FAITH – A four letter word in many circles, something relegated to Sunday mornings for a couple of hours and nothing more. Faith is an activity, nothing more than an experience for those that are not educated enough to understand the real order of things or something that we were taught to do as kids and so out of some twisted sense of obligation and routine we continue to do, but try not to make too big a deal out of it so that our kids are spared the pain we had to endure. Faith, nothing more than a superstitious experience for a zealous minority… or is it.
For me faith is not a noun, it’s a verb, more precisely it’s the predicate in the sentence of my life. If I am the subject than faith accounts for everything else that exists. Faith fills in the blanks; it informs my opinion, shapes my thinking and guides my steps. Faith is not an abstract concept it is as real as the white lines on the highway or the principles of a political party. Faith keeps me in my lane, orders my steps, directs my path, focuses my energy and defines my existence. Faith is not something I do; Faith is what I am.
"All I have seen teaches me to trust in the Creator for all I have not seen." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Faith is a higher faculty than reason." Henry Christopher Bailey
"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge." Albert Einstein
"Faith is the continuation of reason." William Adams
"It could be that our faithlessness is a cowering cowardice born of our very smallness, a massive failure of imagination... If we were to judge nature by common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed." Annie Dillard
"Strike from mankind the principle of faith and men would have no more history than a flock of sheep." Mark Beltaire
Faith should not be marginalized or regulated to venues and locales of religious expression and thereby excluded from the everyday conversations of our life and times. The dialogue of faith is as meaningful as a conversation on philosophy of politics or the cultural of the global economy. Faith is not an additive or accessory something to be sprinkled on top of a larger discourse; faith has value in and of its self and must be positioned as an integral part of the human experience.
Some Lights Never Go Out
In the north east of the United States many families and homes are still recovering from the crippling pre-Winter snow storm that blanketed several states last Saturday. For north easterners the snow accumulation from this storm was no big deal, in fact most of the roads were clear within 24 hours of the storm's end, however what caught many of us by surprise was the impact of the heavy wet snow sitting on trees that still had their leaves would have. Because the snow hit the region late in the fall, as opposed to in the winter when all the trees would be bare, the tree covered leaves provided more surface area for the snow to accumulate and as a result the limbs themselves became very heavy, until eventually they broke. Trees across region particularly in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut broke and in the process fell across power lines and on top of transformers and other electricity generators. Within a few hours more than a million homes were without electricity, total darkness throughout much of the region. When there are no lights on the outside many of us were forced to find out what we were made of on the inside.
For some the extended power outage, which hasn't come to an end just yet as there are still homes without power, brought out their rugged resilience, they saw this as an opportunity to prove to themselves and this modern era that they could live without some of the electricity fueled conveniences of the modern era; although many of us were powering our portable devices at work and shelters, so we didn't have to completely unplug. But for some this darkness brought out the worst in them. Long lines at gas stations and extended waits to get food at a restaurants or grocery stores drove people to their breaking point. For followers of Jesus Christ though, when the electricity went out, the light that is always on inside of us, the light that is the love of Jesus, should have been glowing brightly. It is hard to see a flashlight in a room with all the lights on, if you look closely you may be able to make out a faint glow, however turn all the light out in that same room and the light from the flashlight can illuminate much of the darkness. Those of us that espouse the teachings and philosophy of Jesus Christ know that we are called to be the source of true light in a world of artificial light that masks the true darkness that exists.
For many people the last week exposed the darkness they have been living in, it was simply covered by artificial light. Marriages were strained, family relationships stressed, the "civil" nature of our society began to snap like some many tree limbs did just a few days earlier. All the advancement and achievement of mankind disappeared in just a few hours and what we were left with was what lives in our core. Some times we don't realize how dark a room is until we introduce real light into it. Maybe you were not directly impacted by the black out or maybe you are still without electricity, either way You Are More Than A Conqueror, because the true light of this world, the Lord Jesus, wants to live inside of you so that you will never in darkness again. If you don't have that light I encourage you to reach out to Jesus today, we can help you, we can pray with you. If you are looking to make that step today, please e-mail us at iammtc837@gmail.com and one of us will contact you. And if you already know Jesus be His light today, smile bright, don't despair as long as you have Jesus His light will never go out.
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