This post could have been called 'Where to find God' – but God is everywhere – so I'm calling it 'The Purpose of Life'. To understand one of the main purposes of life as I understand it, please join me on this personal journey. Recently, in a very humbling and touching ceremony, I was officially ordained as a non-denominational, Interfaith Minister; this was the exclamation point of the journey leading up to that moment.
A little over 10 years ago, in January of 1999, I was in the restaurant business, something I did for about 9 years. I entered this field because my family had been in the bakery and restaurant business since before I was born. Feeling like I needed a little vacation, I arranged a short, 4 day trip to California. I was even considering moving out there and thought I would check out the Napa Valley area, wine country, which is north of San Francisco.
In the days leading up to my trip, a fellow in his 30's started coming into the café for breakfast almost every morning. He sorta looked like Jesus, you know, the long haired hippie type with lots of hair on his face. J I'd never seen him in the café before.
… In the early morning hours at the café we would often take time to chat with the customers and this Jesus fellow learned from our conversation that I was headed for northern California and that I intended to visit the Redwood Forest, so he asked me if I would buy a T-shirt from the Redwood Forest for his daughter, so I said sure! He gave me some money, $40 bucks as I recall (you could buy at least two T-shirts or even a Sweatshirt for $40 Bucks!). He said he'd be back next week to see how the trip went and of course to pick up his T-shirt.
In the interest of time, let's fast forward now to California… I'm about a 2 hour drive away from Leggett, California and the Redwood Forest after driving almost all day and I'd rather be 5 minutes away – but I keep on driving because I made this promise to this Jesus guy and I'll just have to keep going….
….Finally I see the entrance to the Redwood Forest 'Drive-Thru Tree Park' and there's a souvenir shop there and I'm like 'Yay, I can get a T-shirt and get over to the ocean and start driving south – back toward San Francisco – I still had to find a hotel for the night yet.
As expected, the Redwood trees were huge and beautiful – even better than the pictures you see. I spent a little time selecting
just the right T-shirt, bought a few other souvenirs and then made my way toward the coast on Shoreline Highway #1. I had to take this 15 mile road basically up and down and around these mountains or big hills, making my way west toward the Pacific coastline. It seemed to take forever. The roads were so curvy; you could only drive about 15 mph. It was really weird too…there were these smaller, white, ashen looking trees – it kind of looked like a small petrified forest, and I was beginning to get a little petrified myself!
Finally, out of the corner of my eye, as I was swinging around yet another curve, I looked to my right and I saw a speck of blue – that has to be the ocean I thought! I came around the mountain side once more and there it was!
Bam!! Brand new movie!
WOW! OH MY GOD!
I stopped and got out of my car! There was the Pacific Ocean! Magnificent, turquoise blue endless beautiful ocean, crashing against huge rocks and boulders jutting out of the sand! All I could do was fall to my knees and cry to the awesome Creator who designed such magnificence!!
In that moment, a heart to heart or spirit to spirit connection with God was experienced. That moment, there on the shores of the Pacific Ocean near Leggett, California, it was crystal clear to me that God was real; we sensed each other! Surely this was an everyday thing for God, but it was brand new experience for me!
Had it not been for that Jesus fellow – I might have missed this moment. That moment led to my decision to become a minister- so reveling in the abundance of God's love, truth, goodness and beauty am I still, that I simply must tell everyone about him!
Unlike the magician who says "don't try this at home" – I can definitely recommend that you try to experience God at home or anywhere – for this is one of the main purposes of life – to make a connection to God.
There is a creation because God desired a relationship with intelligent creatures. It is God's desire that we know him, that we feel his love and affection, and that we voluntarily choose to love him in return.
I bought this wooden ball and string toy from that souvenir shop – it's made of Redwood. While doing my research for today's talk, I discovered a stamp on the toy that says: Community Cornerstone, Inc. This company was established to provide training and opportunities for adults with disabilities who live in this particular area of Northern California. I plan to spend a little more time looking at their website for new ideas and to learn more about their philosophy and mission– maybe this trip is the trip that just keeps on giving! This new little tidbit of information just increases the AWE
factor when I consider the phenomenal sequence of events that occurred that day.
Oh, and the Jesus guy? Well, I don't know if he was Jesus or not, but I sure think about him a lot. He stopped in to pick up his T-shirt and we never saw him again – at least not in that form!
Rev. Osri Hansen
July 14, 2009
Jesus paintings from Art for God, by Stephen Sawyer of Versailles, KY
- Divine Dignity
- He Went Apart to Pray