The Who, The Why and The What (costarring Forrest Gump)
You have probably watched the movie, “Forrest Gump,” and can recall the scene when his friend Jenny shouts, "Run, Forrest, run," inspiring what would become an epic three year odyssey running across the country.
We have all likely encountered something similar to Jenny’s prompting. A seemingly innocuous comment strikes us as a clarion call, which shakes us from the din of our normal routine and we pivot in an entirely new direction.
My “Run, Forrest, run,” moment was delivered by a friend after sharing that I was considering putting together a blog. I tend to have a research and math oriented brain, and would default to my comfort zone go-to’s – researching what makes other blogs successful, writing a strategy, putting together an inventory of topics.
I mean, what successful writer doesn’t initially set up their blog in an Excel spreadsheet?
And when you don’t think of yourself as a natural writer, it’s easy to get bound up in the particulars, leading to a painful paralysis by analysis. I needed a good shake by the lapels, and my friend’s advice deftly cut through my quagmire.
Just start writing.
I already knew this, but desperately needed to hear it. The best way to start a blog is most certainly starting to write. Just like the best way to become a runner is to get off the couch and start running, right? Exercise the faculties. Work the muscles. Review, rinse, rest and repeat.
So I started writing.
Your author is a 46-year-old husband of a beautiful wife, father of four great kids, entrepreneur/business owner, sociology major, and lover of travel and culture, music, photography, running, great beer, weekends at the lake, volunteering, Detroit Tiger baseball and Indiana University basketball.
For 37 years, I self-described as an agnostic, believing the world was too complex to have been some chemical accident, but was frankly too independent minded to sort through the claims of various religious traditions and commit to any particular faith. I was a seeker, a “none”, and spiritual but not religious way before it was cool.
Yet in my head, and my heart, I knew there had to be something more to the universe than just us. After all, it’s not like I make my heart beat as I sleep through the night. I could see fingerprints of a creator from the impossible smallness of the quarks of an atom, to the staggering vastness and complexity of the cosmos. Yet I struggled with what I believe to be a largely unstated, yet nearly universal quandary.
In a world of competing claims, where do you find truth?
As a sociologist, I was especially fascinated by people that would convert, claiming to have found the elusive truth I was seeking. What was the inflection point that triggered such a radical change in behavior? How had they found and accepted what I was actively seeking, and why hadn’t I found it?
Was I looking in the wrong places? Or did I lack enough faith to see what was right under my nose and I was just too blind/and or stubborn to come to terms with it?
And then it happened.
I had been invited to a weekend men’s spiritual retreat for over three years by my friend and accountant, John Faylor. I finally relented, convincing myself that a weekend of hand holding and kumbaya wouldn’t kill me.
I wasn’t the guy that had a come-to-Jesus moment and immediately changed. Yet the retreat was a bright light in the inky spiritual darkness I had been wandering around in for so long.
It challenged my head, my heart, and my curiosity. It appealed to reason, which I thought was antithetical to faith. And it lit what felt like a slow yet steadily growing fire to investigate what was being claimed, testing whether I had in fact stumbled into what I was looking for – the fountain of truth.
The process changed my life. Not only did I discover that the claims held together, but that is also presented a very holistic picture of who we are, where we came from and what we were designed to be. I encountered true peace, true joy, true freedom and true love.
For a long time, I basked in the glow of my new discoveries, really taking time to marinate in the joy of what I had not only encountered, but also accepted and embraced.
But I also knew this wasn’t meant just for me. Like any good gift, it is meant to be given away again. Except I wouldn’t be losing anything in paying this gift forward - it’s more like sharing the flame from one candle to light another.
My blog is called God is Love. They are the three most important words in history. The first two state that God in fact is – God really exists. And he isn’t some overlord that spun the world into existence then threw up his hands, saying, “best of luck,” or a master to a planet of slaves.
God revealed himself to be love itself. Not like love. Not partially love. God IS love. It overarches, colors, and clarifies every other facet of life, and it is in that love where we can trustingly place our reasoned faith.
I have known for some time that I careened through much of my early life as an agnostic for a reason. Initially, I thought it meant writing a book back to my old agnostic self, serving as a bridge back to those still earnestly seeking truth. But with an active family and business, I struggled to find the time to devote to such a massive undertaking.
Recently, I discerned that I could accomplish the same mission through a blog. I could write in much more manageable blocks, one topic at a time, and it would likely be more widely read, with book reading in steady decline.
So I say to you fellow spiritual seekers - welcome.
I will readily acknowledge that truth is not always easy to digest, but my promise to you is to share it with you in love, while always leading with love. My intent is never to judge or condemn, but rather to reflect from the heart of love the truth I encountered.
I will primarily do so by answering four key questions:
Why God? Why Christianity? Why Catholicism? Why Does It Matter?
You see, this isn't just about sharing information. This is an opportunity to accept an invitation to an intimate and personal relationship with love itself, an opportunity to find and dwell in the joy and happiness we all long and strive for. This matters because love, and especially truth in love, is transformative.
Later in the movie, Forrest Gump is interviewed about his running journey.
"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!"
I don’t know that I can write like the wind blows, but I do know that this is what I am called to do – to pay forward the gift of true love, peace, joy and freedom that I have received to each of you.
So from this day on, I am writing.
Image Courtesy of Paramount Pictures