Category: Faith

Accept the mystery

3/10/2023

My best friend is having a shoulder replacement today. It may be happening right now. I have asked friends to pray for her . I know they are and I know their prayers will make a positive difference. The mystery of faith, however, is that I don't know what that positive difference will be. It may be just what I want--ease, no pain, a quick recovery. But it may mean something else. The mystery is that we don't know, the faith is that we believe it will be for the good. Even when things happen which are obviously not good in any of my usual ways, I try to turn to God and see, hear, touch, taste, and smell what God is offering me, which I believe is of the good.
Today I pray for my friend, accepting that so much is a mystery, believing that God is with her and with me, and knowing that is it of the good.

Clarifying my faith

11/22/2019

At the Pittsburgh Airport

The other day I had a chat with a friend of a friend about our Christian faith. I was giving her a ride; our congenial and loving time together was about 20 minutes. I mainly listened.
     A few of the phrases she offered during our conversation helped me understand the wide expanse of beliefs among Christians, and brought me more clarification of my faith. These stood out to me: Jesus is my Lord and Savior; my church is Bible based; John 14:6. No one can come to the Father except through me.
      I never use these phrases, because they don’t describe my faith. But more than that, they are code for what I believe is an exclusive Christianity, one that puts conditions on Jesus’ message of love.
     They limit me to a belief in a confining, judgmental ‘father-God; a God living more in my mind than in my heart; a God not of mystery or the ineffable, but of dogma and constrictions; a God of the past, not of the present and future; a God of limits, not of what I can hope for or imagine; a God worshiped more through formal liturgy and word, and less through contemplation and silence; a God who must include Jesus as THE Way, rather than someone who is A Way.
      There is so much more I could say about this, but enough words. One more comment, however. I don’t write this as a judgment about this person or her faith, but as a way for me to strengthen, affirm, and clarify mine.

As Christians we....

6/1/2019

A member of our church led the service and gave the sermon the other Sunday. He began by stating, “As Christians we….” Those three words were my biggest takeaway because I have very few friends who acknowledge that out loud (and maybe to themselves). Even at church we (not the pastor) skirt around the topic of being a Christian.
In this political climate those of us church goers in New England are afraid our Christianity will be judged with a conservative veneer; so we don’t say a word. In many circumstances we are probably wise to be cautious about proclaiming our faith, and yet, in being cautious and afraid we will be misunderstood, we may be diminishing our faith in our very own being. There are times when speaking out loud as a Christian is the right thing to do.

Faithfulness

4/24/2019

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15

As I read this verse from Psalm 86 this morning I thought, “Oh, that’s what I’m supposed to do, that’s what God wants of me: imitate God. It’s a given that I will fall short of the mark, but if I don’t try, then what is the point of reading the Bible, what’s the point of trying to lead a good life.
It’s a tall order: be merciful and gracious to others, even those I deem not worthy: don’t get angry at people in the news: love everyone.
The verse ends with the word faithfulness. The only way I can begin to fulfill this tall order is by being faithful. I have no power on my own, but I can embrace faith by surrendering to God.

Faith, HOPE, love

3/18/2019

The other day a friend told me he had little hope. In reflecting on our conversation, I realize that he has more hope for world peace than for his own inner peace. He works for justice and peace, but he can’t let go the wrongs that happened to him as a child.
     Faith, hope, and love. He is stuck on hope, the middle one, which is more active and comprehensible than faith. Can we have hope without faith? Probably not, because without faith, hope just floats about as a capricious whim.
    Love is the easiest to grasp. I love my family, my home, and my upcoming trip to Italy. But love without faith is also capricious, depending on how other people, material possessions, and situations effect me at a given moment. It is easy to grasp moments of hope and love when things are going well. But what about those times of distress, when they are overpowered by despair and fear?
    I want to tell my friend that if he pursues faith, hope and unconditional love will follow. But I can’t tell him how, other than to suggest what I and others have found helpful. The best I can do is listen to him and pray for him. Pray for God’s light and peace to shine on, through, and with him, whatever that might mean to him. I don’t know the details of his situation; in fact they can get in the way of my prayer. Let go, let God, is enough.

Christmas Eve~

12/24/2018

Christmas Eve. Many people out there are listening to Christmas music, wrapping Christmas presents, decorating Christmas cookies—Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. But very few admit to be Christian. I’m not judging, just observing.
I don’t need to announce publically that I am a Christian, but personally it makes all the difference in my life. Faith leads me toward humility and away from hubris. It is not me alone creating good thoughts, words and deeds, but God working through me. When I falter, I am forgiven and led to pick myself up
This Christmas Eve I will be listening to Christmas music, wrapping Christmas presents, and decorating Christmas cookies. God will be working through everyone, but I am blessed with the grace of knowing the mysterious benefit.

Spiritual but not religious

5/18/2018

Again, a post on Acottagebythesea with commentary.
       Many of my friends fall into the ‘spiritual but not religious’ category. If they attend church they go to the Unitarian church (my church for 15 years). Many were brought up Christian but have either wandered away or made a conscious decision not to affiliate as Christian. They are loving, caring, giving people, believing, they might say, in a ‘higher being;’ that say that we are all on the same path, wanting the same things. I won’t argue with that, but for me, having walked the ‘spiritual but not religious’ path, I know that I am in different and better place as a Christian than when I was human being trying to do the right thing. It’s all about humility and I can’t get that on my own. Believe me, I’ve tried.
      It was a challenge to talk about my faith but I’m glad I did. Here’s how it went.

     The other day I had lunch with a group of long-time friends. The six of us get together every three of four months, and lately we’ve developed the ritual of checking-in. Around the table we go, one by one telling what’s going on in our lives. Although we keep in touch individually, this communal forum offers a venue for a more public, on the-record-account, thus making our group time together sacred.
     Knowing there would be a formal check-in, I found myself planning ahead what I wanted to say. I gave an update on the doings of my family, and then albeit awkwardly, I talked about how important my faith is to me, not just as a way to do nice things for others, but as the only way I know to be humble. I mentioned that I grapple with my white privilege; that being a good person on my own isn’t enough; and that my faith leads me to confront judgments, critiques, pride, impatience, and arrogance that keep me from being humble. In other words, I can’t be humble all by myself on my own doing. AND, I desperately need humility because it the only way of being that leads me to peace.
     To my surprise I ended by saying, “I believe that right now in my life I am supposed to pray for people.”

     I still can't believe I blurted that out. Notice, I didn't say that I was called to pray. In thinking about it, I wonder if that proclamation was one of the most important thing I've said out loud? Certainly the most powerful, if not to them, at least to myself.

Prayer matters

3/4/2018

     Today while conversing with two women in church, we agreed that prayer made a difference. Both are living with a loved one who is ill, one at home, one in a nursing home. They told their stories and as we parted I said that I had been praying for them. “Thank you, I know it matters.”
     We looked at each other with certainty, shrugged our shoulders and agreed, “Yes, it does. We don’t know how, but it does.”
With hope, we went on our way. A comment by the author of Hebrews came to mind.
     Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11.1).

Faith and works at Christmas

12/22/2017

Is there faith without works? This theological question has been debated since mentioned in James 2:18: “Yes, a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Without a doubt, the Christmas seasons roots me in both faith and works. I can view the shopping, cooking, socializing, and traveling that fills my life as difficult, agonizing, and unwanted work, as something I have to get done. Or, I can consider it an opportunity to offer love, compassion, and service, as something to further God’s kingdom.
The faith piece is easy to grasp at Christmas. Without getting bogged down in Christian dogma and jargon, Jesus was born to show us that God is love.
Keep the holidays simple.

Elizabeth Warren Christian faith

9/6/2017

     Did you know that Elizabeth Warren is a practicing Christian? Her faith was revealed in an article entitled “For Warren, faith is (quietly) critical to her public life” on the front page of the Boston Globe on September 3rd. I never knew this, nor I gather, do most of her fellow citizens. Those who knew are pastors of churches where she come to worship.
Evidently Warren is very private about her faith. She prays, reads the Bible, and follows Jesus. We have a little Jesus in all of us, she believes.
Recently, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Warren spoke on (Matthew 25:40).
     Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my breathren, ye have done it unto me

“He [Jesus}is saying to us, first there’s God in everyone of us, there’s Jesus in every one of us—however you see it in your religion, that inside there’s something holy in everyone.”

     What a powerful public statement for us Christians sitting to the left of the political spectrum. An affirmation and inspiration for us to speak out about our faith. It is also a powerful statement for all people working for peace, longing to be compassionate, and who can see Jesus as an model of human good.

     It seems that Warren’s life, both public and private, receives its energy, not from ego but from God. The Jesus in her speaks and acts for the poor, the powerless, the disadvantaged, and the underprivileged. It is worth noting that Joe Kennedy III recently referred to Matthew 25 in his plea from the senate floor for health coverage.