Of judgement, redemption and the saviour

You have 38 days to embrace Christ, judgement day is here!

Those were the words I heard from an earnest old man while waiting for a train in the sleepy suburban New York town of Suffern. Under normal circumstances, I would've smiled politely and refused the pamphlet the man was shoving into my palm. But obviously, today was an exception. After all I needed some meat to write this post.

So, when thus addressed, I simply said - oh, but I'm not Christian. The last I saw the hurt look he gave me was on my husband's face when I told him that we would not be buying iPhone 4, IPad 2 or the new version of Wei. The old man with his faded cap, as soon as he found his words, then asked me quite genuinely - What are you?

Seeing that this was going to be a memorable conversation, I informed him I was what they called a Hindu. He wondered for a moment as to why I was making random noises and calling it a religion but quickly ignored what I said and proceeded to inquire whether I knew about Christ and the bible. I said I had vaguely heard about them (little did he know that I had studied in Christ's temple of knowledge). By now, the man was visibly agitated and said I simply must read the pamphlet because I was running out of time. "He is coming next month."

He seemed to so absolutely believe in what he was saying that I didn't have the heart to refuse. He approved solemnly and asked me if I wanted a copy of the bible and reassured me that much could be accomplished with in 38 days.

Just then my train arrived and his parting words to me were - "This is not a joke. I'm not trying to make money. I just want to help."

I thanked him for the effort and boarded the train. I'm now wondering what he would have said had I told him how I really felt about the issue.

As luck would have it, he will never know. And thank god for that.