Faith not doctrine

For years any discussion about faith was in truth a discussion about doctrine.  We wanted to talk about what we believe.  The content.  The logic.  The implications.  These discussions often ended in "Well, I can't believe that!"

What if we talked about faith as a verb?
   What if we talked about faith as a process?
       What if we talked about faith as a surprise?
       

Think about it.  When you talk about the weather, do you debate whether the barometric pressure is 113 millibars or 85?  Or do you complain about shoveling snow, or your air conditioning bills?  You mention how many days it has rained or your hope for a sunny day for your daughter's wedding?  We discuss the weather in terms of our lives, our hopes, our dreams, even our finances!  (The heating bills up north this year will be an issue.)

Let's talk about children's soccer leagues.  The parents whose discussions are all about strategy and discipline and winning are not welcome in the groups who are laughing at their children's antics, wondering if young David will ever stop running away from the ball, or simply cheering from the sidelines.  For these parents, soccer is about social skills, physical development, group activities and most of all, having fun!

Or cars.  I was once in a discussion about what car we would own if money was no object.  You can imagine there were a few sports cars and luxury cars in the mix.  "A red Maserati"  "A silver BMW" and on and on.  One participant said he'd purchase a Volvo.  "What color?"  "Oh, the color doesn't matter, I like their safety ratings."  Now that was a perfectly legitimate reason for purchasing a Volvo, but this group wanted a little poetry and to them color was critical.  Our Volvo guy didn't realize this wasn't a discussion about reality but about status, and self-image!

Faith is about a relationship with the Divine.  Christians call the Divine God, and we see God manifest in a man called Jesus who lived and died.....and yes, we believe he was raised from the dead.....a long time ago. That is at the center of our belief system.

But our faith is about relationship.  Can I trust this one called God?  What are the intentions of this God towards me?  When I am in a pinch, can I call on this God and expect an answer?  Is this God all smiles one day and all lightening bolts the next?   When this God looks at me, what does God see?  Those are the basic questions that faith asks.

or, perhaps, this  "Can I be safe with this God?"

Let's begin our faith discussions with the questions that we are really asking ourselves; the questions which have answers which interest us.  These are the truly hard questions because these are the questions that we live day after day.  Most of us can manage a long time without a definition of predestination.
 Let's answer the important questions first.

Generations, holidays, family and God

Much will be written about this time of frenzied activity between Thanksgiving and Christmas aka 'the Holidays'.  I'm sure I will be guilty of adding to the din.

And yet, it is a time of generations, probably the most cross generational events in our current culture.  It is a time of getting together - with extended family or with your extended family of friends.  It never goes completely right.  Someone has a meltdown.  Someone spills juice on the rug.  At least one dish is over or under cooked.

And yet, we gather together.  Even those of us with seriously unfriendly families try again to find a place where wisdom can be shared and each person can find a place where they truly belong. We seek again a place where we can plant our feet, feel solid ground under us, find safety in an increasingly unsafe world.  Even if we don't experience any of those things, we will try again next year, lamenting this year's failure to provide the sustenance we need.

The Bible was very concerned about generations (all those begats).  Part of it was to show lineage, but the other part was to demonstrate, with names and dates, that life is passed from one to the other.  God generates again and again in God's world.

So, how are we a part of these acts of generations?  If we think about belonging, having solid ground, feeling safe.....how do we live out our faith during these next 5 weeks of holiday craziness?  How do we grow spiritually....and help others to grow as well?