"Oxymorons.............................."

In talking to the men at the mission Wednesday evening, I took them to the unknown author of Hebrew’s definition of “faith” and then suggested to them the following words: Faith may well be “the substance of things hoped for, the essence of things unseen”, but it begins with seeing life for what it is, seeing ourselves for what we are, and hoping that there is, indeed, a Reality to meet us in the middle of it all; for, when you boil it all down, it’s not so much about faith as it is about focus!.... I believe that. A friend of mine, at the memorial service Thursday, spoke me once again as being radical. He has long teased me in such manner; but, in truth, the label is accepted with no malice given in return. When it comes to the salvation of my soul, I openly admit to being reluctant about simply “following the herd”, finding enough evidence around to convince me that it goes a little deeper than just opting one’s personal preference of denominational packaging. The church, after all, didn’t save me. Christ did…. Does it matter what one believes? The apostle Paul seems to think so in his letters to Timothy. Yet which of us is it still pure in our version of the Gospel? I maintain there’s no need for “war”, especially since the only “perfection” any of us can possess in this is a resurrected Savior willing to go with us in our journey; but doesn’t that point to a judgment one day centered on our heart and its pursuit of Him rather than our humanity and its head-held theology?.... My friend, who is a preacher, talked of how politics, business meetings and “the-old-man-yet-alive-in-all-of-us” sometimes exasperates him until he hears God laughingly instruct him to “Calm down. They are, after all, just people.” To which we both agreed in our being but one more banana in the bunch. I’m not out to forcibly clone anyone to my way of thinking, just describing the miles covered thus far from my perspective and inviting whomsoever to join me in the stumble……