Wow...

I was reading Et-Tu? today and was struck by her posting refuting a typical atheist line for denying God. Afterward I read the comments left by her readers and was stopped in my tracks by one comment in particular, that of a poster who goes by the name "Tony":

"The fact that most atheists I meet are moral people is one of the greatest indications of the existence of God that I know of.

It proves to me that the "law of God is written on the human heart". How else could a being who is the product of evolution, dragging himself out of the "primordial soup" surviving as the "fittest" to rise to the top of the food chain could behave in a moral manner toward any other creature indicates to me that there is something else at work here.

This is why people like Christopher Hitchens are so nasty and angry all of the time. They are living with the knowledge of the law of God on their heart, they are living it for the most part, but are refusing to acknowledge the author."

This comment reminded me eerily of a friend (who for the sake of privacy I will call "John"). John is a very nice guy, he's a loving father and devoted husband. He and his wife (a Catholic) have been married for almost three decades and have one son. John is now retired but worked hard his entire life to provide for his family.

John, however, is extremely liberal and constantly argues against Christianity (he kind of sort of claims to be a Buddhist). Even so he treats my husband and me with love. He and his wife have for several years invited us to Thanksgiving dinner and treat us as though we were their own children. They have expressed their desire to babysit George to give Sean and me some time to ourselves. And all this knowing that out of all of our friends Sean and I are the most religious. We (without trying to sound conceited or self-righteous) try to live our lives according to God's will, we try to pray daily, and attempt to attend Mass at least twice a week (although with the baby on the way that's been nearly impossible. We're lucky to make it to church on Sunday mornings).

So when I read that comment, I realized that God has definitely been working in John's heart, although it may not seem obvious, and it occurred to me that I should be including John in my prayers. I realize now that I should have been doing this all along but it's better late than never, right?