Faith or Not to Have Faith

Faith or not to have Faith... that is the question.

What is it about faith? Is faith just a nebulous concoction created by our weaknesses or is faith something to grab hold of during our weaknesses?

I wonder about people who claim to have faith in God, Buda, Allah, Jesus, or anyone of another thousand other religious deities. What about having faith in me... Reverend DAM? What about you? What about Jim, Jane, Bill, Tammy, John, Bob, Dave, Kathy, Mandy, Joann, or anyone else for that matter. Does one have to have some sort of deitized demeanor or special life in order for people to have faith in them?

I wonder if people have faith just because... maybe their parents had faith. Perhaps, your friends demonstrate faith in someone or something, then they invite you to have faith in what they have faith in. Does having faith in yourself count? If you place your faith in the hands of someone, do you have more faith? I'm not trying to be facieses... but I often do wonder about faith and what it means.

I often do see people who say they have faith, but don't demonstrate it very well. I observe people who say, "I walk by faith" but when the time comes to take that leap of faith, they back off. People say they believe in God, Allah, Buda, etc. but do they really... I mean... people say a lot of things they really don't mean. If all the deities in the world are about peace and love as their core belief... why do we have so much war? Jesus says, "Have faith in me, and have faith in the one who sent me (God)." Then why do so many Christians fight over... have wars over the same God? Why are there so many flavors of faith... if we all believe in the same Jesus, God, Allah, Buda, etc.? Think about it... how many different flavors of Christianity are there? thousands and they all agree to disagree? Isn't it all faith in the same God? If your a Christian... when Jesus says, "Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself" why do they separate themselves from one another? 

What if I had faith in me... Reverend DAM... does that make me narcissistic? If I believe I can accomplish something... shouldn't I believe in myself? Should I have faith... in me? Don't we all need to have faith in the self to live a life? 

I wonder about faith. I wonder if it is worth what humanity has placed on it. I wonder if faith is over-rated. I wonder if it is really needed to live ones life. Faith in many ways is a mystery. A mystery that has many definitions and understandings, and interpretations. 

Faith.... what do you think? To have faith or to not have faith....?

   

“I sit here all day trying to persuade people to do the things they ought to have sense enough to do without my persuading them,” Harry Truman once lamented. “That’s all the powers of the President amount to.”

I now understand Mr. President why it is so challenging to be the pastor of a church. I have the same type of job as you. As a pastor, I have little to no power, just as you. As a pastor, there are at least 12 other people who make decisions... a sort of congress if you will, just as you. As a pastor, public (church members) opinion holds sway over nearly everything that happens or doesn't happen, just as you. And of course, if whatever happens turns out bad... the pastor just as the president gets the blame.

I really like this quote as it points out to a truth often learned the hard way. Pastors from all strips have the battle scars to prove it.

So... pastors... and others... let me know what you think. Does Harry Truman have it right?

See You Out on the Road