I CAUGHT a glimpse of God the other
day, through his voice on earth. No, it wasn’t a head-on encounter with a
prophet. Just a reading of Scott MacGregor’s “God on God.”
Why God, did you ask? “It’s a title that’s a little puzzling at
first glance, but it is short and describes exactly that this
book is,”
explains the author. “God speaks about Himself, his likes and dislikes, where
He lives, what He does for fun and on and on. It is an
interview with God! A
crazy
idea that spent a great deal of time bouncing around in my mind before I
got up the gumption to try it. My initial trepidation is depicted in the
foreword. “Who was I to interview God?” were the words that echoed in my mind.
“Well, why not?” was the quiet but persistent reply. Obviously, if God wanted
to do an interview, humankind has certainly kept Him waiting long enough.”
Whom did God grant this extended
‘interview’ to? A sandy-haired expatriate New Zealander, who’s 50. A guy who
had a profound spiritual experience at 20 that turned the Catholic-born
agnostic into a secularist, even a believer. Based north of Washington DC
today, he has been engaged in social service projects in the 11 countries he
has worked in to date.
Unlike Neil Donald Walsh’s
best-selling “Conversations with God” series, this book takes off from
MacGregor’s unusual premise to offer Q-&-A
sessions that can be dipped into
at will. Sessions on, say, Angels and
Spirits, Mayhem and Mammon, Heaven and Hell, Virtue and Vice, Naughty but Nice,
to pick a random sample.
In MacGregor’s words, it took him
four weeks to put down the interviews, with the last full-stop in place on
December 2, 1999. Penguin India
decided to publish the results of his communing with God, mediated by the
computer. That’s sound sense in the context of the world’s biggest
English-reading market.
What is the author trying to
communicate? “Basically the personableness of God,” MacGregor responds, “not a
holy canon. I think God wants us to be his companions, even his friends.”
This spiritual manual is
MacGregor’s third book. The first two were short historical novels addressed to
the adolescent market. “The Perfect Ones” was based in southern France during the Crusades, while ‘The Saga of
Comrac” is set during the early Viking incursions into Ireland. “I’ve
always wanted to know why things are the way they are,” he
says of his writing
quest. “Or why France is France.”
MacGregor, who disclaims the idea
of a notional audience, doesn’t quite see himself in a prophet avatar. “Maybe
in a minor way,” he stresses, “just to pass on a message. But not predictions
of the future. Definitely not John the Baptist type of a prophet. God has used
me to inspire faith and love. The purpose of us being here is not to do great
and mighty deeds, but to be kinder and gentler to others.”
These colloquial chat sessions,
couched in everyday speak, are easy to enter into. And may spark a thought or
five, whether of belief or scepticism, though the primarily Christian slant may
alienate some readers. How does MacGregor envision God? “He’s an awesome
character. He is caring, clever, understanding, humorous, compassionate,
thoughtful and everything positive ad
infinitum,” he says. “What I want to promote is that God very much wants to
love us. The book is just a spark to propel
people in that direction.”
How did MacGregor’s transformative
experience touch his life? “At 20, I realized that my life was not my own, I
had to share it with other people. I came to believe that God was very real,”
he adds. The upshot? He has helped the underprivileged, worked in orphanages
and taught English in Japan,
the Philippines and Hong Kong, a far cry from the laboratory technician he
initially set out to be.
Of his three-book writing
experiences, MacGregor recalls, “I had no idea where they were heading, but
each time I sat down to draft a chapter, I knew there was someone there beside
me, directing my thoughts and my fingers. I am aware of the names now of those
spirit guides and my experiences with them were memorable.”
Is a sequel to the 182-page book
already in the works? “I’ve prayed about it. It’s for other people to write
it,” he says with conviction. “I’m nobody special. If I can try it, why not
anybody else?”