Who would have thought?

As the year winds down, I keep thinking about some of the surprising things my co-workers have said recently.

K (from Pakistan) mildly explained that 9/11 was a hoax perpetrated by the US government. He seemed to feel that it was rather unfair propaganda that had caused Americans to believe that Al Qaeda was involved. He claimed that the 'real' pictures of the pentagon proved that the explosion was not caused by a plane. It made me realize how much our world view impacts how we interpret events. To me, what he said was totally absurd, but to him it made sense.

By the way, another co-worker, 'S' is currently in Pakistan, planning to get married. We've heard that she is safe so far, but may need to postpone the wedding. Please pray for her safety during the riots there. It must be especially unsettling since she is from Indonesia, and now she is in a foreign country that is in total upheaval.

Olga (the Jewish Agnostic) continued her confrontational gambits with an astounding punchline.
Don't try to convert me, I don't need religion. Maybe if I had some problem in my life and needed solace, I would want something to turn to. And then I'd probably choose Christianity. And then a couple of days later she repeated it. It totally amazed me that she was even acknowledging the theoretical possibility that she would ever find anything of value in Christianity.

'A' asked my my opinion of Joel Osteen. This was a tricky question, since I don't especially care for him, but I think it's important for Christians to not cut each other down, and I didn't want to appear critical, so I merely said "many people like him very much. For me, he talks a lot about how people can feel good about themselves, but he is a bit light on theology." And 'A' (a Hindu) replied:
I have been watching him. You are right, the first 20 minutes could go with any religion.
Once again I wasn't sure what to say, since the aspect that concerned me was a positive to 'A'. So I merely replied: "I would be very interested to hear about what you learn from him, and hear your opinion." So perhaps there will be some interesting conversations in the future.

And L (of Chinese heritage, but I'm not sure of her religion), asked me how I came to believe. There we were on the subway, pressed together too closely for me to even be able to focus my eyes on her face, since I was wearing bifocals. I started to explain that I went through a phase where I had an intellectual understanding that God existed, but I didn't know for sure in my heart. She immediately jumped in and exclaimed:
"Oh, that's what I'm like. I have an intellectual understanding but I don't really believe in my heart. But you really believe, don't you? " She sounded kind of wistful, but suddenly the train stopped and the conversation was over.

In any event, I have inadvertently come up with a great conversation starter. Every day I listen to a podcast of the Bible on my iPod (I don't always pay good attention to it, but that's a different topic). Anyway, people love to ask what I'm listening to, and they are sometimes a bit taken aback to hear that it is the Bible, but they tend to pop up with comments months later (like the ones from 'A' and 'L' above).