An Unexpected Spiritual/Emotional Experience

-Chapter 1-


I think I have clarified my stand when it comes to the topic of 'Religion' on older posts/entries.

I tend to look at things rather objectively than emotionally, or whetever other-ly for that matter, and I tend to question things that I'm supposed to just accept (telan bulat-bulat).

For example:
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I rolled my eyes (I made sure no one was looking) when I was at a family reunion and my uncles were explaining about Adam & Eve to my young cousins (the kids being what they are ask endless questions about nearly everything...which is a good thing - curiosity kills the cat, but kids are not cats haha..)

I rolled my eyes when the uncles said with certainty "Oh manusia zaman dulu besar! Tinggi 40 hasta macam pokok kelapa, dada lebar macam rumah"
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Maybe this is written in the Quran or some other important books written by some scholar, I'm not sure (is it?). But whatever the source is, I simply find it hard to believe that humans were once huge like that! (the possibility is there albeit very very small, no archaeologists have ever dug up giant human bones/fossils) And so I decline to give explanations like the ones given by my uncles whenever the kids ask me the same questions.

If I were to ever give explanations about the origins of human beings to the kids I'd always say "According to...... it's like this and according to...... it's like this. So we don't really know forsure"

Since I disagree with the simple explanation of the size of our ancestors, don't even get me started on the explanation that they were originally made of clay...


-Chapter 2-

Last night, after being repeatedly asked/begged to join in(teman) by the same bunch of kids, I watched Evan Almighty.

It's a very funny movie (watching it with a bunch of kids made it a lot funnier) and I'd recommend it to you if you haven't seen it.

Halfway through the movie, came a scene that is, in my opinion, amazingly touching as it is inspiring.

This scene takes place right after Evan's wife left him following his seemingly illogical/nutty confession that God has commanded him to build an Ark. His wife took the children along and on the way back to her mother's (I presume) they stopped by at a diner to eat.

Lo and behold, there at the diner, God appeared unto her looking like Morgan Freeman and offered her words of consolation.

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God: Excuse me. Are you alright?

Joan: Yeah. (God looks at her unconvinced) No. It’s a long story.

God: Well, I like stories. I’m considered a bit of a storyteller myself.

Joan: My husband… Have you heard of New York’s Noah?

God:(Chuckling) The guy who’s building the ark.

Joan: That’s him.

God: I love that story, Noah and the Ark. You know, a lot of people miss the point of that story. They think it’s about God’s wrath and anger. They love it when God gets angry.

Joan: What is the story about, then? The ark?

God: Well, I think it’s a love story about believing in each other. You know, the animals showed up in pairs. They stood by each other, side by side, just like Noah and his family. Everybody entered the ark side by side.

Joan: But my husband says God told him to do it. What do you do with that?

God: Sounds like an opportunity...
...
...
...

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?

If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage,
or does he give him opportunities to be courageous?

If someone prayed for the family to be closer,
do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings,
or does he give them opportunities to love each other?
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And there I sat, slightly behind the laughing kids, and I could swear I felt tears welling up.