The strangest thing just happened.
My doorbell rang and there was a young man holding pamphlets waiting to be attacked by my 12 pound guard dog. He smiled nicely, joked about the size of my dog, and said, "Good morning! I am from -name of synogoge- Temple and we are raising money to rebuild Israel. Do you happen to be of Jewish heritage?"
Whew. I thought. I'm going to get out of this one easily.
"No, sorry, I'm not." Immediately I regret saying this. Why am I sorry my ancestors didn't happen to be Jewish? And, hey, wait a minute, technically they WERE, right? I mean before Jesus came and all.
He nodded and pulled out another hidden stash of pamphlets from beneath the Israel ones. Here's where it got weird.
"Okay, well then you may be interested in this. We are teaming up with -name of church- Baptist Church. They are only 15 minutes from here if you would like to try church on Sunday. And you may be especially interested in this here, " he opens the pamphlet and points to the bottom of the 2nd page, "This lets you know how to get into heaven."
I smiled and thanked him and told him to stay cool. And then I closed the door and wondered about how strange that was. Born-again Baptists sending Jewish boys out to try and get people saved. What is his motivation to try and point out to me what in his eyes is a bogus way to get to heaven?
Huh. I guess they're just being uber-efficient with their missionaries.
6 comments:
Did he have a pamphlet to cover everything? Jewish, Mormon, Hindu, etc.
If these well-meaning people aren't turned off when I tell them I'm Catholic, I try other methods. I hate being rude by just turning them away... so I just start questioning everything they say. One asked me if I ever wondered "why" we are here. I said that I think too many people waste time wondering "why" when they should just BE in the PRESENT and do the best they can...etc. He didn't talk to me for very long. I should also mention that this was "Elder Chris" who was about 21. True story...
Since having a friend that is Mormon and now knowing people who have traveled to strange places for their faith (that would be the one that came to your door...I believe they become elders as soon as they become men in the church), I have new empathy for these door to door preachers. It can't be easy to have people slamming doors in their faces all day. I want to be nice...but make sure they don't get the wrong idea and waste their time coming back to my door. ;)
This young man was pleasant and nice...it was just so odd that he had 2 sales pitches. Strangest thing ever. He never asked if I was a Christian, so I'm pretty sure there were no Muslim or Hindu or Zoroastrian packets. ;)
I also like to throw the term "existentialism" around and see what happens. Luckily, the 2 young men who circulates in my neighborhood are both very nice. I actually think that they are just grateful that I don't slam my door! I don't particularly care for the door-to-door sales people who want me to switch my electric company or buy windows. But I try to be kind to them as well ;)
That is odd!
I've heard about "Jews for Jesus". I forget what their technical name is... Maybe that's what his synagogue is?
That is really strange!
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