So today as I was walking to the store I was thinking about death. Not in any morbid sense, just the "What would I do if I knew I had one week to live" train of thought. What would I likely be thinking, what would I want to tell the people I know , would I try to leave some sort of legacy behind etc. Just running through different scenarios, which I do pretty much everyday with differing subject matters. On the way home I was waiting for the light to change and an old man walked towards me (ignoring the do not walk light, and making no effort to see if any cars we're coming) when he got to my my side of the street he stopped me. He spoke in a very quiet (I had to lean closer to hear) and soft voice and had very wide and somewhat vacant (but not to the point of lobotomy) eyes. He seemed perfectly harmless but still gave off a bit of the I'm a fucked up weirdo vibe man: Can I ask you a question?
me: Sure
man: Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
me: Yeah (I do believe he existed, my only questions are what actually happened when he was here)
man: Were you baptized in water?
me: No
man: Jesus Christ said that if you we're baptized you will be saved and if not you will be condemned. Do you have a church?
me: No
man: Do you read the bible at home?
me: Yes ( I found a bible in the garbage and I read it occasionally)
man: That's good, I recommend the gospel of John. You have a good day
me: You too
This returned me to my previous line of thinking. When I was running through all the possibilities of my final days religion played absolutely no role. It didn't enter the equation in the slightest, and now a complete stranger basically says that if I continue on the path I'm on I WILL BE CONDEMNED. Some people would take his words as a direct message from God. The strange thing is there have been several such occasions in my life that seem to blatantly say that Christianity is the clear cut true faith. I will give you examples:
1. A few years ago some friends and I crashed a party after the bars closed. At the party there was a potato canon (a thing that you jam a potato into, seal it up spray a bunch of flammable liquid into it and pull the BBQ lighter trigger which launches the potato out of the top) Some of my friends are loading this thing up and firing potatoes out the window. After a few shots a friend (in his drunken state) aims the gun at a church window (just across the river) after pulling the trigger the gun explodes and a piece of it flies up and smashes him in the face splitting his eyebrow open requiring several stitches.
POSSIBLE MESSAGE: Fuck with a church and feel the wrath of God
2. While working at a video store I came across a $20 bill that had some bible verse written on it with a message to the effect of if you write this on 5 bills you will be rewarded with a gift of money. I did it for the hell of it and within 1 week I found $20 on the ground.
POSSIBLE MESSAGE: Follow scripture and you will be rewarded
3. This past summer after some warehouse party got busted by the cops my friends and I were hanging out on the stairs of a church across the street. There was a Virgin Mary statue on the lawn that my extremely drunk youngest brother started molesting and generally acting inappropriate with. Within 5 minutes while attempting to jump over the waist high fence surrounding the church he slipped and impaled the top of his leg, resulting in a deep gash that went all the way to the muscle. We had to call an ambulance and then we met him at the hospital. While in the waiting room I noticed that the lady sitting in front of us (the only other person in the waiting room... it was 5am) was reading a religious book. The title had something to do with Mother Mary (I can't remember the title...it was 5am) He got stitches and was unable to walk properly for 2 weeks.
POSSIBLE MESSAGE: Disrespect the Virgin Mary and feel the wrath of God.
So can all these things just be chalked up to random coincidences? Sure but I'm the type of person that doesn't really believe in coincidences and at the same time I'm unconvinced. Is Jesus looking at me yelling "What more do I need to do?". Maybe he is. If he shows up in person I'll probably convert.
I also want to note that none of the other religions are sending me any messages (but that could be because I live in a Christian dominated society)