<\/em>may cause moments of transcendence in your regularly-scheduled life\u2013 whether you\u2019re a believer, Atheist, or, as Frank\u2019s title holds, both at the same time.<\/p>\nLast Tuesday, I sat down with Frank, New York Times<\/em> bestselling author (and son renowned authors Francis and Edith Schaeffer), via Skype to talk about PTCS, spiritual healing and his new book. I transcribed part of our conversation in my next post, and you can listen to the whole conversation by clicking here. But before I get to the interview, I\u2019d like to tell you about a Frank-induced transcendent moment I experienced yesterday when a grungy, red-headed homeless gentleman waved me into a metered spot downtown.<\/p>\n\u201cForty minutes left, Ma\u2019am!\u201d he yelled. Exiting the car, I dug around for the cash I would have used for parking and handed it to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all I\u2019ve got,\u201d I apologized. (I have mixed feelings on giving out money on the street, but this guy was sober and trying to earn a buck.)<\/p>\n
\u201cGod bless you,\u201d the gentleman replied.<\/p>\n
I expected him to walk away. He had his money; I had told him it was all I had. But he didn\u2019t walk away. He said: \u201cMa\u2019am, you sure look beautiful .\u201d<\/p>\n
(Friends, I must pause to explain that I did NOT. Yesterday\u2019s look was Medusa in Baggy Sweatpants.<\/em>)<\/p>\nIf I hadn\u2019t read Frank Schaeffer\u2019s book, this would not have been an existential moment; this would have been a moment in which I assumed the homeless gentleman was drunk after all.<\/p>\n
But because I had just talked with Mr. Schaeffer, and because I had <\/em>just read his latest book Why I\u2019m an Atheist Who Believes in God: How To Give Love, Create Beauty And Find Peace, <\/em>the bottom fell out of that superficial moment, right into a glimpse of clarity. I remembered this scene from Frank\u2019s life (excerpt below) when he was standing \u00a0in the communion line with his granddaughter Lucy in his arms:<\/p>\n\u201cWith my head bowed and my eyes closed I shuffled forward to the chalice to receive the \u201cbody and blood\u201d through a ritual I don\u2019t comprehend and that seemed entirely pointless that day. I was adrift in my melancholy. Then I felt the touch of Lucy\u2019s hand on my face and\u2014startled\u2014opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
It took me a moment to remember where I was. Lucy was gazing into my face. She wasn\u2019t smiling, just gazing at me in that straightforward way that only a child achieves: with serious concentration and offering me a transparent \u201clook\u201d that had no agenda. She wanted nothing from me. All I saw in Lucy\u2019s expression was unconditional trust. All I saw was a child who knows me\u00a0now<\/em>\u00a0and who never expects anything but kindness from me. She did not know of my past sins, failings and bitter self-accusing regrets. Lucy was not judging me. I was accusing myself while she was just gently touching her Ba\u2019s cheek, checking to see why my eyes were closed.<\/p>\nLucy inclined her head and kissed me. This thought crashed into my brain: I am being seen\u00a0as I\u2019d like to be perceived<\/em>, not as I see myself. I have seen the face of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at the homeless gentleman and considered that while he <\/em>was busy seeing me the way I\u2019d like to be perceived, I was inwardly rolling my eyes at him\u2014thinking he should really take a shower and get a real job already.<\/p>\nThe transcendent interrupted the superficiality of his initial comment as I considered his kindness.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing right isn\u2019t important,\u201d Frank had said, \u201cThere is no right. Being kind is all we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
How often am I kind enough to I perceive people as they would like to be?<\/p>\n
Not nearly often enough. But thanks to Mr. Schaeffer, I plan to change that answer.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Download Why I\u2019m an Atheist Who Believes in God (for FREE today 5\/30 and tomorrow 5\/31<\/a>)\u2014and learn how to give love, create beauty and find peace wherever you are or aren\u2019t in your spiritual journey.<\/p>\nFor excerpts from our interview and to listen to the recording, please see my next post.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments of transcendence in your regularly-scheduled life\u2013 whether you\u2019re a believer, Atheist, or, as Frank\u2019s title holds, both at the same time. Last Tuesday, I sat down with Frank, New York […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1839,"featured_media":92,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-30T20:09:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-15T18:18:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/434\/2014\/05\/Atheist-in-God.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"545\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"818\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Reba Riley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Reba Riley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/\",\"name\":\"Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-30T20:09:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-15T18:18:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#\/schema\/person\/0349d47547534eeb8cc5efe3a3b3ac82\"},\"description\":\"Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why I’m an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/\",\"name\":\"Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#\/schema\/person\/0349d47547534eeb8cc5efe3a3b3ac82\",\"name\":\"Reba Riley\",\"description\":\"Reba Riley is the author of Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome: One Woman's Desperate, Funny, Healing Journey To Explore 30 Religions By Her 30th Birthday\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.rebariley.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/author\/rriley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)","description":"Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)","og_description":"Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/","og_site_name":"Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome","article_published_time":"2014-05-30T20:09:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-15T18:18:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"545","height":"818","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/434\/2014\/05\/Atheist-in-God.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Reba Riley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Reba Riley","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/","name":"Why I'm an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-05-30T20:09:58+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-15T18:18:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#\/schema\/person\/0349d47547534eeb8cc5efe3a3b3ac82"},"description":"Warning: Frank Schaeffer\u2019s new book Why I\u2019m An Atheist Who Believes in God (available for download FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow!) may cause moments","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/2014\/05\/why-im-an-atheist-who-believes-in-god-by-frank-schaeffer-part-one\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why I’m an Atheist Who Believes in God by Frank Schaeffer (Part One)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/","name":"Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/#\/schema\/person\/0349d47547534eeb8cc5efe3a3b3ac82","name":"Reba Riley","description":"Reba Riley is the author of Post-Traumatic Church Syndrome: One Woman's Desperate, Funny, Healing Journey To Explore 30 Religions By Her 30th Birthday","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.rebariley.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/author\/rriley\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1839"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rebariley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}