My wife had just died. I was still in a daze of grief. Someone knocked. It was two men from the Watchtower Society. Jehovah's Witnesses people called them. They had some literature. They always do.
I had a desire to talk, so we conversed. When I explained that my wife had just died, the older of the two said he understood. His wife had died, too. "You can find someone else," he said. "I did."
I hastened to tell them I did not believe in their religion, and had studied it extensively, sometimes with their oldest literature. The younger man asked if I was really sure. We made eye contact. I had the strong feeling he really wanted to know the truth.
"I have really studied it, and it is fatally flawed," I told him. "Really look at it."
I did not feel I was talking to two people who were brainwashed. "I can feel your sincerity," I told them. "You are sincere but wrong."
"Have you really looked at it?" the younger man asked. I had, and told him so. They left after wishing me well.
I kept thinking of the younger man. I believe he really wanted to know the truth.
And I have to believe that on that day, your sincerity began his journey of discovery. We never know what a ripple we start with sincere words.
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