June 8, 2008

I've been spending some time with a young man who has a hard time rationalising faith. "It doesn't make any sense," he tells me.

He's right. It doesn't make any sense. That is, when you're only engaging your mind. Spirituality is not accessed with our brains, it is through our heart that we live vibrantly. Proverbs tells us to guard our heart with all dilligence. I completely understand the rub. I spent a decade or more trying to figure this whole thing out. For me it came down to a choice and that's what I've been sharing and pondering this week.

Choices.

We cannot avoid making them. To decide to stay in bed and look at the ceiling all day so that decisions don't have to be made is still a choice. Everything we do is a choice. It seems to be a large part of the fabric of our lives. From the begining mankind was created he was created with the power to choose and God gives the dignity of choice even when it's going to hurt us.

So how does this all boil down when nothing makes sense anymore? Choose to believe. Sometimes that's all we have to hold onto. Choose to believe because that is what faith is. Believe in what you cannot rationalize. What is the phrase from that popular praise and worship song we sing? "Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you." We will never see through the eyes of faith if we cannot see through the eyes of our hearts but we will never see through the eyes of our hearts unless we are willing to choose to believe completely.

"It's like jumping off a cliff and hoping there is a trampoline at the bottom," He told me. He's exactly right. It is. Open the eyes of my heart Lord.

Onward Comrades,

Brian