A Visit with Dr. Zacharias

Note: Dr. Zacharias is one of the most prominent living Christian philosophers.  He is often called the C.S.Lewis of our time and is best introduced via the bio on his web site:  http://rzim.org/about/ravi-zacharias/

My wife Shawna and I were blessed with an invitation to meet Dr. Zacharias at the RZIM (the name of his organization) headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia.  For the two of us it was an awesome, probably even life changing, experience.  It was also yet another one of those unforeseeable events I have experienced throughout my life.  God’s invisible hands are constantly at work weaving the magical tapestry of life from what seem to us disconnected events and sheer coincidences.  Often, we miss the big picture altogether, and when we do see it is only via the benefit of temporal distance.  Who would have thought that, some nine years after Shawna urged me to listen to “Let my People Think”, an extant radio program by Dr. Zacharias, we would be blessed to spend time with the very man who was instrumental in bringing me to Christ and thus begin a new chapter in my life that gave me one more chance to love the right way and willingly and joyfully accept being loved.

When we arrived at the site, we were first met by Margie, Ravi’s wife of 40+ years who gave us a tour of the brand new RZIM headquarters in Alpharetta GA. What a facility!  Modern, airy, and highly functional with some interesting features such as an art gallery, napping pods and sound blocking easy chairs (modern cone of silence) to allow for private phone conversations in what is fundamentally an open floor layout.

It is beyond comprehension that such a marvelous interior took only six months to complete after the existing building was completely gutted.

Subsequently, we spent more than two hours at an extended lunch with Ravi and Margie.  Pinch me – here is a man who has met heads of states, Russian generals and celebrities of all kinds; here is a man who just attracted 9,000 folks to his lecture “Does Truth Matter?” at Temple University – and he donates two hours of his precious time to us?  I must be dreaming, but reality knocks on my door (or more precisely, my shin) when Shawna repeatedly kicks me under the table to remind me to make eye contact while speaking to Dr. Zacharias (this is one of my idiosyncrasies, my eyes wander when I am thinking, but in this case, I may have an excuse – I was thinking really hard to avoid saying something not very smart in the presence of somebody who is arguably the smartest person I ever met).

With every word and every action Ravi and his family (I met all three of his children) epitomize the Christian attitude towards their fellow human beings.  This great man actually opened the car doors for me and Shawna, and he repeatedly asked how he could help us, nay, serve us.  There was not a hint of an artificial facade, just class, gentleness, calm and intellect.  No wonder that even Ravi’s most ardent intellectual foes cannot but respect the man.

But to trump the mere pleasure of meeting this man, Ravi seemed to have “adopted” Shawna and me.  He pledged to support us with all the resources that RZIM has at its disposal.  And to make it real, he invited Shawna and me to testify at the annual Founders’ Event this fall, a gathering of about 400 major donors to his organization from around the world.

My head is still spinning!!!

Jack B

(Original is located at jackbarsky.com)