Looking for God: an Ongoing Tale - The message in the music
“Hello Mitch.” Tamara seems unusually upbeat to him as they both sit down for their weekly lunch meeting.
“Did you have a good break?” Mitch asks.
“Let's just say that it was a very interesting one.”
“Ok. I'm getting the feeling here that there is something that's making you pretty happy at the moment, and you really want me to ask you what it is so you can go on and on about it.”
“Well, yes, something did happen that I'm sure you will find very interesting.”
Mitch, mildly exasperated, but being pulled into Tamara's good cheer says, “Let me guess.
You're engaged. Who's the lucky, if that's the right word, guy?”
“Wrong. I don't even have a boyfriend.”
“Since we don't have till Christmas, how about just telling me.”
“I think I became a Christian.”
“What? What do you mean you think you became a Christian?”
“I went to a church,” Tamara answers, “after I read some new lyrics by Collective Soul.”
“A lot of people show up at a church now and then. They don't all become Christians. But wait a minute, what lyrics?”
“Here's the story. I was listening to the song Satellite. ‘Your river will flow through scenes unknown / I'll guide you through by the love I show / And I will watch over you like a satellite.' It was like the song was talking about God. And I thought, “That's what I want, a god who is interested in me and will stay with me through an unknown future.”
“And then I started thinking about all the conversations we had and how you didn't always have the best answers to my questions — no offence — but at least you were willing to listen.
“And then I visited a church on a Sunday morning.”
“O yeah, which one?” Mitch was getting more intrigued by Tamara every minute.
“It's a pretty big one here in London, Forest City Community Church on Bostwick. I confess I expected to find a lot people in need of some chilling, but it wasn't like that at all.”
“What was it like?”
“I can't describe it very well, but they were friendly, there was band that played a song by Chad Kroeger and there was some drama, you know, a play. I thought the speaking part was going to bore me, but that didn't happen at all. I met a lot of twenty-somethings at the coffee bar in the reception area afterwards. And when I left, I realized that I want to come back and find out everything I can about being a Christian. It's a feeling I can't really describe all the way.”
Mitch doesn't say anything.
“So,” Tamara asks, “does all that make me a Christian? I mean, I feel like that's where I am now.”
Continued next week
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
“Did you have a good break?” Mitch asks.
“Let's just say that it was a very interesting one.”
“Ok. I'm getting the feeling here that there is something that's making you pretty happy at the moment, and you really want me to ask you what it is so you can go on and on about it.”
“Well, yes, something did happen that I'm sure you will find very interesting.”
Mitch, mildly exasperated, but being pulled into Tamara's good cheer says, “Let me guess.
You're engaged. Who's the lucky, if that's the right word, guy?”
“Wrong. I don't even have a boyfriend.”
“Since we don't have till Christmas, how about just telling me.”
“I think I became a Christian.”
“What? What do you mean you think you became a Christian?”
“I went to a church,” Tamara answers, “after I read some new lyrics by Collective Soul.”
“A lot of people show up at a church now and then. They don't all become Christians. But wait a minute, what lyrics?”
“Here's the story. I was listening to the song Satellite. ‘Your river will flow through scenes unknown / I'll guide you through by the love I show / And I will watch over you like a satellite.' It was like the song was talking about God. And I thought, “That's what I want, a god who is interested in me and will stay with me through an unknown future.”
“And then I started thinking about all the conversations we had and how you didn't always have the best answers to my questions — no offence — but at least you were willing to listen.
“And then I visited a church on a Sunday morning.”
“O yeah, which one?” Mitch was getting more intrigued by Tamara every minute.
“It's a pretty big one here in London, Forest City Community Church on Bostwick. I confess I expected to find a lot people in need of some chilling, but it wasn't like that at all.”
“What was it like?”
“I can't describe it very well, but they were friendly, there was band that played a song by Chad Kroeger and there was some drama, you know, a play. I thought the speaking part was going to bore me, but that didn't happen at all. I met a lot of twenty-somethings at the coffee bar in the reception area afterwards. And when I left, I realized that I want to come back and find out everything I can about being a Christian. It's a feeling I can't really describe all the way.”
Mitch doesn't say anything.
“So,” Tamara asks, “does all that make me a Christian? I mean, I feel like that's where I am now.”
Continued next week
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
