On Borrowed Faith
September 14, 2018
What do you do when you are a believer who is struggling to believe?
I have people I love very dearly right now that are going through things that would cause most any of us to at least question things that we know are true.
And this morning, in the beautiful, sunny stillness of my perch on the porch, I find myself called upon to believe on their behalf.
I know they have moments, even in the midst of the turmoil they’re experiencing, when they are confident in the powerful hand of the great God they serve to uphold them and carry them through the storm—whether a storm like the sudden, intense, terrible fury of an Oklahoma F-5 tornado or the hours-long surge of an enormous hurricane like the one bearing down on the east coast even now. I know there are moments that they, in pain and heartache, know God is hearing their cries. Read the rest of this entry »
The Need to Remember
September 11, 2018
It’s been seventeen years since the unimaginable terror of that nightmare day we refer to simply as 9/11. Sixteen times now we have noticed that day on the calendar and felt that ache of what was lost… so many precious lives, the general sense of safety on American soil, the naive innocence that never imagined it could happen here.
I guess the ache is deeper in my own heart this time having recently visited the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. I walked through the streets and felt the gravity of that place just from knowing what had taken place. And, on a cool and rainy April morning, I walked up to the memorial pool in the footprint of the north tower.
(This is a brief video I took as I walked up to the memorial that gives just a momentary glimpse of the sight and sound.)
The names etched on stone, each one a life snuffed out by the insatiable hate of that act, seemed to whisper to me as I glanced across them, longing to be remembered. The sound of the water flowing endlessly through this elegant crater seemed to drown out the noise of the city around us. The realization of what we were seeing and the significance thereof caused people all around to speak in hushed tones and somber demeanor. Read the rest of this entry »
The Grace of Withholding
September 4, 2018
We are arrogant creatures, are we not?
When it comes right down to it, most of us tend to reasonably comply with the laws and regulations that fit our own understanding or thought processes, but scoff and disregard others that don’t make any sense to us. We think something is a good step if it makes sense to us. We tend to see someone’s actions as stupid if it doesn’t fit our frame of reference.
Most of the things that we determine are good or bad are based upon what we have reasoned are the right things. Even on hot-button issues in our society, much of our villainization of those who hold opposing views comes from the fact that, to us, our perspective is clearly superior.
Why are we so adamant?
Is it possible that we all have an inordinately high opinion of our own opinion?
I was reading a passage that started my mind swirling this morning. It’s found in Psalm 84:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! (Psalm 84.11-12)
