As last shared (The Big Crutch in the Sky), I actually managed to have a spiritual discussion with friends -- not an easy or comfortable thing. And it wasn't very satisfying, since my arguments didn't seem nearly as powerful as my conviction that God is real. God's existence just can't be rationally explained -- if it could, then all rational people would believe in God and faith would be unnecessary. Believing in God would be like believing in gravity.
Fortunately, changes in people's hearts don't depend on human arguments. Case in point: one of my friends who was following the discussion told me several days later that she discussed the conversation with her husband and that they are interested in attending church. THANK YOU, HOLY SPIRIT! Whew, I'm glad it's not up to me -- too stressful.
Someday I'll ask her (if I get up the nerve again) what exactly she and her husband discussed. After all, some arguments that I didn't mention in the last entry were quite secular. For example, a parent might want to consider sending his/her child to church because:
1. Great literature is full of Biblical references, and you aren't going to learn the stories, names, etc. in public school, where it's considered too controversial
2. Where else is a very young child exposed to such abstract thinking? My preschool-aged son is learning the concepts of allegories and allusions at a young age and is thinking about matters beyond the alphabet, number, and waiting his turn (eg, mortality, faith).
Hopefully, these weren't the arguments that convinced her. I suppose they could get someone in the door though. Added to this could be the moral grounding issue, though I hate to argue that, since morality should be a response to faith rather than an empty practice (something that you just do because God or your mom says so).
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