Pi and a Tiger

In his novel, The Life of Pi, which won the 2002 Booker Prize, Yann Martel tells the tale of a kid stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger. It’s a tale of fear and faith that is resolved much as the apostle Peter faced both his fear and his faith when threatened with persecution.

It’s a tale about a boy in a boat. With a tiger.

But first ... two strangers sit at a tiny table in a crammed and bustling coffee house, on Nehru Street, in southeastern India, on the Bay of Bengal, sipping coffee and conversing in the easy way that strangers can.

It’s hot. It’s humid. It’s crowded with humanity. The aromatic coffee is delicious. Their cups are sipped empty.

At the table of two is an old man, a native of that region, and a young Canadian, a harried traveler and a writer, with nothing to write and a train to catch.

“I have a story that will make you believe in God,” the old man promises.

A story.

Not an analysis. Not a report. Not a study. Not an essay.

But a story.

We don’t reach faith through reason or research. We reach faith through stories and experiences. A well-told tale has the power to guide us to God, or into a deeper, more consequential connection with God.

Peter, the apostle, who found himself in trouble in the text before us, told a story that he hoped might help ...