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Atheist to Theist

by SM Tesin
06/07/25
Not For Sale
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Prologue

It's said that God uses the familiar to introduce the spectacular. The following is one such example:

A tiny sparrow, sopping wet and quivering, took refuge under the wing of a raven. Perched high among the stars, they gazed down at the earth, which appeared the size of a tiny, toy marble. The raven was very wise and answered many difficult questions posed by the befuddled little hatchling.

After coddling the sparrow back to health, the raven spread its wings, nudged the tiny bird off the branch, and flew away—leaving the sparrow hurtling towards the earth. Astonishingly, the muddled little bird landed back on Earth unharmed. It was night, and the gentle waves washing over the beach could be seen under the imposingly brilliant full moon. 

Suddenly, the sparrow noticed a man in the distance walking away from her. Intuitively, she knew that he was the raven, and he was testing her—to see if she would fly away again.

"No! Not this time!" she shouted. "I'll never leave you again!" 

And so, it came to pass that she would make a covenant with the raven—a contract signed and sealed in her own blood. ~

That was my vision, and it was my first encounter with God. Initially, I thought, Well, that was unimpressive. I expected something miraculous, like fire to come down from heaven and sear my Thanksgiving turkey, a loaf of bread turned to stuffing as an added bonus. Okay, that’s a bit exaggerated. But as paltry and un-poultry as my vision was, it was consistent with the humble beginnings of the biblical prophets. Before Moses parted the Red Sea or unleashed the ten plagues, a relationship with the Almighty was first established.

Hi, I'm Moses. What's your name?

For Samuel, it was a voice: "Samuel, Samuel, (I'm up here), Samuel, (stuck in the chimney)." 

For Paul, it was a vision: (disco ball, please) Stayin' alive, stayin' alive, ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' aliiiive. 

They all began with a relationship—one that was paternal, fraternal, and eternal. Once that relationship was established, all kinds of crazy shit started happening. No wonder Jonah kept running away. Even Moses and Jeremiah initially said, No thanks, not me…pick someone else. No one wittingly applies for the job of being God's sidekick. I certainly didn't; but this is the story of how I was bamboozled into the shittiest job on the planet . . . a bondservant of Christ. 

Prerequisite: You must despise yourself enough to do whatever the boss tells you to do.

Training: If it doesn't kill you, you've made it to the next level.

There's no paid leave or vacation time: He's always working, and so are you.

Retirement benefit: A Gold Pass through the Pearly Gates.

So, without further ado-do, let's dive right in.

...to be continued.

(I have 27 chapters of the first draft completed. If you are interested in being a beta reader, please email me, [email protected])