• Archive for May, 2010

    Conversation #1:

    May 14, 2010 // No Comments »

    Posted in Uncategorized

    I got a call today at work from a guy with schizophrenia. Eliminating any identifying information, here’s generally how the conversation went (I’ll call him Jesse):

    Jesse: Mark, you know about the Bible, right? I mean, you went to Oral Roberts University.

    Me: I did go there. I guess I know a little bit. Why, whats up?

    Jesse: I’ve been listening to this preacher on the radio. Harold Camping. You know him?

    Me: I think so- isn’t he the guy obsessed with the end of the world?

    Jesse: Yeah, thats him. He says the world is gonna end in 2011. Total annihilation. He says from May- October, the whole world is gonna be destroyed. I’ve been listening to him for years. He preaches that God made the world to destroy it and only save a few people. Do you think thats what the Bible says? I figured you’d know.

    Me: Jesse, that doesn’t fit with anything I’ve ever read in the Bible. I’m no scholar, but that sounds awful to me.

    Jesse: I mean, why would God make all of this stuff, this great big world, only to destory it? Does that make any sense at all? And how th f@# does he know when its gonna happen? The Bible says nobody knows the day or the hour.

    Me: wow have you been reading your Bible?

    Jesse: I went to Catholic school. It also says that as it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end.

    Me: I think that was Bob Marley that said that.

    Jesse: well, its in the Bible too. Anyway, I just want to know why God would make all of this stuff just to destroy it and save a few people?!

    You tell me who sounds crazier- my friend with schizophrenia? or the guy he’s criticizing? I have to admit that while it is likely his delusions that lead him to listen to Camping in the first place, I can’t argue with his logic or his questioning. I think he’s actually poking at a pretty important question… I just thought this was an interesting conversation.