an often dirty word...

I was reading Fr. Jake tonight (instead of writing my essays), and he posed some interesting questions inspired by their new presiding bishop.

1. How would you tell the great truths of our faith without using overtly theological language?

2. How would you tell a new neighbor that God loves him or her without measure, and invite him or her to learn more?

Ahh… evangelism… sticky topic. I think part of it is the absolute fear of coming across like one of those nutters on late night TV offering you water that will solve all of your money problems… if you’d only send them… you guessed it… money!

These are however thought provoking questions, to which there is obviously no one correct answer. Personally, I feel that the moment your actions are separated from your words, you have given up on trying to answer these questions. Old adages exist for a reason… actions really do speak louder than words and in our society of instant gratification and slick marketing ploys, people have become cynical, yet strangely intuitive. We know when our heart strings are being pulled. We know when our fears are being exploited. And though we don’t like it, we put up with it. To counter this, our emotions become either hypersensitive or shut down altogether. Yet even in that void of emotion, there is still a desire to feel connected – even if that feeling cannot be named.

How we choose to live and act and be on a daily basis actually does raise curiosity and elicit questions from those around us– people naturally want to know why it is that we are content or joyful. Why we help people, volunteer, and spend time working for justice and peace. I think this is what needs to be recognized before you can even begin to tell the truths of your faith and look at the questions raised above.

When we do eventually stumble along and try to answer the questions, we must remember that everyone has some sort of religious language; something that gives one person great comfort, can be an absolute show stopper (or ear plugger) for another. God reaches each of us where we are – not who we think we should be, or who we think someone else should be – but exactly where we are in this time and in this place.

And yet through all of this, I know that I am inspired by those who can embrace their faults and foibles and show that we are all human - just doing whatever we can to uncover that spark of the divine within each of us and to find our path as we live into the love of God.