Tag Archives: Faith

I Cannot Say It Better

Posted on December 25, 2017 | Leave a comment

Gary Varvel [garyvarvel.com], the editorial cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star [www.indystar.com] is a genius who can draw a picture that is truly worth at LEAST a thousand words.

In this day of fewer and fewer newspapers, and inevitably, even fewer quality dailies, it is a wonderful gift to still have some publishers and editors who understand how humor can convey a stronger message than even the best written article—and as a writer, saying that does not come easily.

As a Christian, I wish you a Merry Christmas. As a member of this melting pot we call America, I wish you Happy Holidays. As a human, I wish peace on earth to all  people of good will—and I advise everyone to celebrate any and every holiday that reminds you that we are all in this together; there is no “them,” only 7.53 billion of “us.”

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Posted in Arts, Communications, Culture, Friends, History, Holidays, Management, Media, People, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Writing

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Faith vs. Fact

Posted on May 15, 2015 | 3 comments

I have no problem with the issue of faith—as a matter of fact, I have relied on faith to get me through the tough parts of life. However, faith is based on my relationship God.

On the other hand, with most other issues, I need to know HOW something works—that pi is just a ratio between the circumference of a circle and its radius. I need to know how margins of error are calculated and what they really mean in the world of statistics.

Today, though, there are many people who accept on faith that cell phones work and always will; that the electric power, cable television, and the internet will be there with the flick of a switch, but they have no idea how they work, nor do they care.

However, when it comes to God, they demand proof that He exists.

Weird.

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Posted in Communications, Culture, Education, People, Philosophy, Religion, Science, Technology

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Virtues

Posted on September 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." (Great flick)

“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
(Great flick)

Virtues are funny things. On the one hand, they’re gifts to help us through life. On the other hand, they’re not quite what we expect.

Faith gives us the ability to believe what we cannot prove. However, it’s easy to have faith when things are going well. It’s so easy that when things are going well, we ascribe the success to us, so who needs faith? When things go badly, it’s just as easy to look to God accusingly and ask Him why He didn’t give us more faith.

Hope is like faith in that it lets us see things as they could be. Again, it’s easier to have hope when things are going well. Less so when the economy is bad or there are medical problems or we wake up in the middle of the night due to worry.

Finally, there’s love. It’s easy to love those who look like us, sound like us and share our values. It’s damned difficult to love those who are different, especially if we don’t understand them. How can God expect me to love those kids with their pants hanging down? Or the girl wearing the hijab? Or the star of David, or the cross?

But think about it. The virtues are there for exactly those reasons. Especially, love, the greatest of them.

We’re called upon to love those most different from ourselves; most difficult to understand.

Like the way that Jesus loved the Roman soldiers even as they drove the nails through His hands and His feet.

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How Much Faith Do You Need?

Posted on August 23, 2013 | 2 comments

prayIf you had faith the size of the proverbial mustard seed; if your faith could in fact move mountains, would you be better off?

As I go through life enjoying its blessings and facing its challenges, I frequently remind myself that God has always taken better care of me than I could ever do myself. His plans have truly prospered me.

However, I wonder what it would be like if I went through life without any worries because of complete faith in God. Somehow it just doesn’t seem real.

On the other hand, as each challenge or crisis arises before me my first reaction is very human. Maybe I feel fear. Maybe anxiety. Maybe just openmouthed shock.

Then I catch my breath and turn to God, and profess my love for Him and my faith in His will and proceed to live life, face the challenge and listen for God’s guidance.

In my case, I believe that it is a profession of faith to turn to God each time. To be aware of the challenge, and consciously place this crisis, this time in God’s hands.

There may be some who have such powerful faith in God that nothing bothers them. I’m not one of them.

But then I think of Jesus – who had no lack of faith – praying alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.

I think He taught us exactly how to turn to God when we’re troubled.

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