May The Circle Be Unbroken
I came home yesterday and there was a message on my phone. It was an automated call--no matter how many times I sign up for the "no call" list they still get through. But this one was unusual.
It was a guy who had a story to tell--a long story, as the whole call took four minutes. Apparently, years ago he had a personal religious experience, and he wants everyone to know. (So much for keeping it personal.) What was the story? You know. The kind you can hear all the time on TV or the internet.
More important, he asked me if I wanted to be saved. (Before that he asked me if I wanted to be removed from his list--just press 8--though he noted he was not legally required to do this. Am I supposed to give him points for this?)
In case you're wondering how, he made it clear it's not done by joining a church or a religion, or doing good deeds and living a moral life. No, I would have to be born again, which I could do by joining him in prayer.
After the prayer, he asked if I wanted to be added to his prayer circle--just press 1. Hey, he found me without my help, can't be pray for me without me joining him? (And why does he pray anyway? I thought actions couldn't save you.)
posted by LAGuy @ 12:15 AM
3 Comments:
Re: no call list. I don't get it either. I know that one exception is that companies I already have a relationship are exempt -- i.e., my cable company can call me to try to sell me more of their products. But I don't know how this guy got through. But they do. I even get calls from India.
Re: "press 1 for prayer". Ugh! This reminds me of the recorded message from the demonic law firm Wolfram & Hart on the show Angel: "You have reached the Ritual Sacrifice department. To sacrifice a goat, press 1, or say 'goat'."
Re: theology. Many Protestants in the Lutheran or Calvinist tradition insist that your actions can't save you, but prayer is good. They have a variety of explanations, some sensible and some less so. But Catholics and Orthodox and Methodists and various others reject the premise. It's really hard to read the Bible and conclude that God doesn't care what actions people do.....
It's a bit of a paradox. Your actions can't save you, but if you are the kind of person who'd be saved, you'd be doing good things.
I thought it was that your actions can't save you but they can condemn you--so if you are Calvin's List of Elect, you can get kicked off for pushing the wrong prayer button. Tough crowd.
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