Memory Lane

So many people have written to me lately concerning their lack of faith due to religion. I have also had people write to me stating that they have renewed their faith due to the church community they belong to. Either way what has come out clear is that faith is based on people and their love for God and each other.

When it comes to faith I would ask what is it. What makes you think and act the way you do when it comes to your personal salvation? Is it how loud you pray in public or how big and bold you announce your faith in the face of others? Is it the subtle nudges that say do this or do that out of love not spite? Is it a special word of hope and encouragement you hear at your Sunday morning service? Or it may be a kind act someone does for you when you least deserve it. The Holy Spirit guides our lives in strange ways with an interesting cast of characters. Some people may seem weird and strange yet they serve a greater purpose in our lives than we know at the moment.

Let’s take a brief walk down memory lane as it pertains to your faith journey. As you begin this walk back start to consider how your personal journey has attracted or repelled others. Has your journey been lonely or has it taken that cast of characters to renew your faith in a loving God? Have the bumps in the road deterred you along the way to the point you lost your way? Have you stopped at any point in time doing the things that you know will help your faith grow? Keep walking along memory lane until you come to that person or event that brought you out of the dark and into the light. Where were you when this encounter took place? Were you in a good place or were you clinging to life while hanging on the cliff of despair?

One thing I have learned over my years of writing is that every situation can have significant meaning in our life journey. So many people that have taken the wrong fork in the road have found themselves outcast by the very community that said they loved them. Life is made up of choices, some will be made that will have positive results, some will be made that have negative results. Whatever path your life has taken due to the choices you have made I think it is safe to say that you are still loved. I will not make the mundane and clichéd quote “God loves you” because that term is overused and underutilized. The expression of God (Christ) in our lives is our expression to others. How we treat others is how they perceive God. If you do not believe that simple statement then you are not reading the same scripture I am. Jesus in almost every page of the Gospel teaches us over and over again to love and forgive. The question becomes this, how well do we represent Christ in our daily walk through life.

Sure we can pray loud, have religious bumper stickers, shout out a platform that we claim to believe, wear religious objects not out of love for Christ (he does not need the objects) or simply be bible toting street corner preachers. If all of this brings you closer to Christ and helps you love and accept others then I say go for it. If on the other hand your actions are more to shine negative light on others I say leave that judgment to Christ himself.

My last six reflections have been about love and the reason is honestly due to what is written to me. It is sad that we have an opportunity in our communities right now to stand up and show the world what Christ represents. I am sorry to say that it is not a building with fancy signs, no it is you. If you and I want to promote Christ around our communities and our world the only way that can happen is to reach out and share and accept those that have fallen. Take the time to read scripture especially the first five chapters of Acts and then ask yourself, am I living his word or am I living my word. As you read that short five chapters I wonder if you, like me, will see the great disparity we have created. We have so much yet so many have so little.

Not sure where your walk down memory lane will take you but as for me it made me realize that my actions do indeed speak louder than words. I commit to loving my enemies and forgiving those who trespass against me. I commit to loving and accepting people realizing that the person I turn my back on could very well be Christ himself.

Let the movement begin and let the force of love push through all obstacles. Unite in love and power of hope can cure more emotional, spiritual, and physical issues than you could ever imagine. Remember you do not have to be great to finish but you do have to start to be great. Let’s start today changing this world into a better place.

Peace to you

Dale