Faith Venture

We drove through some back roads in the central south of Kentucky. A Baptist church of one flavor or another seemed to appear at every crossroad. We crossed over into Tennessee. Now Churches of Christ of various flavors appeared.

My tradition is Methodist. I am quite Wesleyan in outlook.

I thought about how the Baptists in town were skeptical that Methodists were really Christian. Joe, the pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), used to say he led the only Christian church in town. (It was a joke. I think.) Let us not even mention the Protestants and the Catholics.

But I pondered all those varieties of churches we passed.

What if each brought the peace of God and a community to the people who attend? Do we all need to go to the same place to worship? Are there not varieties of style that speak to the individual souls?

I like the formality and mystery of Catholic Mass, yet a dose of the “rock concert and a TED Talk” style is motivating at times. My wife likes the typical Protestant liturgy with familiar songs.

Why criticize others? We should be all on the same track. Just tasting different varieties of the tea.

Relax. Follow your path faithfully. Why worry about others? Life is too short (he says writing this the day after yet another birthday).

It’s way easier to be negative, sarcastic, and cynical. It’s much harder to be hopeful, positive, and proactive.

Everywhere we look, we see words meant to instill fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

That is the easy thing for media to write. Mainstream media and influencers alike. It generates likes and views.

It is much harder to analyze the good with the bad. The think of hopeful, positive, and proactive.

People are cynical. Oh, but think about the many people you know who are kind. Who will carry a bag for you, open a door, smile and say Hi.

Many good people exist. Also many good and helpful services to which we can contribute.

Should we find ourselves mired in negativity and fear, we can take small steps to change. We can change our information sources. We can look for just one positive thing in the next person we meet. We can notice beauty. We can take one step toward generosity.

True, real joy always comes to us only as a present. It originates in God. Human joy is a share through grace in the joy of God, in God’s nature, which is nothing but the sphere of supreme joy. The sources of true joy, therefore, are found where the creature waits for God.—Ladislaus Boros.

Joy must be differentiated from pleasure. It is deeper and more lasting. 

Joy also differentiates from happiness, something transient, nice while it’s here, sad when it wafts away.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, writing in The Bed of Procrustes, “A mathematician starts with a problem and creates a solution; a consultant starts by offering a ‘solution’ and creates a problem.”

When we, as disciples of Jesus, are in conversation with someone, do we lead with a solution? Or, perhaps, listening to the other person begin with their problem and perhaps help create a solution?