Evidence of Faith

Luke 18:8b Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

At first when I thought about this question I was discouraged. There is all too much evidence that a lot of people talk a lot about faith, even claim to have faith, but there appears to be dissonance between words and reality. People who claim to be people of faith can't seem to get along finding it easy to scatter to their own corners and glower at anyone who might have differing opinions at about pretty much anything. People of faith splinter congregations into those who like blue and those who like green, those who go to the movies and those who don't, those who immerse and those who sprinkle and justify bitter words and biterer feelings based on these differences. How it must grieve God when His children act like self-centered five-year-olds!!

It seemed to me that one would have to work hard to find real evidence of faith on the earth.

Then I thought about those people who hang on to their faith through the valley of suffering. In the face of personal loss, the death of loved ones or those who either face terminal illness or chronic pain personally or in the life of a loved one, they continue to believe and call on God. They accept Him as their Great High Priest Who has suffered in all points like as we have and go to Him, pouring out their anguish and believe He understands. They pour out their hurt and woundedness knowing that even if they don't understand why or what He is doing, He loves them, and He does all things well. They go to their one cross willingly, even eagerly because they have faith.

I thought further of the young people who resist the temptation to be part of the crowd. There is little more powerful to a young person than the crowd and the pressure to belong, but there are young people who have such faith in God that they are willing to stand alone. I respect those young people who won't have that drink, smoke that cigarette, sample those drugs, or give themselves away sexually because they know God is real and He loves them. Their faith is sufficient to enable them to resist the pressure to fit in.

I am encouraged by the faithful and I am certain God is encouraged as well.

Things that bother me

I heard someone speak recently and got really frustrated about their careless use of humor. People need to be aware of their audience, be conscious of how offensive they might be. This particular individual used very overweight women as a target of humor; earlier, midgets had been alluded to in very pejorative terms, and the speaker polished it off with a remark about those who might wear toupees. Now, I am neither hairless, grossly overweight nor small of stature. But I could not help but hurt for those in the audience who might fit any one of those discriptors or care about someone who does.

I am of French descent, well, there's some English and Irish in there as well, but I wonder about those of Polish descent or African descent. Too often they are made to feel marginalized because of their heritage. I wonder if no 0ne is ever going to write or speak as loudly about the amazing contributions made by these people groups as they do the untruths that have made them the object of humor.

well, enough for the moment.
frenchdreamer

Thought plucked from the air

Welcome to my thoughts plucked from the air. Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun, so what you read here is not new, only old words, thoughts, and sentences rearranged, plucked from the ether and rearranged in a way that suits me at any given moment.

There is no guarentee what you will find here so please do not come with expectations because I will write about whatever strikes my fancy in whatever way I like. You may find bits of poetry here, or prose or just general rambling.

Barbara Taylor Brown says "The page is a stage where words are auditioned." or something pretty close to this. so welcome to try-outs.