i spent one week of august in los angelos for a convention. nothing spiritually exciting occurred until the last day. dan and i left the hotel and boarded the bus to the airport. we both knew that it was to be a long ride…

dan and i immediately settled into reading our materials of interest. the driver boarded the bus and began to sing a beautiful version of “amazing grace.” i smiled, grabbed the ani cd that i had on me and went to the front of the bus with it. i played the song for him and we began to talk.

dan and i moved to the front of the bus; he told us much about himself- that he was a drug addict, deadbeat dad, dropout and many other sad things. one day, in rehab, a pastor came and spoke to him about the lord. after much denial, he began to accept jesus christ in his life and his life rapidly improved. he made mends with his children and ex-wife, paid his bills and stayed off drugs and alcohol. even though he was “just driving a bus,” he felt as though his life suddenly had meaning. he found acceptance in the church and happiness at home. even during his hard times, he felt that he had someone to turn to.

then the conversation turned… apparently he realized that we were intelligent beings and wanted to talk to us about our generation. he asked us why so much of our generation did not believe in God. he did not understand why we needed to question such things and felt we should believe on blind faith (also noted that the only true religion is christianity). neither dan nor i wanted to battle his beliefs so we encouraged him to preach and it was rather interesting. he did not understand why someone would vote for someone as unethical as Clinton (oops…) or how society could do things on Sunday (worship day). The conversation was utterly intriguing. Apparently he had also been to a funeral that day and we discussed politics of burial.

as he figured out that we were not as religious as he (basically by our quietness), he began to question or intent in life as well as our goals. he asked how we could live without knowing that we would go onto heaven in the future. i explained my beliefs (he was appalled) and we continued discussing it. i knew that i was not going to persuade him to understand me and he learned that, much to his dismay, he could not convert me.

as we entered the bus terminal, he allowed other cars in front of him, telephoned 911 when he saw a broken down car and proceded to do other kind things. he explained that it is so frustrating being a busdriver because no one wants a busdriver to be in front of them on the highway. he said that he needed to be exceptionally kind so that people may change their minds about buses and busdrivers. he stated that he is convinced that he will die by fireshot when he “butts” in front of a disgruntled driver on the highway. what a way to think about your death…

as we left the bus, i wished him the best of luck and he wished me the same. quite often i think about him and the words he discussed. there is no doubt in my mind that religion brought to him everything that he felt as though he was missing. he wants to share that with the world at whatever cost. i too feel that religion has given me something that i could not of otherwise had. i feel empowered by my daily rituals, strengthened by my improved thoughts and peace of mind and generally happy with my days…

he did have many interesting points though- even though we disagree as to their origin. why do people necessitate intellectualizing all thoughts of religion? no, most christians don’t feel that they have seen God or know Jesus personally; they have blind faith in their religion and the fact that their destiny is set. i have blind faith in that with rituals and belief in myself, i can improve myself on a daily basis. every day is a new challenge and i wake up delighted to know that. even if i can improve myself minimally, i have done well. i believe that i will never be perfect but aiming towards perfection is not a bad goal. so each day, i wake up and try to improve one aspect of myself and my mind. that desire and improvement makes me happy. even though i do not believe in jesus, i do believe that the busdriver and i are similar. we have found what we need to help us strive towards a goal of being better people.