Every once in a great while, the cosmos align, the gods smile down and I end up seated next to someone on a plane who is NOT a certified lunatic. Rarer still are the times when this individual ends up being way cool to chat with. Considering I spend a good portion of my life at 30,000 feet, when this happens, Im one happy camper. And it happened last week.

Somewhere between Dallas and my home, I struck up a conversation with my seatmate, a wonderful young lady named Amanda. After batting Monty Python movie quotes back and forth, we started talking about what books were currently reading. English comedy and literature you can probably see the pocket protector and horn-rimmed nerdy glasses on me already!

Amanda was working her way through the soon-to-be classic, The DaVinci Code. Unless youve been living under a rock, youre probably aware the book has sold some 40 million copies and the movie has just hit the big screen. Ill spare you any details since youre probably one of the 40 million anyway, but suffice it to say there is a lot of questionable facts about church history, the supposed life of Jesus and ties to certain factions of the church today. Frankly, Im just plain sick of all the hullabaloo, but Im always happy to know people who read the book before seeing the movie. Hence, why Im excited about the conversation on Southwest Airlines.

As we chatted over fact and fiction in Dan Browns novel, Amanda shared some of the feedback she received from friends when they found out what she is reading. They told me I shouldnt read it, she said. One of them even said that this book would completely destroy my faith. Know what I say to that? Then thats precisely why you SHOULD read it!

Lets look at what we call belief. We all have our own beliefs: politically, religiously, socially, personally, interpersonally, etc. etc. etc. Have you ever had one of your beliefs change? Probably so. I mean, who gets to age, oh, 10, and believes that a generous pixie with a dental fascination will swoop in under the cover of darkness and trade out a shiny nickel for something that was knocked out of your mouth during a softball game? And, why do we no longer believe this little tale? Because its utterly ridiculous? Maybe but realizing its ridiculous comes from one thing experience.

All experiences add to your base of knowledge. Those who told my new friend not to read this book are telling her that she should, in essence, stay ignorant to anything she doesnt already know. Again folks, not that everything (or maybe anything) in this book is factual, but to not even be willing to explore a possibility? When one will not explore any ideas outside his/her own, what does that make a person? Stubborn? Single focused? Insecure? Yes, yes and yes.

Think of it this way. Columbus was pretty darned sure he could sail from Portugal and reach the other side of the world. Yet, most of the worlds population believed the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria would get out to the horizon and do a nosedive to certain death. Columbus basically figured, Hey, if I fall off the edge of the earth, at least Ill know the truth! And, he set sail. The rest, as they say, is history. But what if ol Chris hadnt been willing to explore any ideas other than the popular notion of the day? Where would we be now? Portugal, probably!

Code stuff aside, dont be afraid to branch out and educate yourself further, no matter the topic. More knowledge isnt going to hurt anyone! And, if your beliefs remain intact after a bit more research, excellent! Youll now be more informed to explain fully why you believe what you believe!