Warning: This post contains reference to a non-traditional, new age philosophy!!! (Shield you eyes if you don't want to go to hell!)

Its happened. I've become one of those people who try to convert their friends. But, its not what you think. Besides my incessantly trying to get Ziek to like Kanye West's "Jesus Walks", which he claims is me trying to convert him, I'm not actively proselytizing my friends to Christianity. Rather, my new mission is to get my friends to buy in to a new age philosophy.

A few years ago, before I had cable, I was fortunate enough to watch Dr. Wayne Dyer present ideas from his book "The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way" on PBS. I'm going to spare you (for the moment) the details of his philosophy, but let me assure you it is based on thousands of years of Eastern philosophy (so it has some credibility) and it has not supplanted my faith in Christianity.

Rather, what his ecumenical ideas do is give me a practical way to live out my faith and make my life and others more positive and God-like. Let's face it, most religions have the same ideas - good trumps bad, right trumps wrong; happy trumps sad; harmony trumps self. What really bothers me about certain portions and members of my chosen religion is that they believe that what they've been taught, in the exact way they've been taught it, is the only way. I disagree.

When people only listen to what they've been taught and don't listen to what their heart says, they miss out on religious "ah ha" moments that can ensue. Religious xenophobia and protectionism have caused some portions of the Christian community to shun books like Dyer's and the ideas within. I think this sort of spiritual censorship is tragic, because some of these "new age" philosophies can help to put our core beliefs in a new light - to think about how to love one another and God in a new way.

For me, Dyer's philosophies do just that. They help me to have a daily road map for doing the right thing. I purchased an extra copy of "The Power of Intention" a while back, because there were so many times that I felt like I wanted to give it to someone.

I recently did give that book away, to one of my close friends. Her parents are Buddhist, her brother is Christian, and for most of her life, she was agnostic. She used to ask me about my religion and I would tell her about it in a non-pushy manner. And informative manner, which I think is the best way to share God. She never took to Christianity, and that has always been fine by me.

Recently, she has been exploring Buddhism, and for some reason I felt compelled to give her this book. Who knows...maybe it will help her see God (or Zen) more clearly. Or maybe it will just help her lead her life more simply and happily. Either way, if it affects her, I think God's purpose in inspiring Dyer to write the book will have been fulfilled.