February 18th, 2016

For the last three weeks I have been going to the cafe to see my friend “Talli.”  She is a 20-year-old barista who works the 8-4 shift.  I started having spiritual conversations with Talli by introducing myself as a minister. I asked her if she had ever read the Bible and if she believed in God. She told me she grew up Catholic and thought that it’s good to be open minded towards different perspectives. She thought religion was a good thing because it gave people something to hope in. I told her I thought it was good to have something to hope in, but that something isn’t worth even hoping in if it’s not really true. We then started talking about what it means for God to be real. I shared, “In one sense, it’s tricky deciding whether you believe in God or not.” We talked about what it means for God to be a creator, and what we can learn about God by looking at the created world.

I then briefly explained how God’s design of plants, animals, people, and the rest of the world cause many to trust in God’s existence. She responded with, “Yeah, that makes sense,” and went on to imply that she had decided that she did believe in God. She told me a while back that she wished she knew the whole story of what the Bible is about, since she’s only heard bits and pieces.  In my following three meetings with Talli I told her five Bible stories: Adam and Eve, Abraham and his promised child, God’s covenant with Israel on Sinai, a summary of the prophecies about the Messiah, and the birth of Christ.  After each discussion she thanked me liberally and even once said she had no idea learning about the Bible could be so interesting.  

When I saw her today at the cafe she said, “I remember that when I’ve tried to read the Bible before, it’s been very difficult to understand.”  I then explained that some translations are easier to understand and some harder.  I showed her a translation in simple modern English. After leafing through it and making comments for several minutes, she told me how cool she thought my Bible was. I told her she should borrow it for a little while and if she has time or is bored, she should read in the New Testament about Jesus while I continue to come occasionally and tell her stories. The last thing she said before I got up to leave is, “Thank you so much; I’m going to read it later today.”

By S. Salem in NYC