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Posts Tagged ‘faith’

Honest to God #3…when faith and hope are lost…

04 Jan

His son is an adorable little boy…a precious gift from God. Like most little boys, his son is sweet and loving one minute…yet uncontrollably mischievous the next.

But his son is not like most other little boys. His son was born with a chromosomal deficiency which results in autism, ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder, sensory processing disorder, speech delay, and countless behavioral challenges. His son is not like most other little boys, since there are only 300 other children in the world with this disorder.

It is no surprise that his faith and hope seem lost. It’s hard to have faith in a God who allows such things as chromosomal deficiencies. It’s hard to grasp that single thread of hope, when a steel cable seems vital for a family’s survival.

I’ve personally learned not to blame God for what some wrongly consider to be “mistakes” of nature. My friend’s son is not a mistake…he’s a miracle. I believe in a God who created the world through evolution. And I find it absolutely amazing that the cells, chromosomes, and DNA strains that God created have combined and evolved into these miraculous beings we call human.

Obviously, over the evolving generations some anomalies and abnormalities have occurred. It is up to each of us as to whether we consider these anomalies to be miracles or mistakes. (I might ask if Elizabeth Taylor’s violet eyes were a mistake…since violet eyes are more of an anomaly than autism.) My friend’s son is a miracle…to consider him as anything else would be a mistake.

I don’t worry about my friend’s fragile thread of faith…surely God understands the frustration and concerns which continually flood the caregivers of special needs children. I worry about his desperate need for hope. His son’s chromosomal deficiency is not some silly phrase that will be outgrown in time. The deficiency is lifelong. The medical community doesn’t offer much hope. The educational community struggles to offer guidance and hope, but funds are sorely lacking.

My friend has promised to read this posting. I’m sure he anticipates my providing him with more hope than I’ve been able to provide here. Maybe you have a few words of hope to share with him. If so…please comment. He’ll be waiting…

 
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Posted in New Life

 

…the dirt doesn’t care…

15 Jul

For the first time in years, we’ve got some good dirt at our place! We had it delivered…I forget how much, but I know it was several yards more than we really needed. I discovered we’d ordered too much when I set out trying to carry and spread the rich top soil to the top of the hill…where we’d ridiculously decided to plant our garden. Anyway, we’ve got good dirt.

It’s good dirt, but to be honest, it’s rather apathetic. You see, the dirt just doesn’t care.

If I plant zucchini or squash seeds, the dirt will grow zucchini or squash. The dirt really doesn’t care. If I plant poison sumac seeds, the dirt will grow poison sumac. The dirt is like that…it really doesn’t care what seeds I plant.

The land will return whatever is planted, watered and nurtured. If I sow zucchini, I reap zucchini. If I sow sumac, I reap sumac. (This is starting to sound almost Biblical!)

My mind is somewhat like the dirt, and please don’t carry this analogy too far. My mind is somewhat like the dirt, in that it too tends to produce whatever is planted and nurtured. In fact, my mind (and yours) is more incredibly fertile than any available topsoil.

But like the apathetic dirt, our minds don’t care what gets planted. If we plant sadness, fear and anger; then sadness, fear and anger will grow. If we plant joy and forgiveness, joy and forgiveness will grow.

I’m starting to learn how to control my emotions. When the darker, more poisonous moods start to surface…I realize my need to immediately plant some better seeds. I’m trying to remember that “the dirt doesn’t care.”

 
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Posted in New Life

 

…location, location, location…

17 Aug

There is today much concern over the future building of Cordova House and Mosque at New York’s Ground Zero. I myself have a gut-level reaction…a prejudice if you will…that the location of the proposed mosque and community center is somehow wrong.
It is at times such as these that I must not succumb to gut-level reactions. It is at times such as these that I must force my God-given brain to understand our Christ-given directives.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, and to “will for others, what we will for ourselves.” And I would not wish to have my own religious expressions squelched because of the radical actions of my extremist Christian brothers and sisters.

Granted, I am a Christian. But please do not place me in the same camp as the Christian extremists who have bombed abortion clinics and murdered medical doctors. Please, do not question my motives based upon the hatred expressed by the most radical members in my faith community. And please realize that all Muslims do not advocate hatred and violence against non-Muslims.

I know…I know…something about building Cordova House near Ground Zero doesn’t seem right. It seems odd that Muslims should become our neighbors at Ground Zero. Location…location…location. Didn’t Jesus direct us to love our neighbors?

Christ did not come into my life to make me feel right…He came into my life to help me live right.

 
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Posted in New Life