The struggle with a virtuous atheist [View all]

[rug]

Saturday, October 19, 2013 6:30 am
Dr. Mark Ross/Columnist
Dr. Mark Ross is the pastor of Marion Baptist Church.

I did not like her the first time I met her. I could blame it on her attitude or the way she looked or acted. Yet, the truth is I disliked her because she had once embarrassed me.

She was the neighbor to a man who had just died. I had been called to his home by his family. When there is a death, there are necessary calls to be made. The authorities, the funeral home, appropriate family and friends are a few of those calls. Usually, someone thinks to call the minister.

At the home, I spoke with the deceased man’s immediate family and this neighbor. We discussed funeral arrangements and the early details. Then I did what I always do at a time like that. I asked everyone to join me in prayer. As if on cue, everyone bowed their heads; everyone, that is, except this neighbor woman. That was awkward enough, but then she said, “No.” I thought I had misheard the woman or she had misunderstood me. Then she repeated it again, “No, I do not want to pray. I don’t believe in God.”

I have to confess that she rattled me and my prayer. I found myself thinking more about the atheist in the room than the dead man in the room. After the prayer, I did not know what to say to the woman. I was tempted to make some kind of rebuttal like, “You may not believe in God, but God believes in you.” Yet, everything sounded so trite in the presence of such great disbelief. Most of all, I was just embarrassed

http://www.tricities.com/swvatoday/news/editorials/article_0217f458-3840-11e3-83d8-001a4bcf6878.html

By their fruits you shall know them.