I did not know until a few years ago that I was named after a local priest, and there were some hopes I would one day follow a similar path. I did, in a way–just not the way my family expected!
At fourteen, I was introverted, stoic, and desperately agnostic. I wanted to believe, but saw those who believed as hypocrites–catch early Saturday mass so they wouldn’t miss a party.
A friend changed over Christmas break that year. Always the life of the party–and if there wasn’t a party, he’d start one–he was calmer, and seemed truly happy. I just had to ask how he could be happy.
“Because Jesus loves me.”
He went on with his work. I was left dumbfounded. He had never talked about God before, and now this? I ended up going to a small Christian coffeehouse (this was the 70s) run by all the churches in town, and another guy I knew from school shared four sentences with me out of a tattered little book called “Good News for Modern Man.” I went home that night, went to bed, and said to the ceiling,
“God, I want to know you, but only if I never have to go to church.”
God took me up on the first part, and challenged me over time on the second (it took a long time, though!). I was fortunate to fall into a group of peers who had solid relationships with God, and the coffeehouse staff did an excellent job providing a place to learn and grow, with most of it being relational.
Fast-forward more than thirty years–nearly twenty of them living in an intentional Christian community (what we used to call a commune)–and I am still fascinated by the beginning stages of a life in Jesus. So, I’m turning my fascination into a place to share (and learn) insights into this most transformative of times in a person’s life. Let’s journey together!
-Pete