Currently, I am reading a book called The Zahir by Paulo Coelho. It is about the story of a man who is married 10 years to his wife Esther. Esther brings out the best in him and encourages him to pursue his dream of being a writer. While their relationship is solid, Esther wants more and still feels a deeper longing. After becoming a war correspondent and becoming friends with a translator, she one day disappears and leaves her husband without a goodbye. He is heart broken and wants to find her but can't. He eventually moves on with his life, going out, and finding a new love. However, finding his wife becomes an obsession, his zahir. He ends up meeting the translator, who he thinks had an affair with his wife. His focus is on finding his love but through dramatic experiences, stories, and a friendship with the translator, he discovers a new way to love that causes him to cleanse himself of his past and that which he wants to hold on to in order to free himself to truly be able to love. The book is written like an autobiography as it deals with the deeper journeys and lessons Coelho has learned deep inside of his soul. While much of what he writes is true of his life, this isn't to say all the events or stories in the book actually happened. So while the book may be part autobiographical and part fiction, the journey and the lessons learned are real.
Paulo Coelho is my favorite author. This is the third book I have read by him (Veronika Decides to Die and The Alchemist being the other two) and Coelho always writes about the deeper things in life. Without a doubt, Coelho is drawn to spirituality and a faith in God. Coelho may not live the life many people would think he should as a man of faith and spirituality but I love how he reveals truth in his stories. In the books I have read, he talks about spirituality in terms of mysticism, signs and wonders, and magical powers. However, this is not in the sense of fantasy but real lives encountering the work of God in mysterious ways. In The Alchemist, he speaks of pursuing our dream/mission and the steps that happen along the way - failure, encountering obstacles, patience, and suffering. Many of these are tests to see how much we want it and to realize that the dream comes from something bigger than ourselves. In the end, he discovers that the dream is in the journey and the experiences along the way rather than the destination. It is living out the journey in pursuit of the dream that makes it worthwhile. In this book, he speaks of an energy of love that can't be controlled. It comes not from us and we can't make love look like what we want it to be. However, there are signs along the way that are always there. We need to learn how to listen and live our lives daily to tell our stories, to free us from our past, and open up places inside ourselves that then free us to love. Marriage, children, jobs, homes, careers, and the ups and downs of life keep us in bondage to what we think love should look like rather than freeing ourselves to not be held captive by anything so that we are then free to love. It is these deep spiritual messages and truths that inspire me and make me think about the meaning of life when I read his books.
For many people, an alchemist, an epilectic translator who hears a voice of a girl, and mystic powers may not seem like sources that can reveal any truth from God. After all, even though Coelho believes in God and has his faith, his books deal with people from different countries, different religions, and a new age way of looking at spirituality. However, when you get the meaning behind the message, you understand how much these truths illustrate who God is and what he wants for us. I used to think that God only speaks through the bible, in churches, in times of fellowship with other Christians, or in Christian books. But if we limit our experiences and encounters with God to these things, we miss out on hearing and relating to God in so many different areas of life. Romans 1:20 states "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
God's not just found inside the church. Maybe people are afraid of what is out there in the world thinking that faith may be hindered or that temptation is too great so we must remain close to the church and the truth. I believe Coelho is correct in that there are signs everywhere and we just need to learn to find them. Sometimes that is a voice that must be listened to and obeyed without understanding. Maybe it is an encounter with a beggar or some new age person living on the other side of the world. Maybe just time in nature will open eyes to God's wonder and creation where people have some personal encounter or revelation about God that they never experienced in church or just by reading the bible. Maybe reading some book of fiction about spirituality dealing with mysticism or mysterious signs may not seem like the ideal way to find God or his truth. But it doesn't mean God isn't working or isn't in those things. There are many people in this world who have never stepped foot inside of a church or talked to any Christians. Yet God has worked in their lives to reveal aspects of himself that we may not have experienced. Don't be afraid to read a book, talk to someone different, or experience an adventure or a new destination. While Christians are called to reach the world, there is also a lot in this world that God can use to reach and teach us. So maybe there are people and places that don't need to always hear what we have but maybe they are there because there is something we need to learn from them.
I have had great moments and experiences at church, reading the bible, hanging out with other Christians, and reading good Christian books. I used to think that is how I met God. But there are various moments in my life where I have experienced God. And those experiences are greater than anything that can be put into words. Here are some moments and places where I have had my greatest experiences with God that even go beyond my experiences at church, reading, or with other Christians - a hike up a cliff overlooking a valley in Austria, a hospital room in 1995 with my grandfather, a deserted beach at night in Salema, Portugal, a quiet evening in my living room in June 2004, a conversation with a Canadian couple over breakfast in Ronda, Spain, my grandparents' bedroom the night my grandfather died in January 1996, driving along highway 99 on my way to Yuba City for work in July 2004, a stroll through the park in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris June 2004, crying myself to sleep in my bedroom in August 2004, brushing my teeth in the bathroom in February 2004, various moments throughout this one day while visiting a girl at Mississippi State in October 1995. There are many others as well. Some of these involved listening to a small voice, finding healing from my past and being able to experience and give love, being with and connecting with people I didn't even know, experiencing God in his creation, and experiencing God and who he is as opposed to just believing in it. These moments didn't happen because of some church experience or reading the bible or even hanging out with Christians. I experienced God and his truths by seeing him in the world around me.
In Coelho's books, I am challenged by his stories and experiences of different people from different places with different lifestyles to find deeper meaning and truths that God is teaching me. If we put God in a box and say there are only certain places in which we can find him, we miss out on so many things in this world, people we can encounter, places we can go, and experiences and adventures we can have, where God is there also.
