“The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians- when they are sombre and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths. But, though it is just to condemn some Christians for these things, perhaps, after all, it is not just, though very easy to condemn Christianity itself for them. Indeed, there are impressive indications that the positive quality of joy is in Christianity- and possibly nowhere else. If that were certain, it would be proof of a very high order.”
Lewis to Vanauken: “…if we were a species that didn’t normally eat, weren’t designed to eat, would we feel hungry? You say the materialist universe is ‘ugly’. I wonder how you discovered that! If you are really a product of a materialistic universe, how is it you don’t feel at home there? Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? Notice how we are perpetually surprised at Time. (‘How time flies! Fancy John being grown-up and married! I can hardly believe it!’) In heaven’s name, why? Unless, indeed, there is something in us which is not temporal.”
“…a choice was necessary: and there is no certainty. One can only choose a side. So I- I now choose my side: I choose beauty; I choose what I love. But choosing to believe is believing. It’s all I can do: choose. I confess my doubts and ask my Lord Christ to enter my life. I do not know God is, I do but say: Be it unto me according to Thy will. I do not affirm that I am without doubt, I do but ask for help, having chosen, to overcome it. I do but say: Lord, I believe- help Thou mine unbelief.”
A Time to Begin
Each of us has a message to share, a collaboration of random thoughts, a collection of epiphanies, a portrait of our soul. The artisit within me yearns to translate the beauty and wisdom I see around me into creative expression...At times maybe I'll feel inspired to use this method as just another way to express certain ideas that have churned in my mind...but I'd also love to share insights that have been imparted to me from some other source. If you feel so inclined, I would welcome you to share in my pondering. And per chance, if it should speak to your heart in any way, then it has served a noble purpose beyond my greatest hopes.
The Reason for HOPE
Some time ago, I felt such a magnetism to this concept of hope. It so impressed upon me that I wanted to write about it and solidify these thoughts. They served as a cornerstone to stand on, a catalyst for forward motion. I truly felt that God placed a selection of verses into my mind and heart, revolving around hope, that I couldn't keep within me. They have been used in a powerful way in my life, yet my understanding about them was not complete. For example in Romans 5, Paul professes ..."and hope does not disappoint us..." yet when I considered what the popular view of hope looks like, this verse could be such a contradiction. Surely, according to the world's view, hope is a grasp at some wish that we desire to become true yet have no reassurance of coming into fulfillment. An amazing thing was made clear to me after a discussion I had with members of my small group. The hope we have as Christians is not an uncertainty but a conviction of those things that God has already promised us. His promises are given to us as a deposit in our hearts. This is the beauty of the Hope we have in Christ. We do not have to grieve like the hopeless and brokenhearted, because we know with absolute certainty that we have direct contact with the creator of the universe, who promises to be actively engaged in our lives, to never leave us or forsake us, and to finally experience eternity with him. Speaking plainly, I hate to be disappointed. And though it is inevitable in a striving humanity, the hope of Jesus is counter-cultural. It will never disappoint.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
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