GOD: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher - The Podcast
GOD: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher - The Podcast
188. From God To Jerry To You- God, How Did You Manage To Find Me?
Can an encounter with love transform a hardened skeptic into a believer?
Join God: An Autobiography, The Podcast for an exploration of the captivating story and profound spiritual journey of Dr. Jerry L. Martin, a lifelong agnostic turned believer. As an agnostic logic professor, Jerry's unexpected romantic connection leads him down an uncharted spiritual path. He recounts his incredible experience of falling deeply in love and how this transformative event led him to pray to a God he didn’t believe in.
Discover how love transforms not only Jerry's life but also his beliefs in love, meaning, and divine guidance. This profound emotional connection and gratitude pave the way for a spiritual awakening, leading to the astonishing moment when God responds to Jerry’s prayer for guidance—in words.
This is a story of how one man's skepticism was challenged and ultimately transformed by the profound experience of love and divine intervention. A reminder to us all that life's most meaningful experiences often arrive unannounced.
Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, you'll find inspiration in this story of unexpected love and the quest for deeper understanding. Subscribe, like, and share to spread these uplifting messages. Visit godanautobiography.com for more information and to get your copy of the book.
God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher is written by Dr. Jerry L. Martin, an agnostic philosopher who heard the voice of God and recorded their conversations.
Other Series:
The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:
- Life Wisdom Project: How to live a wiser, happier, and more meaningful life with special guests.
- From God To Jerry To You: Calling for the attention of spiritual seekers everywhere, featuring breakthroughs, pathways, and illuminations.
- Two Philosophers Wrestle With God: Sit in on a dialogue between philosophers about God and the questions we all have.
- What's On Our Mind- Connect the dots with Jerry and Scott over the most recent series of episodes.
- What's On Your Mind: What are readers and listeners saying? What is God saying?
Resources:
- WATCH: Does God Still Speak To Us?
- READ: "Where to Find God"
- FROM GOD TO JERRY TO YOU PLAYLIST
#fromgodtojerrytoyou #FGTJTY #godanautobiography #experiencegod
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Scott Langdon 00:17: This is God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. A dramatic adaptation and continuing discussion of the book God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin. He was a lifelong agnostic, but one day he had an occasion to pray. To his vast surprise, God answered- in words. Being a philosopher, he had a lot of questions, and God had a lot to tell him. Episode 187. Hello and welcome to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast.
Scott Langdon 01:13: I'm your host, Scott Langdon, and this week we hear directly from Jerry as he shares with us his own analyzation of what he was doing and feeling during his initial experience with God. To a logician feeling the urge to pray to a God he doesn't believe in doesn't make a lot of sense, and so it was with Jerry. But after taking some time to consider the source of his new urge to pray a prayer of gratitude, he realized the obvious answer, it was love. He had fallen unexpectedly but completely and entirely head over heels in love. Here now is Jerry sharing his reflections on how love and gratitude tap straight into the heart of a God who is ready to use each one of us, just as we are, if we're ready. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 02:20: The first time God spoke to me, I didn't believe He existed. I was a lifelong agnostic. I'd never felt the need to believe in God. However, one day I did have occasion to pray. What could prompt someone, especially a logic professor, to pray to a God he didn't believe in? Now the answer goes back to something else I hadn't believed in. Love, not romantic love. I thought I was looking for compatibility. I even had a Myers-Briggs personality profile picked out. But one day my future true love called my office. She had a problem at her college. Could I help? Yes, I replied.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 03:08: After that, we talked almost daily for months. She was living in New York and I was in Washington DC, and I fell in love with her, wildly in love, with her, sight unseen. This was the romantic love I'd never believed in. For a button-down like me, it was revolutionary. My black-and-white world was suddenly lit up in technicolor. It went from two dimensions to three. The world now had depth. My life went from being a collection of purposes to actually having a meaning. This was the greatest treasure a person could receive, and yet I'd done nothing to make it happen. If I were not skittish about the concept, I'd call it a miracle. In any case, it was a gift of priceless value, a gratuitous blessing from somewhere, I didn't know where, but one day I felt a welling up of gratitude. I didn't see any reason not to express it, so I literally fell to my knees and said an earnest prayer of thanks to whomever or whatever brought this gift into my life. I prayed again in that vein a month later, this time oddly enough, offering to be of service to whomever or whatever. My true love and I didn't want an affair of romantic weekends or a two-city commuting marriage, but how, based far apart, could we make one life together? I still didn't believe in God, but I said my third prayer, this time asking for guidance. To my surprise, God answered my prayer literally in words. There's more to the story, of course, than it's told in the book God: An Autobiography.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 05:07: Readers have asked the question why you? As if it was kind of an accusation of my self-importance. But no, I ask why me? And I think the ultimate answer is that God had an assignment for me.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 05:21: But looking back, it's possible to see stages that prepared me to hear. First, in spite of all the warnings about projection, I allowed myself to fall totally unreservedly in love. Love involves, among other things, a kind of willing surrender to the other. Then, though not believing in God, I allowed myself to see the blessing that had come into my life as a gift, not something I had made happen, and yet not just a random event in a meaningless world. I allowed myself, again, unreservedly, to feel gratitude to whomever or whatever, without letting disbelief stifle it. Finally, though still an unbeliever, I allowed myself to pray for guidance. That is when God spoke to me. What are the stages of this pilgrim's progress? The surrender to love. Then seeing the love as a gift, not as a random event but as a moment in a meaningful drama, and being grateful for the gift, even without the belief that logical consistency would have required. Then expressing that gratitude with full heart, in spite of not knowing whether there was a divine listener to hear my prayer. And finally, even though it barely made sense, asking the whomever or whatever for guidance.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 07:01: We might sum up the steps as love, gratitude and guidance, but there's more to take in.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 07:09: Some people insist our lives are absurd and scramble for meaning in a meaningless world, but suppose we yield to the opposite impulse to view our lives, in spite of their chaotic and perverse moments as meaningful and then probe them for their deeper dimensions and unveiled insights.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 07:33: For their deeper dimensions and unveiled insights, suppose we follow the call of our heart and don't let surface inconsistencies deflect the deep soundings of our soul. Suppose we relax our willfulness and attune ourselves, if we get it right, to the divine flow of our lives. There's risk, of course, we may fail or lose our way, but declining that risk may invite another, greater risk in what Martin Buber called life on the narrow ridge. Our spiritual path is defined by our refusals as well as our responses. To those willing to hear, the divine call beckons, pay close attention. Its sound may be faint, its form unexpected, but however it signals its presence, it is up to us to notice it and take it in and let it inform and guide and clarify our lives. If this speaks to you, please subscribe and like and share it with your friends. It might be just what they need to hear today.
Scott Langdon 09:06: Thank you for listening to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. Subscribe for free today wherever you listen to your podcasts and hear a new episode every week. You can hear the complete dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin by beginning with episode one of our podcast and listening through its conclusion with Episode 44. You can read the original true story in the book from which this podcast is adapted, God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher, available now at amazon.com, and always at godanautobiography.com. Pick up your own copy today. If you have any questions about this or any other episode, please email us at questions@godanautobiography.com, and experience the world from God's perspective as it was told to a philosopher. This is Scott Langdon. I'll see you next time.