversation he had earlier today with one of his parents' neighbors in Louisiana:

"There wasn't a soul to be seen anywhere," he said. "No trees, nothing, as far as they eye could see. I was all alone, eating my lunch. Suddenly, a man was standing behind me, and asked, 'Buddy, do you have something to eat?' I said sure, and gave him a sandwich and fruit. I asked him if he needed a ride somewhere, and he said no, he didn't need a ride. I turned and packed my things, and when I lifted my head, he was gone. I have no idea where he went. There were no other cars there, and no forest, no nothing.

"Ever since then," the neighbor continued, "whenever anybody asks me for money, I don't turn them down, no matter what. You never know. The Bible says sometimes we entertain angels unawares."

Anything like that ever happened to you? Me, no.

Maybe he hasn't, but I have, and it's probably time I set it down in writing and got it out in public. Some of my more secular friends may think I've gone off the edge, or turned into some kind of religious nut, but sometimes you have to stand up and say what you believe.

Here's the comment I left on Rod's blog (posted under my baptismal name, Lazarus). Make of it what you will:

Yes, I have had a similar experience, which led directly to my conversion to Orthodox Christianity.

For some time, I had been struggling with the decision to leave a religious group which I had joined several years earlier. I won't belabor the details, but there were several things troubling to me, and I had begun to seriously consider returning to Christianity.

On July 27, 2006, I had just returned from vacation, and had a few extra dollars left over in my pocket. I was out doing a bit of shopping, and was about to return home when I noticed a gray-haired woman of unusual dignity, dressed entirely in black, who was holding up a sign asking for money. She was standing at a side entrance to the shopping center where I was, at an almost unused exit. Her head was down, as if she was deeply ashamed to be begging, in contrast to the usual panhandlers that tend to congregate at the main entrance. She did not have the disheveled look of so many homeless, and she seemed rather out-of-place.

I sat there in my car for some time, watching as car after car drove past her. There was something compelling about her, a sense of a power that belied her apparent helplessness. At that moment, I heard a voice in my head that quoted something from the scriptures of the group I was struggling with leaving: "the most despised of men before God is he who sits and begs."

At that moment, I knew I was no longer a member of that group. My God does not despise anyone; my God is a God of infinite love and mercy. The decision whether to act was no longer mine; as if by someone else's volition, I started the car, drove over and handed her a $20 bill. She fixed me with a peculiarly direct look, smiling and saying, "God bless you," and I returned the sentiment. When, just a few moments later, I turned around to look at her again, she had vanished, seemingly into thin air, as if she had never existed. There is no way she could have walked or run that fast, and there was no vehicle anywhere near her.

I am convinced I had an encounter with an angel or a saint. I will not be at all surprised if someday I see her in an icon.

The Book of Mammon: The Evolution of Mormon Belief and Practice

Regular readers of this blog (advt) know that although I am an Orthodox Christian, I have a longstanding and ongoing interest in Mormon history, the organization of the Mormon Church, and the evolution of its beliefs and practices. Well, I just finished listening to a four-part podcast interview that hits all the right spots for me: an extended conversation with an LDS anthropologist who worked at church headquarters and wrote a book about his experiences.

It's a part of the Mormon Stories podcast series, started by John Dehlin. It's neither pro- nor anti-LDS, just an honest appraisal of how things have evolved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I highly recommend it. Find it here:

149-152: LDS Anthropologist Daymon Smith on Post-Manifesto Polygamy, Correlation, the Corporate LDS Church, and Mammon

Why nobody in his (or her) right mind would want to be President

Consider the following two items:

1. President Obama's approval ratings have declined, in part because of the Gulf oil spill. Everybody expects him to do something, but I have yet to hear anybody say exactly what he can do to plug the hole and put everything back the way it was. Obviously, there's nothing the President (any President) can do in a situation like this, but everybody wants him to be Daddy and fix it. (For the record, I think Bush the Younger got something of a raw deal with Hurricane Katrina, too. He just happened to be the lucky one in office when decades of bad federal decisions met the hurricane from hell.)

2. According to this story in the Los Angeles Times, his ratings in the Muslim world have declined, apparently because of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The fact that this conflict has been raging since at least 1947, has roots going back many years before that, and has defied the efforts of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II to somehow solve it is, apparently, irrelevant.

It's extremely unlikely that anybody will ever attempt to get me to run for President, but given the above, were someone to try, I think I'd run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Frankly, I wouldn't blame the President if he sometimes thinks he should have remained a senator. You only have to run every six years, you can serve for life if you can manage to get re-elected, and you get to be the one sniping instead of the one being sniped at.

Internet Explorer users: If you have the Google Chrome Frame extension installed, you can view the wave embedded below here.

Continued light posting

Just a quick note to let everybody know that this week will probably be somewhat sparse in terms of posting, whether on my blog, on Twitter, or on Buzz. The office is still very much in recovery mode following last week's pipe break—we still have holes in the drywall—and I've been assigned additional duties with another work group as well. It's good to have a job, and it's great to add a bit of variety to the daily routine, but it's not conducive to posting online. Additionally, my daily Wave postings are going on indefinite hiatus as I dial back my online presence to accommodate real life.

So, everybody play nicely, and I'll see you when I come up for air.

AT&T misses me

Dear AT&T,

I got your email saying that you missed me. Sadly, the feeling is not mutual. I've moved on; I've been seeing Verizon lately, and I have to say the connection has been incredible. 

I'd say it's not you, but I'd be lying. It is you. Your DSL is inconsistent at best, and your mobile coverage in my area is sadly lacking. We'll still be seeing each other at home, since there's no one else available there, but that's where the relationship ends. When I'm out and about, I'll be with Verizon. Don't embarrass both of us by making a scene. It won't change anything. I'm just not that into you.

Best,

Larry

Internet Explorer users: If you have the Google Chrome Frame plugin installed, the embedded wave below can be accessed at https://wave.google.com/wave/waveref/googlewave.com/w+LmD-KrZkOtQ.

God must be a Texan...

...because from the looks of this simulation, the Gulf oil spill will be carried eastward, sparing the Texas coast. But apparently He looks upon the East Coast and Europe with less favor:



Lord, y'all have mercy...

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