Why do I believe?

I ask myself that a lot. Not just about Christ, but about everything.

As a child I grew up with a lot of fear, depression and discouragement. I developed responses to things and people that kept me from others and set me on a path that as one prophetic voice said to “had not God intervened you would be dead”.

I rejected Christ because all I ever was shown of Him was the law and condemnation. I rejected Him because of how I saw the church treat my friends. Somewhere in the 70’s I became a mystical and wandered off the path with regard to spirituality. I sought reason while others majored in conjecture.

With my encounter with Christ, instead of lessening my pursuit of reason, though I tried to conform, I could not. I asked “why” of everyone. “Why do we dress up? Why do we stand? Why do we sit? Why do we dance? Why do you believe what you believe?”

One time while ministering in a prison, the person leading said something wrong. It was not egregious, but it was enough for me to say something. (It was an entrapping statement and a misuse of the scripture.) The next day I received a call where I was asked to come down and was told in no uncertain terms “never to do that again”. I did not handle it well. (It was not the first time I had been called on the carpet and would not be the last.)

I did not and do not do well with injustice or entrapment of others by using scripture to control or manipulate.

Over the weekend I saw two headlines that caught my attention. One was “Jack Bruce Of Cream Dies”. My first thought was WHY? Why die? Who was in his life? My meditation on his now moved to my history in rock and roll. And irritated that his death was listed as one more headline indicating the “last days”.

The second headline was the tragic shooting in Washington. As I read of this young man, on so many levels I remembered the pain of my own youth. “Why did this occur” moved quickly to “what were the reasons as a child that lead him there?” (As I write “diaries of a child” this is yet one more thinking process for me.)

Why did they believe what they believed. Jack Bruce left Cream to return to his social and cultural roots. What did he believe? This young man in Washington “felt” so rejected he went past reason. Why did he believe what he believed?

Last night I went to show Jacob some information on the seasons and the solar system. I was appalled by the information that is being treated as truth. While not a scientist, I have a brain in my head. (Admittedly I am dismayed by the loss of Pluto!) It was all the no God, climate change, anti-people information that was propagated in the videos.  In one video all the other planets give facts, but not earth. “I am sad because you have not done X, Y and Z, etc., et al, ad nauseam.” I had to explain the wrongness of such statements. (God what I would not give to be an educator. Years ago, I began 2 children’s series. Well, one day!)

Why do we believe? Why do you believe what you believe? Old wives’ tales? A teacher? A parent? The internet? Facebook? Is it not possible that there is true disinformation being sown? What did you believe about God a year ago? What is your source of truth?

When I was younger I heard a story about a guy who called his mom the first time he cooked a roast. “I did it just like you used to. First, I first lopped of the ends of the roast, then seasoned it, added onions and carrots, and put it in the oven for two hours. It was perfect.” “You cut off the ends?” she asked. “Didn’t you?” he countered. “Only when the roast was too big to fit the pan,” she said.

When you become ready to subject ALL to God everything changes. You and I become forced to decide do we believe God is greater? Or the “what we see”? “What we heard?”

Great faith is in the land. The question is what will it believe? Who will it believe? I challenge you to think about that “truth” that you suspect to be a lie and put it to the litmus test of truth. Is it chewing bubble gum after dark? Don’t go outside with wet hair. You’ll catch a cold.

Find your Bible and find some truth. And then and only then begin to decide what you will put your faith in.