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When Religion Is Meaningless

“It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion–its message becomes meaningless.”

― Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism

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Navigating Truth and Lies

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

 That was a good rumination today.

Thoughts?

 

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Faith, Courage and Conviction

faith

Great words by MLK. Most people want to see the whole picture with complete clarity before they commit to stepping out and taking initiative. I understand. There are so many things that can go wrong. There are so many complexities. There are huge potential pitfalls lurking in the unknown.

But, when we fail to take action, we never experience the taste of a dream kissing reality.

Fear cements our feet to the ground…

Doubt is a fog shrouding our hearts’ desire…

Uncertainty keeps us in neutral…

I have found that God rarely reveals more than the first step. If He were to reveal more, then we would not need faith, and faith is where our lives intertwine with God.

I have not prayed for clarity for a long time, instead there are a couple other things I pray for when faith is the clarion call in the dark hours of sleepless nights.

Courage is what I pray for first. Courage to activate my faith and take action. God responds to our faith-filled action every time.

Conviction is the other key character trait I pray for. When faith kisses courage and conviction, things happen…God moves…we find ourselves riding a wave powered by God’s Spirit.

So, if you are feeling like a styrofoam cup being tossed about by the wind, its time to choose faith and pray for courage and conviction and be ready for God to move.