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Saturday, December 03, 2011

Finding Faith

Finding Faith

It was only a couple of weeks between a well intentioned phone call from some very nice lady, who asked if I studied the Bible and a visit from a local contractor, who was going door to door spreading the Word. To both I was polite, but firm when I said that I had a very personal and ongoing relationship with God. I talk, he listens.

But it got me to thinking, what is Faith?

Well, to some, faith is gathering and increasing the flock as my contractor friend was doing. To others it is getting up Sunday morning and attending services at their local house of worship, then getting home for a one o’clock kickoff. Yet to others it is kneeling at the bedside to utter prayers or to simply say grace at the dinner table.

We all know that Muslims pray five times a day, when they are not beating their wives for backtalk, killing their daughters for dating outside the religion or plotting to kill those that don’t share Mohammad’s teachings. Meanwhile, they proclaim they are the ‘religion of peace’, as long as your religion is also Islam. Nevermind that it is Islamic terrorists that are the source of 99% of regional conflicts around the world today.

But it isn’t only Muslims that are rigid theocratic idealogues. There are many over the world that make religion and faith the center of their lives without benefit of being clergy. Missionaries travel world over doing good deeds, while activist religious laypeople work tirelessly within communities giving comfort, distributing food, clothing and arranging shelter to those in need, while others volunteer to teach Christian values to youth and others as a need to be filled.

No sir, there may be no end to the way faith is expressed. But one thing is for sure, there is no end to those that pontificate what it should be. Myself, I will keep up the dialog until I’m told differently or finally just told to shut up. I know, I know it may be considered a nagging thing.

Dumbplumber

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