Each day I respond to comments on a channel called Off the Left Eye. A bunch of them are simply accolades for the show, and it is like dessert without the calories to be able to respond. Another handful of writers asks questions, which sends me hunting in either newchristianbiblestudy.org, or biblegateway.com. For some reason that last one shows up in my brain as bible getaway, but I usually still find it. 

 

A while back a writer was asking something and I could not follow his train of thought. Some of the words were misused, and it got in the way of my eagerness to converse. I wrote something uninspired. The next day he tried again, beginning with an apology. 

 

"I am sorry for my poor communication. I am Armenian, and speak also Russian, and German. English is not easy."

 

Wham!! Instantly my heart opened up to this person who was more than meeting me halfway in my monolinguistic silo. Of course I can forgive his mistakes.  I eagerly leaped into his questions, and invited him to tell me more about himself. 

 

"Thank you for asking. I first found Swedenborg when herding cattle in the mountains, listening to an audio book by Raymond Moody."

 

My mind rattled at the image of this shepherd on the hillside, trying to understand the afterlife using modern technology and a crook. I chastised myself for my earlier impatience. He went on. 

 

"Life in Armenia is hard. When I was a small child I had bad nightmares. They did not stop. Then one time I got up and found a small black New Testament on the shelf and put it under my pillow. The nightmares stopped."

 

I felt a rush of affection for this person on the other side of the world. My propensity for egocentricity glared at me. This small exchange reminded me that whole swaths of the world speak a different tongue, and deal with civil conflict. Yet we are similar in our need for a restful night's sleep, and answers about eternal life.