This is a wonderful piece of emotions that I went through just a short while back after my succesful first visit to the church. To present a little background, I have always longed to go to a church, just to know how the christianism has evolved, the format of worship. When compared to the various kinds Hindu worship methods, mabbe I would wanna see a change. Whatever little knowlege that I had previously about christianism, Jesus, Churches has undergone a vital change inside me. Myths shattered, enjoyed the feel of coming out of a smaller circle into a wider circle. My office mate Alex (origin in Hongkong, settled in Canada since his childhood, baptised early in life) and myself used to have really long conversations about religions. To be frank, I found so much joy in sharing the knowledge that I had about Hinduism, and whatever he knew about christianism. I was longing to have the feel of god for quite a long time since I came to this country.
After my futile attempts in trying to figure out a temple nearby waterloo that actually gives me the feeling of being in a temple, I looked upon a church. I would never say that I am an Atheist. But I believe and truely acknowledge that there exists a god who's there all around taking care of us every moment. He could be of any format, Allah, Jesus, Shiva, Vishnu, Durga devi, or a baby that smiles, you, me and even my laptop that dances before me is all a manifestation of god. I had requested Alex to take me to the church that he regularly visits. We decided upon it this sunday 13th of January 2007. Although, I slept at 3 in the morning but with the help of my inner consciousness, I made myself stick to the timing that we decided, made a wake up call to Alex to make it to the 10:55 free school bus ride outside SLC.(The school buses in here are a lot more sophisticated than the ones in India) .
As the bus was making a turn around 660, conservation drive,
www.creeksidechurch.ca, I could smell the sweetness in the air, a feeling of seeing someone whom I knew long back to drop in to tell a "Hi, Mr.God Howz u doing ? " kinds. The building was very modern which shattered the picture that I had imagined. I expected it to be a wonderful architecture outside the church with a holy cross on top of the building, and inside with all benches lined up before the statue of Jesus christ on a small front dias where Father sits. I was taken aback by surprise. That was the hardest thing I could ever imagine to be there was what I saw. It was an old gym converted to a small auditorium and on the diars, I could recognise big drums set with guitarists and vocalists lined up.
It started with a couple of songs sung in the most informal way(just like how music clubberz perform on stage) that aroused me into my deepest desires of God. This is the first time ever in my life, that I sung English songs, with the complete understanding of each word that I uttered. The verses was displayed in a giant monitor screen, Whenever a line made its complete sense to me a trickle went passed my eyes. I was amazed at the way the crowd responded. Everybody stood up and sang with a whole heart that immersed and dissolved me so much that I tasted the real spirit of God in each and every line of it. HE was there all around me. When I was looking around people's expressions, I had the sensation of a mountain moving inside me. There was a girl who was showing all sorts of wierd hand signs at each and every word of the song that she murmured. It didnt took me much time to realise that she was handsigning the way dum and deaf people express the english words given to them. I wiped a big tear trickling down at the end of my eyes.
A big guy came up after a couple of songs and briefed us about the old testament. That was the first time ever I had heard of it and it was impressive. All this while, I knew Israel had some wonders hidden inside, and this was the first time it got revealed to me. The Bible consists of 39 books of old testament ( that talks about christianism before Jesus ) and 27 books of new testment (that talks about Jesus and churches). He whizzled through an hour of the most liveliest presentations of the old testament at the end of which he wants us not to remember wat he said but just to get a glimpse of what the holy bible contains. This aroused me the feeling of reading bible atleast in somepoint of my life.
The best part is right now. After the session I boarded the bus back and was excitedly explaining and asking questions to Alex in the last seat of the same school bus. A chap sitting before mine apparently heard our conversation. He turned back at me and asked "Is this the first time you are at a church ?". With a touch of astonishment, I exclaimed, "Yes" proudly. He said, "You might wanna take a look at this" and he gave me his copy of the "New testament ; Psalms and Proverbs". I was startled at his behaviour. I was wondering if he had a duplicate copy with him. As I flipped thru the first few pages, I noticed "This copy is not to be sold". I was in a complete ecstasy at that moment. When I got down from the bus, I started a small conversation with that undergrad student, when his girl friend and his buddy were looking at me dazzled. After a couple of dialogues, he questioned me, "Are you coming down to the church some other time ?". That moment felt like, an arrow faster than Arjuna's best shot pierced my heart and ripped apart. It made me realise, how much Church means to those kids. I said in next 4 weeks for sure, as I know alex will be travelling the consecutive 4 weekends. I am not sure, if he felt good about my reply, but it left a sizzling bee stung inside me.
The whole experience that I had today made me taste success, much sweeter than honey, in my attempt to have the feeling of god in canada. I am sure I can't forget this day nor its exhilarating moments right through the day. It made me very well prepared to take it right through the day as the non-stop journey of life continues ....
