The Book of Todd
by Vivian Wallace
             
1 “The root of all suffering is desire.”1 Buddha taught this and Jesus agreed.2
Think of that moment when you believed a detective stood before you,3 or at least someone who fit the stereotype.4 Think of how he sat and observed the passersby, how he garbed himself in that unique kind of coat,5 and how he spoke said observations into a recorder.6
But then think of that opportune moment when the detective was seemingly relaxing in the mall.7 You realized this was your chance. Then imagine how you interrupted his surveillances by asking the question you have always wanted to ask a detective:8 What is the craziest thing that you have ever experienced?9
To which he does not regale you with crazy stories about murder and  cheating spouses spying on each other.10 No,11 he’s a different kind of detective.12 This man has taken it upon himself to search for signs of God -the Christian God- in our lives.13

2 This was the sequence of events I followed as I sought an interview at the mall.1 On this day the mall was resounding.2 The voices of people were everywhere; there were lines of them and tables of them and some going from store to store.3 In all this chaos I had been searching the crowds of people sitting at tables and I kept dismissing potential interviewees.4 The old woman was reading a newspaper,5 the middle-aged guy over there wearing a trim white coat looked hard and sharp,6 and that guy with the darting eyes looked just plain seedy.7

Finally I settled on Mr. Detective.8 He didn’t have any harsh edges, but there was an alertness to his dark green eyes.9 He was the kind of person you could glance over repeatedly if you weren’t searching for a friendly face like I was,10 yet the longer I looked at him when we spoke the more I distinguished him.11 He was very unique.12

This was proven again and again as we spoke.13 He started out by thinking of how to answer my question and then began with a question of his own.14

“Have you found God?”15

I answered no, but thought about how I have brushed against Him a few times in my life.16

He asked me about my interests and major and life goals until he determined that I enjoy reading works of fiction.17

With this, he decided to answer my question while trying to show me a little of God that he had discovered in his detective work; a case he has solved.18

It started out with him telling me my first clue:19 there was only one survivor in one of the classrooms in the Sandy Hook shooting which occurred at an elementary school.20 This is like how there is only supposed to be one survivor in The Hunger Games.21

At that point, hearing something that seems like such a loose connection, I considered that maybe deciding to interview a random person was not a good idea.22 Not only am I not a believer in Christ, I’ve also had run-ins with conspiracy theorists before that ended with me being lectured about my “ignorance.”23

But he continued to speak and I kept smiling.24 He gave the next clue: even though the shooting is called the Sandy Hook shooting, it happened in a town called Newtown, which is true.25 Why is the town particularly interesting?26

The third clue: Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games, lives in Newtown.27

Yes, this basically sounds like a conspiracy theory and my previous comments make it sound like this should be the end of the conversation.28 But my problem usually doesn’t lay so much with a theory as it does with a theorist.29 Like I said, I’ve been lectured because they won’t see a logical argument for what it is.30 This detective, though, listened to my questions and thought about them.31 He didn’t just push them away.32
So I kept listening.33 For someone like me who is still, in spite of myself, open to the idea of a higher power or forces at work that can’t be explained, I found this interesting.34

He goes into the motives behind the case.35 “Things like this happen for a reason,” he said.36 He explains that yes, the children dying was a tragedy and something no one wants, but it happened for a reason and maybe God was trying to tell us something and make us think.37 We reap what we sow, seeds of hate, but at the same time God doesn’t let things happen for no good reason.38 We are a part of something bigger than ourselves.39

5 Throughout our conversation he was also making references to Buddhism, not just Christianity.1 This intrigued me and when someone, like him, seems open, as though he had looked at all the options before deciding something, I want to believe the person even more.2 He even said he believes that every religion has truth in it, an extension of Christianity that is naturally there because as humans we naturally seek God.3 It is just that sometimes we stray.4 I enjoy these views because they are things I have contemplated myself, in the past.5

However, then my logic steps in and while Suzanne Collins does in fact live there according to the local online paper, the shooting didn’t happen quite like he had explained.6

I then think about how even if all religions have some truth to them, who are we to pick out the truths from the lies?7 A Christian would only be able to reliably go by views that the Bible backs up.8

But either way, these are still interesting to think about.9

4 So from saying that things happen for a reason, he then goes on to talk about 1 John 3:15 from the Bible1 which states, Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in Him.2 So he believes the feelings we project on the world will have an effect.3 Hate literally brings about murder.4

He also brought up how as a society we focus on scarcity thinking rather than abundance thinking.5 Basically, we always want more as though we didn’t already have enough.6 In reality, the world is rich and full and abundant.7 To not experience all the negatives in life we, as a global community, need to try and work desires out of our lives.8 We just need that mirror in front of us to show the good and the bad inside ourselves.9 This will never happen, but I can see how it would be lovely.10

He also said we need to focus on the we and not the me.11 I set out with the goal of learning of someone’s craziest experience and ended up with a person’s observations that profoundly affected his life by adding to the discoveries of God he had uncovered.12 Rather than just something about him it was something that he shares to hopefully have an effect on others, just like he tried to do with me,13 and it may have worked were I not so hardheaded.14

And then the conversation ended as abruptly as it began.15 His brother called, needing him for something, and I left.16