There were two other young men sitting next to us. It's hard to pretend you're at two separate tables when their is such a small gap dividing you. We were essentially seated together!
They were speaking of religious things which peaked my interest so I struck up a conversation.
I found out that they had been "slain in the Spirit" and wanted to know more about their experience.
When they found out that I had not received this spiritual gift, their demeanor toward me changed.
I eventually asked them, "You still think I'm going to heaven, right? I am a Christian too, you know."
One of them said, "Well, yeah. You just may not be in as nice a neighborhood..."
Then they laughed and he said, "I'm just kidding!"
Except that it didn't feel like he was.
When I left that evening, I didn't feel like being "slain in the Spirit" was something that would help me mature in my faith. I'm sure there are many people whom this helps but these two had a long way to go.
As Jesus shows today, we should be persistent in our prayer lives - but it should also make us humble like the tax collector rather than self-assured like the Pharisee.
I've tried to remember this life lesson through the years.
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