Today marks the conversion of St. Paul. I remember hearing the story of Paul’s conversion when I was in Sunday School. There was a vivid picture of the conversion on the cover of our leaflet, maybe like Caravaggio’s painting.

 The various pictures reflect the story as told in the Book of Acts. Paul’s own descriptions of the event are rather different. First, he emphasizes that Jesus appeared to him. Second, the event changed him from a persecutor of Christians to an apostle telling the Gospel of Jesus.

Stories of conversion are always a problem for me because I can’t identify anything quite like them in my own life. Is there something lacking in my spiritual development? A few door-to-door evangelists have told me I’m not a Christian unless I’ve had a conversion experience.

I have studied in depth two persons who under went conversions–C. S. Lewis and Thomas Merton. In neither case was the conversion a sudden, dramatic event. In both cases, however, there were substantial changes in how they lived their lives. Lewis became an apologist for Christianity, defending and explaining the faith to others. Merton became a Cistercian monk who wrote extensively on the spiritual life.

I conclude that God works in different, mysterious ways in peoples lives. All we can do is accept how God deals with us and not expect it’s going to be the same as the way God deals with others. I’m thankful for all the people whose lives have been changed by an encounter with Christ.

Read Galatians 1:11-24 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne