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DINNER WITH A PERFECT STRANGER

January 10, 2008 on 5:31 pm | By John Ingrisano | In Recommended Reading | No Comments

My brother has spoken to me about a standing invitation he has to buy God lunch. He has some pretty tough questions he needs answers to before he can go on. I understand the need.

That was also why I had to giggle when a friend recommended David Gregory’s Dinner With a Perfect Stranger. It was the fulfillment of my brother’s request put down on paper. Dinner is a short read (163 pages), and I breezed through it in two brief sittings. It was delightful and fascinating. My only fear when I cracked the book open was that it would be a preachy, didactic fundamentalist propaganda piece. Far from it. It is a refreshingly honest and enjoyable blend of logic, scripture, and compassion — without any cheap emotional tricks designed to send you on a sappy crying jag.

I like reading a book where I actually learn something, and I did here. For example, a dabbler of eastern religions such as Buddhism, I’d always enjoyed the philosophy, but found that, in the end, they lacked something, but I wasn’t sure what. Our hero in Dinner With a Perfect Stranger (yeah, it’s Jesus, this we know from the very beginning; no suspense) did a pretty good job of explaining why such religions (and this includes Islam, gentle reader) simply don’t do the job.

Most of all, Dinner was an honest treatment of the subject, grappling with the kind of questions I suspect most of us have struggled with. I didn’t see any sleight of hand, dodging of questions, or smoke and mirrors.

What would you ask Jesus if given the opportunity to have a one-on-one dinner with Him? Gregory’s Dinner With a Perfect Stranger may not provide a revelatory transformation (darn, yet another silver bullet gone astray); however, it is a delightful, well-worth-the-read experience. And, yes I have sent a copy to my questing brother. Enjoy. — JRI

“Here I am! I stand at the door and
knock; if anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him
and will dine with him, and he with me.”
– Revelations 3:20