King and the King of Peace

So, what a day. I was the baking fool doing chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies to pass out with information about PFLAG-Tallahassee at the city's Winter Festival down town. I rode on the gay community center's float with our PFLAG banner. Only a few people were openly hostile to us. Lots more applauded and waved, and there was something very sweet about kids shouting, "Merry Christmas" at a group of LGBT people.
Amidst all the prep for today, I had an interruption courtesy of my regular visitor, King the Jehovah's Witness. King wanted to know if I thought churches taught Scripture. I thought that a very odd question, and I said I think many do. Not true, according to King. And that's when he started telling me about the "myths of Christianity" which included the Holy Trinity and the belief that Mary is the Mother of God.
A brief pause here. I have been thinking quite a bit about Mary in anticipation of hearing the reading of the annunciation that she is going to give birth to a boy who she was to name Jesus. The way the story in Luke reads to me, Gabriel presents himself to this young Jewish teen-ager and says, "Mary, you lucky girl! Have we got an offer for you!!" Once the plan has been presented, the question becomes: what is Mary going to say. One scenario would be that she says, "I'm outta here, ya freak!" Instead, she said, "Here am I" and Mary gives her body in sacrifice and glory to God. And thus begins the most amazing love story of God for us.
Now, back to King. When King suggested that Mary didn't give birth to God, my ears perked up. "How do you figure that?"
OK... that was a mistake because then he refuted the Trinity. In fairness, I told him that we weren't going to be able to agree on this because I do believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
"But it's not in the Bible," says King. I looked at him in disbelief. He explained the word "Trinity" isn't in the Bible. But I insisted the concept of three aspects of God is in the Bible. This led King to crack open the Bible.
This is where the conversation went further awry. In trying to "prove" to me that Jesus was not God, he told me that Jesus never asserted that he was God.
"True enough, but how do you explain the Gospel of John where the Word was made flesh?"
King turned to the evangelist's words on the Word in the bible. King's bible maintains that "In the beginning" was the Word... and the Word was "a god", not "God".
"That's paganism," I told him. I could see this was frustrating for him to hear.
"There were many gods, but there is only one true God." And for King... that's God the Father.
"So, what are saying about Jesus? Are you telling me he was merely a prophet?"
And this is when it got even trippier. Only angels, apparently, are heavenly beings who appear human.
"Are you saying that Jesus was an angel? Oh, I think he was more than an angel, King."
As King insisted that Jesus was not God, I started to laugh. "Oh, man, King you are ruining my Advent if you tell me Jesus isn't God made incarnate through a woman!" King's sidekick, who had been silent up to this point, chuckled at that. King, realizing that I was sincere in my insistence that we weren't going to agree, handed me the magazines and asked that I please read the article on the myths of Christianity... and he would pray for me.
I will pray for me, too, that I learn to not answer the door when King arrives.
Meanwhile, with the fourth candle coming for Advent, I remain reflective on the waiting for the arrival of the light into this very dark world. It is getting brighter!