“Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope”. 1Peter 3:15

Not long ago I published a blog entitled God is really Real. In the blog, I invited you to search your heart as to why you believe God is really real, and to share that story with someone you know or might encounter in the future, who might not believe in God at all, or might be questioning his existence. I also asked that you would share your story with the rest of us by sending it to me at billeckert49@gmail.com. If you haven’t read the blog, and would like to, you can find it by clicking here.

Below are three of those responses that I have received. I will be publishing more in the near future, and will continue as long as I keep receiving them from you. As with these below, they will be published anonymously. If it concerns you that I may come to know your identity by your email address, I invite you to mail me yours instead. Bill Eckert, 5402 Barcelona Ct., Georgetown, TX 78628.

Thank you to the few who have sent me theirs. 

Response #1

God has been such a big part of my life. Always at my side. Sometimes I forget my part in things and question God but he is always there listening to me. I often think about the people who have no relationship with our lord and wonder how do you get through life without God . There are so many things in life that happen that let you know you are not alone. I have prayed and prayed for one thing or another. Only to have them answered in an entirely different way . It usually takes a long time to realize that your prayers were answered, in a much better way than if you had been on your own. God has put people in my life right when I needed them the most. Through all the pain, tears and disappointments in life, God was there too. I think about all the heartache Mary had to endure being the Mother of our lord. To watch your son suffer so much. God has given us so much and chance after chance. I picture him with his face in his hands crying for how this world has abandoned him for greed and other worldly things, but then you will see his goodness in the good deeds of others. My Dad would always say to me (did anyone ever tell you life was fair?) I can still hear his words perfectly. He would say don’t ever do the three Cs . Criticize , Condemn , or Complain. Words to live by. Thank you lord for Blessing me.

Response #2

Encounters with Christ

November 1960

One year since last confession. On and off Mass attendance and when there, often late to arrive and early to leave. Walking up the street in the evening from work to catch a bus home. I remembered that St. Mary’s had confessions that evening and I had an overwhelming urge to go. I do not recall everything I confessed to, but I remember the joy of receiving absolution. Christ picked me up that night and has done so many other times, mostly through others. I continued to fall and often wonder why I let those holy moments go to waste or really did they. I must have had to go through addiction, poor or no prayer life and the stubborn refusal to let Christ in my life. Christ has reached out to me and blessed me in so many ways. I struggle with feeling deserving of his love and forgiveness, which is often manifested by friends, spouse and acts of kindness by strangers. All I know to do is keep praying and to let God into my life, for that is where I find Joy.

Response #3

Is God Really Real?

Bill Eckert recently wrote a blog on this subject.  He challenged anyone and everyone to respond as to whether we (they) have ever given any thought to this question.  My immediate thought, response, was yes, more than once.  In fact, I have spent a great portion of my adult life pondering this question along with other doctrinal and theological issues that we encounter every day in this supposedly modern world.  I can’t say that I have come to any conclusive answer but as a result of all the reading of books; Why God Won’t Go Away (Andrew Newberg, MD., Eugene D’Aquili, MD., PhD., and Vince Rause), Handbook of Christian Apologetics (Peter Kreeft & Ronald K. Tacelli), listening to podcast on Catholic Answers Live and watching videos also on Catholic Answers live. I am certainly more knowledgeable on the subject while at the same time lacking clear understanding.

Looking back to when I first began to really ponder this question and others (late 20’s into my 30’s) it wasn’t the question “is God Really Real” that I started with.  Instead of beginning with God and looking forward, I started with my Catholic faith and looked backwards.  I didn’t really question much of my faith when I was younger because I grew up in a very homogenized environment.  Everyone that I knew was Catholic. In fact I didn’t even know that there were any other religions or faiths out there until I got to High School.  Needless to say, I led a pretty sheltered life as far as my faith is concerned.  It wasn’t until I got to college and met classmates of other faiths (religions) that I became exposed to other possibilities as to what I should or could believe.  I started by exploring what these other faiths had to offer.  Intrigued, I took a World Religions course and my world expanded.  So many questions and so few answers.  However, the proverbial Pandora’s Box was opened and there was no turning back.

It all began with the question: “why am I Catholic,” which led to “why is the Catholic faith so different from the others,” to “are any of them real, valid, true?”  It wasn’t until I made the journey back “are any of them real, valid or true that I began to explore the aforementioned question, “Is God really real.”   It didn’t take me to long to realize that starting with God was going to be a really big mountain to climb, not that I didn’t try climbing it.  I just kept falling down the side of the mountain, crashing pretty hard sometimes.  It always did take a lot to knock any sense into me.

Looking at the question, starting with God (the Father Creator) left me with more questions and confusion than it was answering.  So, I looked to Jesus. A good place to start was with C. S. Lewis’ book titled Mere Christianity.  Regarding Jesus, it struck me when I read Lewis’s statement that He was either a) the greatest liar ever, b) a lunatic, c) exactly who he said he was.  There were many antichrists who claimed to be the messiah but were not.  In Acts Chapter 5 Gamaliel names a couple men who claimed to be the messiah, one named Theudas (who was killed) and Judas the Galilean who also perished and his followers disbanded.(Acts 5:36-37) So, I concluded that if Jesus is who he says that He is, and then claims that He and the Father are one: “so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.” (JN 17:21).

In my head I reason and understand that God is real, but it took a little while longer to get that into my heart, my being, my soul.  As Bill mentioned in his article, I too attended a retreat called Christian Experience Weekend, CEW for short.  I would like to say that I had a real conversion experience on that first retreat weekend I attended but not so much.  I was pretty jaded at the time (having said No the first 5 times I was asked to go on the retreat.  I had a pretty good excuse for each time but by the 6th request to go, I ran out of excuses.  Needless to say I went reluctantly. I did not allow myself to open up and listen to the speakers and to experience what the retreat had to offer.  It wasn’t until about six months later when I was asked to do a witness talk at one of the Masses for the upcoming retreat that I realized that something had changed in me.  Prior to making the weekend, I was experiencing abdominal pains that would have me waking up at night and rolling on the floor because the pain was so intense.  I was taking Tagamet, Carafate and anything else that I thought would ease the pain and fix the problem.  I didn’t know what I was going to say in my witness talk, which was to last only a couple of minutes.  Walking up to the ambo, a voice in my head asked if my stomach was hurting.  I couldn’t think of the last time that I had an attack or was rolled up in a ball on the floor.  I was at peace with myself.  It was then that I knew the answer to the question.  Yes, God really does exist.