You May Believe in God, I Never Will

You may believe in God, I never will.

I announced to a group of American college students who have just finished ‘talking into the air’ which they identified as ‘praying’.  I remember watching them with stunned curiosity as they engaged in this  utterly useless and  absurd activity. They prayed comfortably sprawled on the couches and sofas, about everything, and anything, including the absence of faith in God in my life.  It's weird to be a topic of somebody else's conversation with the Almighty.  Especially when you don't even believe in Him. But, they were chatting with their Dad, whom they also worshiped as the only God, the Creator of the Universe and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even though they spoke English, I knew that this was the language I definitely neither knew nor did I have desire to learn. 

It was early summer of 1986 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. I was an ambitious second year student at the University of Belgrade School of Philology, double-majoring in English Language and Literature and Comparative Literature and Theory of Literature.  With full two decades of life experiences under my belt, I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about this world and the best way to fix it.  My opinions were formed, my destiny determined. I was going to change the world through writing by becoming a professional journalist. 

It so happened that the same year, as if my English and Literature studies and my writing assignments were not challenging enough, I applied for  Molecular Biology and Genetics studies at the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.  Genetics was a budding science holding the promise of unlocking the key not only to the origin of life but also its quality and quantity – a sure path to the long, healthy, abundant life humanity longed for.  I was among the top fifteen out of 30 students total who were accepted - enjoying the benefit of full scholarship.  I felt I was on the top of the world - a proud atheist with a firm belief – supported by irrefutable evidence of my personal experience - in the power of knowledge and science to save all those who need saving.  And I was there to show the way and assist the process. Not some invisible, imaginary deity.