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He smiled. “Nope.” He extended his arm out behind him, nearly touching my body with it. If anyone were to walk over right now, they would assume we were together.
“Why not?” I looked down at my feet and pretended to adjust my shoe as I inconspicuously slid a little further down the bench.
“I don’t know. I’m more of a sci-fi guy.” He winked with his response as if the woman who was asking himwhyhe didn’t believe in God would be charmed by that.
“So, what does that mean?”
“I believe in evolution.” He stiffened and pulled his arm back as the conversation grew a little more serious.
“Ahh. So, nothing plus nothing made everything?”
“Pretty much.” He was smiling still, but he looked off into the distance as he answered my question.
“Where’s the proof of that? I don’t recall seeing any half-amphibious menwalking around.”
Although my childhood swimming teacher could nearly take on that very description.
“Well, it’s just something I’ve studied and believe is the truth. I can’t really give certain proof.”
“So, it’s a matter of faith.”
He smiled and nodded. “Exactly!”
I looked back at the dogs. Dolly now had one of the little tennis balls she was moving around with her nose.
“What about this bench?” I knocked my fist on it. “Did it appear out of thin air, or does it have a creator?”
“My guess is it’s manufactured by the same people who make the billboard benches at bus stops.”
He didn’t quite catch onto my drift there.
“Do you believe that someone made this simple metal bench, but there’s no creator for the intricate design of human life?”
He didn’t answer for a few minutes, but he looked at me with a shocked expression. So, I went on.
“Did you know that God formed you in the womb? He knows how many hairs are on your head. He has your entire life written in his book. And he loves you more than you can fathom.”
“I don’t know if I can believe that. If he loves me, why did my past happen the way it did? Why is there so much hurt and suffering around me?”
I wanted to reach out and take his hand, but I knew I couldn’t do so platonically.
“Have you ever heard of Adam and Eve?”
Micah looked up at me again with a brilliant smile and nodded.His teeth could bring world peace.
“They lived in paradise and walked with God. I can’t imagine how beautiful their life must have been at first. But you see, they were deceived, and ultimatelysinned against God. He told them they could eat anything except the fruit from the tree of Good and Evil, which they did, and now we live in a fallen world because of it.
“See, we all have free will. Adam and Eve had free will, and that’s why they were able to commit the sin. You see what I mean? People aren’t forced into living holy lives and as sad as it is, most choose a life of sin, even when they think they are good people.”
“I’m a good person.” Micah announced.
“And I’m sure you are. But not even one of us can live up to the glory of God. But there’s good news—God sent His son to save us.”
“Jesus, right?”
I nodded. “Yes! Jesus came to earth and sadly he was tortured and crucified. But he took on all our sin when he died so that we may be saved. We can’t buy our own salvation or make it to heaven on our own. There’s only one way—and that's to repent of our ways and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Doing so and we become born again.”
“What happened to Jesus?”
