Saturday, December 31, 2005

Welcome to a New World

Wow, that's about all I have to say. God has been hard at work in my life, even over the Holidays. It's amazing what a bit of off-time can do for you, when you really just want to spend some time to recuperate, and reflect. That's exactly what I've been doing, and God has been guiding my every step.

I've really been pondering a lot of things in my head. My own faith, what that really means, what the core of my faith is, what is malleable, and what really needs to stick firm. These are just a few of the things that I've been juggling around, so you can imagine what it's like to be inside of my head!

Yet the old analogy of a tunnel doesn't really work in this instance. It's more like I'm on a journey, and God is there every step of the way with me. I recently had a conversation with a lady that I've known for awhile. It was an odd conversation because she is very much searching for the meaning of her life. She doesn't talk about it often, but it's a constant thing on her mind. So we had a good chat about her beliefs, about what was important to her, and where she was. It's interesting that the simple phrase of "I don't know" can really get through to someone. In this case, she grew up in a very conservative home, where it was just a matter of "God wanted it that way."

That just doesn't jive with the way she thinks.

How do you explain pain and suffering in the light of an all-loving God. There are answers, and they are completely legitimate, but when push comes to shove, we can never truly understand the sheer scale of that destruction, except to know that Jesus hurt with them. That is where our conversation shifted to, Jesus. How did he react? What were his comments? Jesus wept. Jesus was left alone by his own Father. He knows what it's like to feel completely and utterly alone. He understands.

God is good.

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