"10 years ago..." "Sarah, the bus just pulled up, you have got about 3 seconds!" "I'm right here." "Here you go, Peanut." "Weak bread, no mustard and there is a big surprise for dessert." "You mean, an apple?" "Surprised?" "I've packed your warm pajamas and your flashlight and don't talk back to Stephanie's mother, even if Stephanie does it." "I won't..." "Have fun!" "You know, how much mommy loves you!" "And I love mommy back!" "Now, go, hug your dad!" "Good morning, Rachel!" ""You are invited to a dinner with Jesus Christ..."" "Yes?" "Rachel, could you come in here, please?" "Be right there..." "Yes?" "Do you know, how this got on my keyboard?" "I didn't see anybody coming in here..." "What is it?" "Apparently, some kind of joke..." "No, All it says is:" ""You are invited to a dinner with Jesus Christ, Pepino's, 7 o'clock."" "Here we are!" "Nikki!" "Hi!" "I'm Jesus." "Aha......" "Excuse me, am I supposed to know you?" "Good question." "Yes, the answer is: yes." "I'm sorry, as far as I can remember, I have never met you." "That is true!" "Ok, let's just start over:" "Your name is..." "Jesus." "My family called me Yeshua." "Your family." "From..." "Nazareth." "I don't thing, there is much I can actually say to convince you that I am Jesus." "Oh, there is one true statement..." "I thought, they went through your hands..." "No." "The spikes were driven through my wrist..." "So where do we go from here?" "Good question." "Where do you wanna go?" "I'm glad, you showed up, Nikki." "I've enjoyed our time together." "I have, too..." "You know, when I tell people, that I had dinner with Jesus, they are gonna think, I'm crazy." "Then maybe, you shouldn't tell them..." "This morning..." "Sarah, it's almost time to go!" "ANOTHER PERFECT STRANGER" "Sarah!" "I'll be right down!" "You gonna miss your plane..." "I'm on the phone!" "Hi, could you ring Mr. Newman in admissions, please?" "Thanks." "Hi Mr. Newman, this is Sarah Cominsky." "I just wanted to ask..." "What?" "Oh, I wouldn't miss this for the world!" "I'm supposed to land in Portland this evening." "I'm really looking for see you in the campus." "Has there anybody worked yet on my application?" "Oh!" "What about my portfolio?" "Was it...?" "I'm sorry, I know." "You get hundreds..." "Well, I guess, I'll see you sometime tomorrow then." "Thanks so much, bye." "No..." "That's ok." "I'm already running late..." "I can find everything." "Yes." "Yes, I remembered." "No, but dad gave my 50 dollars this morning, and I've got my ATM card..." "Mom, I will..." "I said, I will!" "Ok, look, I'm next in the line to the ticket counter, I gotta go, I will call you, when I land." "Yeah." "You, too." "Next..." "Can I help you?" "Yes, I need to check in..." "Your last name?" "Cominsky." "First name?" "Sarah." "And where are you travelling today?" "Portland." "Chicago people are supposed to fly west in the winter not in the spring..." "Alright, we have you flying into Dallas and then on to Portland." "Just one bag today?" "Just one." "I just need to see your ID and have you on your way." "Seat B17, enjoy your flight!" "Next..." "Great..." "Stuck between two guys..." "Excuse me." "Not a thing to read..." "Yes?" "What did I do?" "!" "What?" "Oh, Steph." "I'm sorry, I thought you were..." "Never mind..." "What's up?" "Are you still on the airport?" "No, I'm on the plane." "We are getting ready to pull away from the gate." "Are you excited?" "Steph, I have never been so glad to get away from mom and dad in my life." "Because of the fight you guys had last night?" "They just didn't let me a breathe with this religious stuff..." "I barely said two words them this morning." "Is this on sale?" "Does it say, "it's on sale" ?" "!" "Well, I couldn't believe, when you called last night." "I mean, you are always going to church, what else do they want?" "To control all my thoughts?" "But it got worse, after I talked to you." "What happened?" "Later on, mom totally freaked me out with this Jesus thing and..." "I had better to get off..." "I call you later." "Bye." "Have you considered the possibility that your parents may be right?" "Hm?" "I couldn't help to overhear your conversation." "Has it occur to you that your parents might be right?" "Right about what?" "About God." "What do you mean?" "Well, it sounds like your mother and your dad have found Jesus." "The only thing my parents have found is an excuse to control my life as they want!" "Listen, I'm really not in a talking mood, ok?" "I noticed, that you were looking something to read." "Do you want one part of my paper?" "No, thanks." "I want to finish my "Sky Shopper"" "Do you mind, if I ask you another question?" "No, go ahead!" "Have you thought about a personal relationship with God?" "No, I'm not into religion." "I'm not talking about religion, I'm talking about a relationship." "You are talking about God." "That's religion." "What I'm talking about is, knowing Him personally." "Whatever..." "Do you even believe in God?" "No, I don't think, I do." "You don't think He exists at all?" "Who knows!" "..." "Let's just say, He does!" "So what we are talking about is reality, not religion." "Right?" "Like I said, anything that has to do with God, is religion." "And I don't want any part of it..." "Ok." "Let me ask you this:" "if you die tonight, do you know where would you go?" "No!" "I don't!" "God!" "I just hate to see you throw your life away at such a young age." "Look, Sir!" "I don't mean to be rude, but you don't know anything about me or my life, and yet, you still try to cram your beliefs down my throat, just like my parents!" "Excuse me!" "Hey..." "I'm sorry, I made you mad." "It's just that I have a niece in your age and..." "It's alright." "Just drop it!" "Yeah." "Enjoy the rest of your flight." "I'll try..." "How is that?" "That looks like MY pony!" "Really?" "What is your pony's name?" "Titan!" "Titan?" "What's wrong?" "He needs a saddle!" "Can you draw one on?" "Yeah!" "How is this?" "That's perfect!" "Titan is ready for a ride now." "All you need is your name on it." "Mommy, look!" "Thank you!" "You are very welcome, Courtney!" "Bye..." "Bye now!" "Here you go." "Thanks." "I almost forget, I ordered this..." "Where are you heading?" "Portland..." "Do you have your family there?" "No." "I applied the Art Institute out there, and I'm gonna to check it out." "Oh..." "Have you been accepted?" "I don't know yet..." "But you are still flying out to see it." "Well, the dean said, it was alright." "And that worth spending on my babysitting money and a chance to get away from home for a few days." "Babysitting..." "That's a fun job." "Sometimes." "I see, you are good with kids." "Sure, I love them." "Do you have any?" "No, no physical descendants." "Physical descendants?" "!" "That's right." "You see more relaxed." "Why wouldn't I be?" "Just saw that little toss with your friend over there..." "Oh, I was probably a little bit testy." "Ah..." "It's understandable." "You heard, ha?" "It was hard not to." "Sorry..." "Trouble with the folks, hah?" "Big trouble..." "And I have no idea how I gonna handle it." "Why is that?" "Because I always got along so well with my mom and dad, and then, right as I'm ready to choose a college, they have to ruin everything with this forced religion stuff." "And they never mentioned it to you before?" "Well, yeah..." "We started going to church when I was like 10, but it was always fun, you know, things like Sunday school and church camp." "Even in high school it was just a social thing, because all my friends were there..." "But you never bothered into it, right?" "I guess." "I never took it that so seriously." "Like praying before meals:" "it was just a rutine." "And I thought, mom and dad thought the same way." "So that brought things to a head..." "Last night we were sitting around the dinner table, and somehow the conversation turned to people's beliefs, and God, and bla bla..." "And I told mom and dad, that I didn't really think, that God existed." "Why did you say that?" "I don't know." "It just came out." "I mean, I see a lot of other religions out there, all the movie-stars in the Scientology..." "Yeah..." "It's really big right now." "Yeah." "I mean... the Bible stories were alright, when I was a little kid, but the older I get, and the more I read, the idea of a big guy watching us from the clouds somewhere just doesn't seem real." "Let me guess, this hasn't gone too well with mom and dad." "Hmm." "You should have seen the looks on their faces." "Then they got into this whole big thing..." "Finally I got mad, and they got all dramatic about it, turned into a huge fight..." "You really hit them where they lived, ha?" "Yeah." "They always encouraged me to think from myself, have a reason to believe things..." "Except when it comes to God." "I guess..." "But that's not the worst part..." "It gets worse?" "I can't believe I'm telling somebody this." "This is gonna sound really stupid, make that beyond stupid... times 1000 ..." "Hah!" "That's must be pretty bad." "It is." "After the three of us argued all night, I went to bed, and then when I was almost asleep, mom comes into the room, and closes the door, then she sits on my bad, and she tells me, that she used to feel the same way I did." "Like she wasn't so sure that God existed until... until..." "Until... what?" "Until the night 10 years ago, when she actually sat down to dinner with Jesus at a tiny restaurant in Chicago." "Hmm, that something, we don't hear every day..." "Then she went on saying, how that experience changed her life, and it helped change dad's life, too..." "And suddenly my nice, wonderful mom goes to church seemed more like this:" "psycho-religious fanatic, seeing the pope's face in pancake better." "And that just added to the tension..." "Well, between that little doozie being out of the bag and me trying to find a school, everything's just got all juiced up." "Like how?" "Like all she wanna talk about is Jesus, and how it was important to her and dad, that I was firm in my faith before went out to the world, and stuff..." "Oh, boy..." "In less then 12 hours my perfect relationship with my folks got messed up because of this stupid religion stuff." "Religion always messes everything up." "I hate religion." "So why do you hate religion?" "Why, don't you?" "Well, I'm not saying, people don't have the right to believe in what they want," "I'm just saying, it's not for me." "But you were the one who actually said, you didn't like it..." "Religion keeps people from living the life to the fullest." "And makes some people to feel guilty over things they shouldn't feel guilty about... and other people worry about things, they shouldn't worry about." "I know!" "Religious people are so uptight!" "It's been so much time and energy trying to please a higher power and it's all wasted effort." "I think, they are focused on feeding the Poor or something." "Lot of times they do." "But the problem is when they think, they get points for doing good deeds." "or for what they wear, or they eat, or they chant." "These things happen all over the world." "It seems, that the American Christians have their own special set of rules:" "like no movies, no dancing, no cards..." "No alcohol." "I have a friend, whose mom doesn't even let her eat rum-cake." "What is on the inside a person is what matters, not the outside rituals." "What about those poor women you see on TV?" "In Afghanistan they have to wear that ugly burka things." "And the thing is: most of these women just want to dress modestly, but lot of them get beaten, because they don't have everything covered." "That's so evil." "The men are afraid, that the women will make them lust." "I shouldn't tell you this, because you are so young, but..." "You can dress a woman in concrete blocks, and men would still find a way to lust after her." "Sounds like one of my dad's speeches." "The trouble is with: what is inside men's hearts, not with what's on women's bodies." "Controlling women is just another way for some men to exercise dominance." "I've heard, there is a church in the neighboring village, that doesn't even let women speak." "I always wanted to walk in one Sunday morning, and give them one big ear and say, what it is like!" "I'm pretty upset, when I see religion used as an excuse for slavery, and discrimination, war..." "Religion causes so much superstition and ignorance in the world." "The trouble is: when religion makes some people think, that they have to run away from it, before they can live a normal life." "Yeah, you are right!" "Back where I come from religion and hypocrisy went hand in hand." "People claimed to be one thing, but actually showing another." "Really?" "What did they do?" "The self-righteous leaders were only focused on the rules." "And then they would lay these rules on the people, who felt guilty, when they couldn't keep them well enough." "Where did you grow up?" "In little town, East." "Small towns are probably the worst for things like that." "Water?" "Yes..." "What language was that?" "They are from Calcutta (USA)." "The gentleman was telling to his wife, that she shouldn't eavesdrop us." "But I told her it's alright, I didn't mind." "So you speak Cul...cattian?" "I've spent some time there." "So what else bugs you in religion?" "The way well-mean people get all distorted by it." "Like how?" "Like they stop being who they really are, start trying to keep a lot of impossible rules, and meanwhile they feel guilty, and they feel miserable." "Wow, that sounds familiar..." "And what make the matter worse, they start distancing themselves from people in their lives, sometimes from those who mean the most to them." "Yeah, but why is that?" "Well, they are afraid that people, who don't believe the way they do, will lead them astray." "So when you think about it:" "Instead of making them more loving, religion actually causes them to isolate themselves from the people they really care about." "Stephanie, that's my best friend." "She and I had a friend like that." "Three of us were really close like since the 1st grade, but when we went to high-school she became super-religious." "Yeah, I mean, we all went to church together, but Melissa took it extra serious." "And how that affected the "3 stooges"?" "That's funny, that's everybody used to call us." "Well, after her religious conversion, she didn't want much to do with Steph and me." "All what she had: the youth group friends. *" "Hmm." "That's a shame." "That's exactly, what I'm talking about." "The three of us thought, that we would be friends forever..." "I barely talked to her a whole school year." "And now you are afraid you loose your mom the same way..." "Yeah... or I mean, I guess..." "What are you, like a shrink (psychiatrist) or something?" "More like a counselor..." "Oh, gosh, I didn't..." "I'm sorry..." "It's just: the thing with your mom seems like the same situation." "That's all." "I guess..." "I mean, it's one thing to loose a girlfriend, two is your family." "It's a whole other thing." "It doesn't sound, like you really want to be in the other side of the country away from your mom and dad..." "Oh..." "Getting accepted to the Art Institute would be a dream come true." "It's something I always wanted since I was a little girl." "But the way things are now, I doubt I'll ever come home for a visit." "Except like Christmas, when there is no getting out of it." "But that's just not the way I ever thought I will feel about my parents." "Do you blame all this on religion?" "I just want our family to stay together, like we always have been." "But this whole Jesus thing is what is pulling us apart." "Alright..." "Well, maybe though all those years you were just playing church for their sake, your mom and dad were tapping into something deeper." "But why?" "My mom and dad are both successful." "We have never had to worry about money." "I guess your heart needs to be filled something else..." "Like what?" "Good question!" "If you figure that out, may change what you feel about them right now." "Sir, the plane landed." "Sir, it's time to get up, we landed." "Hey!" "Hey, thanks for listening all my junk." "You really gave me lot to think about." "I'm glad." "I enjoyed our conversation." "You know, I overheard earlier what the two you were saying about religion." "What a shock!" "And I agree with some of what you said, all the stupid stuff about religion." "I mean, I go to the movies." "Not the R-rated ones, of course..." "Well, except for the "Passion of the Christ"." "You saw that?" "Yeah." "Wasn't that the bloodiest thing you've ever seen?" "*" "Anyway..." "I know, some people get carried away with rules." "But I think, you are wrong when you say, that religion stops people from enjoying life." "In my experience, religious people (Christians" " I mean), enjoy life the most." "I'm not trying to be pushy, I just think, the two of you should consider that..." "Hallelujah!" "Hey, he means well." "Are you sure?" "!" "Is this yours?" "Yes, thanks..." "Take care yourself!" "You, too..." "Can I help you?" "Yes." "I'll have a grande non-fat vanilla latte with sugar free whipped cream and a double French scone." "Ok, wait right over there." "Thanks." "I'd like a large coffee of the day, and a piece of coffee-cake, please." "Hi again!" "Hi." "You've got a layover?" "Yeah." "How about you?" "About an hour... $9.14, please." "Here." "Take that with this." "No, you can't do that!" "Forget it..." "You worked hard for that babysitting money." "Thanks!" "Do you mind, if I sit with you?" "No, not at all!" "Did you find something good to read in the bookstore?" "How do you know, I went to the bookstore?" "Here... your bookstore bag..." "Oh." "Yeah, just a couple of magazines." "Do you mind, if I ask you a stupid question?" "Sincere questions are never stupid." "Shoot!" "Well..." "Do you think, it is possible for someone to connect personally with you know, God?" "Why do you ask?" "You gonna think, this is really dumb, especially after all the religion stuff we talked about on the plane." "Try me!" "Well, after we talked, I just started thinking about mom and dad, and how we started going to church like all of a sudden, when I was 10." "Aha..." "And I started thinking, what if, mom really did have some personal encounter with God... or Jesus, whoever." "Well I know this sounds pretty preposterous..." "Not really..." "But you don't even believe in God." "The thing is, you mom does." "So it seems to me, that makes it worth thinking about." "So back to my question:" "do you think it is possible?" "What do you think?" "Well, saying, I am not even sure there is a God..." "Are you saying you don't believe in God, or you don't know about the possibility of God?" "I guess, I just don't know, what to think." "So you think at least it might be possible that there is God?" "Well, yeah, I guess it is possible..." "Alright." "Let's just assume there is and go from there." "Maybe we can figure something out." "Well, ok." "Alright." "So if there is a God, do you think, it would be possible for a person actually to connect with Him?" "No, I don't." "He'd be way too big and powerful for people to relate to him." "It would be like an ant trying to connect with us." "Good point..." "But what if we looked at it from the other side?" "How do you mean?" "I mean, from God's viewpoint..." "Like: could God relate to us?" "More like: would He want to?" "No, it's the same answer:" "If there is a God, and He, or She, or whatever, could create the whole Universe... and if we are just these little nothings on one little planet... what use could He possibly have for us?" "It's a good question." "I mean, don't you think, He would have a lot more important things to deal with?" "Yeah, you might think so..." "What do you think, what would He be like?" "How do you mean?" "I mean, would He just create everything, and let it go and watch it from a distance?" "Or you think, He would be like an "involved being", who thinks and feels, loves, just like we do?" "Who knows?" "I mean, it's not like, that He is into making appearances." "Alright." "I guess, we can figure that out, when we go by the clues." "What clues?" "Oh, for starters:" "What would we know about someone who has supposedly created the Universe?" "Well, He'd have to be really-really old, but in good shape." "Why good shape?" "If you live to be a billion-years-old, I doubt, that you would age the same as anybody else." "Alright." "So God would have to be really old, and in good shape." "What else?" "He would have to be really smart, to invent things like cells, DNA, the solar system..." "Ok, so God would have to be super intelligent." "And powerful... like... if the Big-Bang really happened, then He would have to be the one who made it happen and make sure that all worked out." "Ok, so God would have to be really old, really smart and really powerful... or at least as powerful as the Universe itself, right?" "Oh, yeah, if He is the one who created it, He would have to be." "Because the creation shares traits with the Creator, right?" "Yeah, it's a good way to put it." "It can be like me and my paintings." "Good analogy." "Now, let's take all the Universe-stuff and apply it to people." "You just lost me..." "Look at this way:" "People are the part of the Universe, right?" "Supposedly the highest intelligence on Earth." "Well, most people..." "Right..." "So just like God shares traits with the Universe," "What human traits - do you think - are reflecting God?" "Would you mind doing (answering) this one, because my brain is getting tired..." "Alright..." "If people are the highest form in His creation, then it makes sense that they resemble who God is." "I guess, that sounds logical." "So things like, our minds, our motions, our ability to choose, all these human characteristics reflect the God who created them." "But wait a minute!" "Most people treat each other like dirt." "Are you saying, that's how God is?" "Hmm..." "That's a though one (question)." "But don't you think, these happen because evil exists in the world?" "I mean, is evil a part of God, or is it something just went wrong somewhere?" "I don't know..." "But an evil God would be pretty scary." "The world is scary enough as it is..." "Trains are blowing up, and kids getting shot in school..." "Yeah." "It's frightening." "So you are pretty close to your folks, right?" "Well, up until last night..." "Do you have picture of them?" "Let me see..." "Yeah, a real "recent" one." "We never much liked the family portrait thing." "Still a good looking family you have." "Thanks." "So what was your relationship like before the blow-up?" "What it always has been, you know..." "Parents... with rules, and curfews, and grounding me..." "But they have always been my friends at the same time." "Really?" "Yeah, I'm an only child, so I never had to fight for attention with anyone." "Until now." "Right, until now..." "So go on..." "Tell me about them." "Well, I'm sure, dad always wanted a boy, but he never really let it showed." "We always loved memorizing mc Cub's betting averages, how many games back they worth *" "He enjoyed seeing me in a Buckerster's (sport dress) * just as much as in a prom dress, or probably more so..." "And nobody could ever make me feel as safe as... as I felt when I was with dad." "Hmm..." "What about mom?" "Stephanie has been my girlfriend since grade school, but mom..." "Mom has really been my best friend." "She is a lawyer..." "And she is the kind of mom, that all the guys in the class think she is hot." "So I have been always so proud of her, and wanted to be like her." "She always loved taking me shopping, and telling me how pretty I look in new outfits." "She always encouraged me in my art-work." "She cries with me, when a boy breaks my heart, and she strokes my hair until I fall asleep." "And now you feel betrayed, because you think, they may actually found someone they love more than you." "Like who?" "Like God..." "That's stupid..." "Is it?" "Yeah, I feel betrayed." "Maybe little jealous?" "Yeah." "Let's go back to what you say it was a perfect relationship with your folks." "If there is a God, who created the Universe and everybody in it, don't you think it is possible, that He would feel the same about people as your parents do about you?" "In other words: is it possible, that the love your parents have for you is a reflection of God, who created them?" "I don't know, I have never thought about that way." "Let me ask you this:" "Do you think it is possible, that a person's desire to connect with God might actually come from Him?" "Come from Him?" "Yeah..." "like He placed the desire within them, because He is actually the one, who wants it?" "You mean, the people are designed that way?" "Without Him they are be uncompleted." "I don't know, I guess, it is possible." "Well, if that was the case, then would a person's desire to connect with God be nonsense?" "Or would it make the most sense?" "Hold on for a second!" "You are starting to sound like you actually believe in God." "I do." "But on the plane you said, you didn't." "No I said:" "I hate religion." "What is the difference?" "!" "Religious people attempt to get to God with good behavior and rituals." "As far as I believe in God?" "Of course I do!" "So let me guess..." "You do think, it is possible for someone to connect personally with God?" "Yeah." "I know it is!" "I can't believe I fell for this." "You are just like the window-seat guy!" "Worse!" "Here I am telling you all these personal things about my life, and you just sitting here..." "waiting to get me to this "knowing God" pitch." "Look, I wasn't trying to trick you." "You said, you want to figure out, where you parents' beliefs are coming from." "I was." "Well, you wouldn't found out much, if I give my perspective right off the bat." "You'd have shut me down just like you did the window-seat guy!" "So?" "!" "So?" "!" "Look at what you have managed to come up with all of your own!" "I just helped you to form the questions." "I guess you did help a little..." "I mean, you are a counselor." "Absolutely..." "This had better be a free session!" "Totally free!" "It's the only way I work." "Alright then." "So, if even there are people on this spiritual pursuit do all of them hallucinate until thinking they have actually sat down to dinner with Jesus?" "I mean, have you ever heard anyone to say that?" "I would admit, it has been a while." "So you are not saying it actually happened?" "Only you can decide for yourself whether you believe your mom's story or not." "I was just trying helping you to figure out that a desire for a relationship with God is reasonable." "And you think it is?" "Yeah, of course I do!" "But I also can't make up your mind for you." "Yeah, you are right..." "Something you said earlier, that people were designed to have this intimate relationship with God and that is the only way they can be fulfilled." "That's not true." "Really?" "So you think people can be completely satisfied with other things?" "Yeah." "Lot of people have fulfilled lives that even don't go to church." "Are you one of them?" "No..." "But I'm not everybody." "You are more everybody than you think..." "Ok..." "So I feel fulfilled, when I draw, especially when I paint." "So, you feel fulfilled as an artist." "Yeah, for the most part." "But not as a daughter." "No..." "Today that doesn't rank too high on the scale." "Any idea, why it is?" "Because I feel like, we are from different planets." "because we are on opposite ends of this God's stuff." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "I keep thinking I'm gonna come home and find them watching some faith hero on TV slapping people on the foreheads." "Well, let's say, that your art work is hanging somewhere in Paris, and everything is all peachy and cool with your folks." "Would that satisfy you?" "It would help." "Would the deepest part of you be filled?" "I am not sure." "Alright, let's add some things to them:" "How about a new Porsche?" "Penthouse studio in New York city?" "Would you get warmed?" "Would you feel fulfilled?" "I am not sure how to answer that." "The answer is:" "No!" "You wouldn't be." "Because only God can completely fulfill the human heart." "See, I don't believe that." "I see happy people all the time." "Really?" "How well do you know them?" "They may have meaningful aspects of their lives just like you, but deep down they are totally not fulfilled." "Believe me, it's not that hard to put on a happy face for (the sake of) other people." "I still say, you are wrong." "Lots of people get fulfillment out of their job, or relationships or causes." "Is that really what you think?" "Just look at the society!" "Look at the things people try to fill their lives with!" "Things like: alcohol, sex, food, work, gambling..." "The list goes on and on and on... and all points to the same conclusion:" "That nothing on this planet can totally fulfill the human soul." "Not everybody is addicted to something." "Of course, not!" "But even the positive things don't totally fulfill the heart." "Which ones do you talking about?" "Name it: things like parenting, and happy marriages, philanthropy (charity), public service..." "When lot of these people get to the end of their lives, they still say, they are not totally fulfilled." "How do you know that?" "Oh, for starters:" "They tell me." "They may not say anything to other people, but when no one else is listening, they tell me." "Why is that?" "Just because you are a counselor?" "I guess it has something to do with it." "What exactly do they say?" "They say that, the good experiences they've had were not enough." "They lived a good life, but deep down there is still this emptiness in their heart." "How do you explain that?" "Oh, it is really simple:" "How in the world is your heart gonna be fulfilled by something or someone which is just as finite and imperfect like you are?" "I've never thought that way." "For people wanna connection with God - like your parents - maybe will make some difference is the fact, if they realize, there has to be something more and bigger, that goes beyond the realm of the logical and physical world." "And I know that you are looking for something more, too." "You just don't know it, yet." "I just want things to be normal and happy." "There is just only one problem with that:" "They probably won't be." "Thanks!" "That's just what I needed to hear." "Life is like this, kiddo." "Even if a few things are bright up for a day, tomorrow still will come with its own set of stress and disappointment." "Or worse... even loosing a friend, or a family member, or even your own health." "Sure, I know these things could happen, but you can't go around basing your life on the possibility that these things might come true." "Possibility?" "!" "The fact is, most of these things will come true for everybody." "But the other truth is, that there is one thing, that no one can ever take away from you, and once you find your fulfillment there, you won't ever loose it." "Come on!" "We'd better get going." "What is your hurry?" "!" "Our flight is boarding." "Our flight?" "!" "Yeah." "Still going to Portland, aren't you?" "Are sure?" "I thought we had another 20 minutes." "It's boarding now." "But how do you know?" "Trust me!" "Do you need help with your bag?" "Wait, wait." "You are going to Portland, too?" "Yeah." "Do you need help with your bag?" "No, I got it." "So I haven't figured out, how you knew, the plane was boarding." "Thanks." "Again, you gave me a lot of things to think about." "And again, it was my pleasure." "Oh, come on!" "What?" "Well, don't you think, it is a little strange sitting right next to each other two flights in a row?" "Not really." "You know, we have discussed my family, my personal life and the meaning of the Universe..." "Yeah?" "and we haven't even met yet." "No, we haven't!" "I'm Sarah." "Hi Sarah!" "You can call me Yesh." "Yesh?" "Aha." "It's hebrew." "What is, one of your parents is Jewish or something?" "Aha..." "Well, hi Yesh, nice to meet you." "Same here..." "Do you live in Portland?" "Nope." "Going for business." "What kind of business?" "My Father and I ran a "management operation"." "What do you manage?" "Pretty much." "Everything." "Not big on specific..." "Sorry." "Sorry..." "I thought, you said, you are counselor!" "I am." "Do you do that on the side?" "No it's part of the same operation..." "Drawing again?" "Writing." "What are you writing?" "Some of my favorite words." "Like what?" "Mostly poetry..." "Poetry?" "You write poetry?" "Actually somebody else wrote it..." "Can I see it?" "Sure..." "Have you ever read free verse?" "A little." ""I have loved you with a love that never ends." "Though the mountains must be shaken, and the hills be removed,  yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken." "How could I give up on you?" "My heart is turned over within me"" "It's pretty good stuff." "Who wrote it?" "My Father." "You are kidding!" "Who did he write it for?" "For a relationship He had, what He desperately wanted back." "Wow!" "He must have been head over heels in love!" "It's an understatement..." "As a matter of fact, it's the exact same way, God wants to love you." "So tell me, why I don't feel loved by Him?" "Because you can't really hear His voice right now." "Nobody can it first." "Yeah?" "And why is that?" "Because people turned their back on God." "They had been deaf to His voice ever since." "No, no, no!" "That's just a little too convenient:" "you say, we are all deaf to God." "I say, that's proof:" "He doesn't exist." "Oh, but they are not entirely deaf!" "They can hear His voice, but... just not as clearly as if they were connected with Him." "For example?" "For example..." "The first time you mom and dad laid eyes on you, and they couldn't believe that they could love anything so much" " That was God speaking." "When you stand at edge of the Lake Michigan, and you feel so small next to something so big, and you just know, there has to be something greater than yourself in the world:" "That God's speaking again." "And when you snap at your mom, and later on you feel guilty:" "That's God again speaking through your conscience." "It is?" "Yeah..." "Because deep down you know, you weren't meant to live that way." "Even if that is true, I can't help how I feel sometimes." "I know." "I am just telling what it is like, when God speaks to your heart." "Giving you small glimpses what it is like to hear Him clearly." "But how can that be?" "Seems like a conversation with God would be class-A boring." "Boring?" "Believe me, Sarah, God is anything but boring." "He is the one who you get the greatest joy and pleasure from." "Pleasure from God?" "Give me a break!" "I mean, I can understand when people want to believe in God, but..." "Have you ever heard the hypothetical question:" ""If you could hang out anybody from history, who would it be?"" "Yeah." "What if, if you could sit down with one who actually carved out the Grand Canyon?" "The One who raised up the Rocky-Mountains..." "The One, who wrote the code for DNA, and designed language..." "The One, who made the stars, and every new born implant." "and the One who loves you with no limitations?" "That all sounds great, but God just doesn't drop in on people, does He?" "Maybe." "But what I am saying is that" "God is infinitely more amazing than anything or anyone He has ever created." "But if someone did want to touch God, (I mean, if there is a God) then how would they even know how to start?" "They don't have to." "He has already started the process." "He is reaching out for you." "That's the whole reason that He became a person." "Maybe if I actually sat down to dinner with Jesus, like my mom said she did, then maybe I could believe, too." "Faith is lot easier, than you think, kiddo." "And we really don't need for Jesus to show up at a dinner table." "But what you do need, is let it go, whatever it is, which keeping you from trusting Him." "Like what?" "You tell me!" "You really want to know what is keeping me from trusting God and wanting to make a connection with Him?" "When I was 16 years-old," "I was date raped at a party." "What happened?" "It was Homecoming..." "After the game there was a party at this kid's house." "One of the players - he was a senior - asked me, if would go with him..." "And was thrilled, he even knew my name!" "The music was really loud, and he started drinking." "And before I knew it, he had pulled me into one of the bedrooms upstairs." "There were so many people there, that none of my friends even noticed I was gone." "The only person I've ever told it was Stephanie." "I made her swear not to tell anyone." "Mom and dad never found out." "They were on a cruise when it happened." "The guy did the same thing to another girl 3 months later, and she went to the police and he got sent to jail." "After I was sure, I wasn't pregnant," "I just didn't think about it any more." "After a while I could almost pretend, like it never happened." "So why don't you tell me:" "How would I ever trust a God, who let that happen to me?" "Sarah, what happened to you is horrible." "And God hates it just as much as you do." "Then why didn't He stop it from happening?" "!" "Tell me this:" "Just how much of the world's evil want you to stop right now?" "How about, all of it?" "!" "And then the world would be a good place, right?" "Yeah." "No, it wouldn't..." "In the grand scheme of things like this would be just deckchairs of the Titanic." "I don't understand." "I know..." "You can't begin to understand the big picture, and how things have to happen in the due course of time." "God knows this." "This is the whole reason, He gave you faith." "Sarah, there is nothing I could say that makes sense or take away your pain." "But I can tell you this:" "God is at work." "Restoring people." "Returning them to a safe and loving relationship." "And I promise:" "One day the Evil of the world will be done away with, and all what will be left is the Good." "What about the people that do the evil things?" "The bad guys with be punished." "The Good will be rewarded." "All things will be reconciled." "I just don't understand why we have to wait." "Because when mankind turned his back on God, it sent itself ridden into a world of evil." "Bringing people back is a slow, person by person process." "And what about the people who didn't ask to have bad things happen?" "God knows about every horrible thing that happens, and He knows what it does to people." "I doubt that..." "How could He know everything from up there?" "Or from wherever He sits..." "Is this, what you really think?" "That God distances Himself from people's pain?" "That's what it seems like!" "Sarah..." "When people rejected God, it was incredible painful for Him." "Imagine watching your own children falling into well of darkness." "If it was so painful for Him, then why didn't He do something to save us?" "He did everything, it could be done." "Do you remember the window-seat guy from the first plane?" "How could I forget..." "He talked about that movie:" ""The Passion of the Christ"." "You saw it, right?" "It's been a while, but yeah." "The torture that Jesus endured only makes sense, if you realize that was God taking the punishment of all people." "He wanted to be reunited with them so much, that He was willing to die for them." "But even if that did happen, what good did it do?" "The world is still screwed up." "And it's been 2000 years!" "Look it this way:" "God isn't slow." "He is patient." "He is waiting." "He is giving second chances, so no one is left behind." "What you perceive as God is dragging his feet, is actually: mercy." "Water?" "So if this big reconnection happens, then what?" "The same thing you do in any relationship:" "You talk to each other." "You get to know Him." "Talk with Him?" "You mean pray?" "Pray is a part of it..." "But anyone can pray." "Yeah, but not everyone can hear Him talk back." "Like He supposedly did with my mom." "For anybody wanting a connection with God, listening is the crucial part." "So once you become religious, you can automatically hear God's voice?" "Religious would be the opposite." "Religion is mostly an outward thing:" "Do this!" "Don't do that!" "Go there!" "Don't go there!" "A person who can hear God's voice is someone, who has been changed from the inside out." "Changed like how?" "Like a new attitude?" "No!" "Like a whole new spirit." "God gives it to you, when you connect with Him, because the old spirit wouldn't work." "It couldn't connect, it couldn't hear His voice." "Are you talking about audible voices here?" "He doesn't need that." "He has other ways..." "Like what?" "Like a small voice in your conscious." "Like His written word." "Remember that piece you read earlier?" "What, that poem?" "Right out from the Bible." "But I thought, you said, your father wrote it." "God is my father." "Ok... and that poem came from the bible..." "Why so hard to believe?" "Because I always thought about the Bible as a rulebook." "Rulebook?" "Listen to this:" ""I've made myself one spirit with you I nourish, I cherish you" "I gave myself up for you, I lay down my life for you"" "Does it sound as a rulebook to you?" "No, it sounds more like a love letter." "You got it!" "For people who can hear God's voice, this is how He speaks to them through His Word." "That's how Jesus was when he was on Earth." "He was always listening to his Father's voice." "So real Christianity is just sitting around all day and listening this stuff?" "Not quite..." "It's letting Him love other people through you." "It's knowing, that you are forgiven." "It's knowing, that you are accepted." "No matter what, you always have a special place in God's heart." "But what about the people who have bad things happened to them?" "When people - who have pain - connect with God, they realize, there has never been a moment, when He ever stopped loving them." "And they know, the day will come, when He will personally wipe away every tear and they will be never hurt again." "And when they're with God, and they feel His enormous love, the pain, they once felt, seems like nothing." "What makes it enormous?" "Because it is perfect." "You know..." "I don't know if I'm ready to commit to anything like my parents have, like my mom did 10 years ago..." "But all the stuff we have been talking about, what exactly do I do with all this?" "Well, first, you have to make a decision:" "Do you want to experience perfect love?" "Tell me again, what is perfect love?" "It's a love, that's even greater than your parents have for you..." "Greater, than you'll have for your own kids one day..." "Once you make that decision, He will lead you through what happens next." "You've got some eye..." "Are you excited about touring the Art Institute?" "Well... yes and no." "The truth is, I know, I am not going here..." "I sent in my application 3 months ago, and so haven't heard anything." "I am just using this visit as an excuse to get away from my mom and dad for a while." "People from all over the world come to study here, and I really don't have what it takes." "I'm sure, the coming Fall I will be taking sculpture class at Deerfield Community College." "How many languages do you speak?" "All of them." "What do you mean: "all of them"?" "I mean, all of them." "Say something in Chinese!" "Mandarin or Cantonese?" "Whichever!" "Shang di ai ni!" "(God loves you)" "Oh, come on!" "Nobody can speak every language!" "I can!" "I've had a lot of time to work on it..." "Well, I guess, this time really is goodbye." "Yeah, I guess so." "And I am going to get some very serious thought to - you know - listening. *" "Do you want to practice?" "Hm?" "Check your messages when you get to the terminal." "And try to stay awake on art history. *" "What?" "!" "What in the world are you talking about?" "!" "Until next time..." "Wait!" "What did you...?" "Where did he go?" "Hi Steph, it's me." "Just landed..." "I don't know, it's just a regular airport." "Yeah, I check my messages and then..." "Check my messages..." "Hi Steph, I call you back, bye-bye." "Come on, came on..." "Have a message... come on..." "Oh, my Gosh!" "I've got into the College." "I have been accepted!" "I've got a scholarship in the Art Institute!" "I have been accepted!" "How did he know?" "..." "What are you, like a shrink or something?" "More like a counselor..." "How many languages do you speak?" "All of them." "God is my father." "It's Him!" "Wait!" "You need a cab?" "Yes, right coming back with my bags..." "Hi, welcome to the Harriston." "My name is Kelly." "Are you going to check in?" "Yeah." "And what is your name on the reservation?" "Cominsky." "Alright, Miss Cominsky, I have you done for a single room non-smoking for 2 nights, and you have a choice of the 1st floor by the pool, or 3rd floor of the Atrium." "I don't care..." "Pool." "No!" "Atrium." "Atrium." "Atrium it is." "Here you are." ""My sheeps hear to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life."" "Mom?" "Hey, it's me." "Yeah." "I got here just fine." "Listen, I've got tell you about the day I just had." "I think, I've met a man, an old friend of yours... subtitle by sbhun" "note:" "English is my foreign language and I'm not sure at every word in lines marked with: *" "version: 2014.03.02. 21:00"