Non: Why do you believe?

Believer: That's a complicated question.

Non: I'm asking it. Why do you believe?

Believer: Because its the truth.

Non: You can't prove its true.

Believer: You can't prove it isn't.

Non: Fair enough.

Believer: You can believe too.

Non: I'm not convinced yet. I've seen too much to convince me otherwise.

Believer: Like what?

Non: You say you believe one thing, but you do something else.

Believer: Me personally,?

Non: Other believers.

Believer: No one is perfect.

Non: But I see hypocrites everywhere. You talk about love, but practice condemnation.

Believer: Not all of us are like that.

Non: No, I know, but its still a problem.

Believer: There are those who only claim to believe, but don't, and there are those who

believe, but don't live it. But you can't judge everyone by them.

Non: So if its the truth, why don't you all live it?

Believer: Real life gets in the way sometimes. Distracts from what we believe. Makes us mess up.

Non: Is that all they are? Mess ups?

Believer: Yes.

Non: Some "mess-ups" are pretty destructive.

Believer: When people sin, it hurts others. That's part of why its sin.

Non: And so you believe, but live like everyone else anyway?

Believer: Believing doesn't make you perfect. That's impossible in this life. Of course we're going to fall, that's part of walking. But part of belief is trusting in His help to get you back up again.

Non: You describe it as a walk a lot.

Believer: It is like a walk.

Non: How so?

Believer: Believing isn't an end point, its the beginning of a journey that lasts the rest of your life. Its a process and a lifestyle, not a single action.

Non: Sounds tiring.

Believer: It can be. But there's always someone more powerful to help you.

Non: So you believe.

Believer: Yes.

Non: So why do you feel the need to push it on everyone else?

Believer: Am I pushing you?

Non: No.

Believer: I don't want to force it on anyone. But I do want everyone to have the opportunity to discover this relationship.

Non: You think you have something good?

Believer: Yes.

Non: And you want to share it?

Believer: Yes.

Non: I suppose that makes sense. From your point of view.

Believer: Would you like to know more?

Non: Yes. How did you come to believe?

Believer: One of my friends shared it with me.

Non: Like you want to share with me.

Believer: Yes.

Non: You're all really big on the sharing thing, aren't you?

Believer: Well, think of it like this.

Non: I'm listening.

Believer: Think of it as a cure for a disease.

Non: A disease?

Believer: Yes. We're all infected with sin. And eventually this disease of sin will kill us. Believing in Him is the cure.

Non: I thought you said believers still sin.

Believer: Yes, you're right. I guess its more like a vaccine.

Non: I don't understand.

Believer: When you believe, you accept that you need His help to be cured, and that changes how you live this life, because you are living for the promise of being cured in the next.

Non: Like reincarnation?

Believer: Like heaven.

Non: Oh. An afterlife.

Believer: Yes.

Non: So how does that affect this life?

Believer: You live differently. You live with gratitude for the gift you've been given. And you try to share it with as many people as possible, so they can accept the gift too.

Non: So you live your life in service?

Believer: Essentially, yes.

Non: What if you're wrong? If this is all there is, oh well, you lived a good life?

Believer: No. No, if this is it then I have wasted my life.

Non: What do you mean?

Believer: If I'm wrong, then I've spent my life sharing a lie. If I'm wrong, I should have been doing everything possible to make myself feel as good as possible in this life. If I'm wrong, I've lived believing in something that will never happen, trusting in a useless promise, and leading others to have the same hopeless faith as me. If I'm wrong, I've lived like a fool.

Non: I see. If you're wrong, you're not cured from your disease, but think you are.

Believer: Exactly.

Non: How depressing.

Believer: It would be. But I'm not wrong.

Non: How do you know?

Believer: I believe it.

Non: And I could believe it too?

Believer: Yes, you could.