Does God read the comics?

I was running a little ahead of schedule for a meeting I had in New London this morning so I went for a walk down Captain's Walk. It was there that I noticed a store called Sarge's Comic Shop. I decided to go in and was immediately transported back in time nearly thirty years. Let me explain my comment.

In the winter of 1977 I went through a very difficult period of my life. I was working 30 hours a week, trying to take 15 credits at the University of Connecticut, and going through a deep depression. I also let myself go and began drinking too much. As a result I burned out and ended up being discharged from school.

In the Spring of 1978 I applied and was accepted at Eastern College and began to put my life back together after this rude wake call. I took one course and began looking for ways to get my focus back. One thing I did that really helped was my decision to start buying and reading comic books again. You see I had gotten out of the habit of reading. I needed something to spark my lifelong love of reading. Batman, Superman, The flash and a whole host of superheroes helped get me back on track. Laugh if you must, but I began reading again and by the fall of 1978 I was ready to take a full course load at Manchester Community College.

As I walked into Sarge's, it all came back to me again. I remember someone telling me it was a waste of time. The truth is that the short, exciting, action oriented comics got me going again and helped me remember why I loved school.

It's funny but some people think the only way to get to know God is by coming to worship on Sunday. The truth is that there are many different pathways to communion with God. It may be through a Max Lucado devotional or a musical concert at Central Baptist Church here in Norwich. A relationship to God may begin in a conversation with a friend at a coffee shop or at a bedside in a hospital room. Sometimes it is prompted by a response to a movie like C. S. Lewis' "Prince Caspian" or a documentary like Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

This is the good news. God is not limited in the number of ways that He can work in the world. He often uses the simple and ordinary things in our lives to restore us to a loving relationship with Him.

If God can use a comic book to bring me back, I am pretty sure he can use just about anything to to do the same for you. So listen for his voice and then go to Him. He wants to be with you today.

Cal