Checking In

So, I feel like I don’t write on my blog often enough, especially considering my passion for Christian unity and wanting to build an online community of Christians from all backgrounds who can encourage each other and really demonstrate that we can truly be one body and one faith, despite our theological differences. So here’s what I’m thinking as I write a post today that may not be as focused as previous ones – I need to write about a wider variety of topics. If I only write posts that preach about unity, it gets boring. I want to try moving beyond that and actually discuss our beliefs and traditions in a judgement-free space.

I think the reason it’s been hard to move beyond explaining why unity between denominations makes so much sense, is that I’ve always hated the idea of trying to discuss theology with people on a blog about unity and have people miss the unity part and just make hateful and judgemental comments like they do all over the internet. I want this blog to be different. I want people to feel free to comment and talk about ideas different from my own without telling me that mine are wrong or telling others who have commented that their ideas are wrong. It seems so rare that people understand the possibility and the benefit of “Yes, that’s interesting… and that reminds me of something we believe and practice in my tradition…” instead of “Ok, but that doesn’t sound right because in my tradition we believe this…”

After this post I will try to do some posts that focus on various topics within our faith, especially with a holiday as important as Easter coming up. But let me just give you an example of two different ways of discussing theology and church traditions to demonstrate the kind of discussion I’m encouraging on this blog.

Zane’s post on Prayer:
I’ve found it very interesting as a fairly new Catholic to learn about the tradition of using icons in our prayer lives and why it is that we use them. Coming from an evangelical background, I know that there are a lot of misconceptions about icons. The idea I’m getting from learning about them recently is that they help provide a focus in prayer. When we are looking at an icon it is supposed to represent a person or event but in a deeper way than a piece of art. It is supposed to, in our minds, actually become the person or event so it has a greater impact on us as we pray. I’ve found this to work really well for me in my own prayer life…. etc etc…

Comment #1:
“There is nothing taught in the Bible about using icons in your prayer life. The Bible does say not to worship idols and all you Catholics are doing exactly that – worshipping idols instead of God. Evil, evil, devil worshippers, I’m better than you, blah blah blah…”
– Christian Superior

Zane’s Response:
“I’ll keep it brief even though there is a lot to say about comments like that… but idols and icons are different. The golden calf was an idol. A picture of Jesus is certainly something different. If you say I pray to a piece of paper or a piece of wood and I say I pray to God with that paper or wood in front of me, we’re just splitting hairs. It’s really not likely that anyone thinks an icon of Jesus is actually Jesus Himself. And what matters in my prayer life is where my heart is – and thankfully that’s something God knows. We serve a loving God who isn’t going to strike me down for having icons in my house and for praying in my own unique way. I think He appreciates my desire to pray.”

Comment #2:
“I’ve never really understood icons before but I can see how it could be helpful if that’s a tradition you connect with. It got me thinking about my own prayer life and what’s helpful for me and I wanted to share….
I attend a church that’s very focused on spiritual gifts, like prophetic gifting and that sort of thing. I believe that God will speak to every single one of us in different ways, if we believe it and we’re open to seeing and hearing. So at home I like to take some time to listen before and after I pray. I sit or lay down and just open myself up to God’s presence and what He might want to say. Sometimes I write down what I’m feeling and some of those things have been really useful….”
– Faith Lovegood

Zane’s Response:
“That’s such a great idea. I’ve heard a lot about the whole idea of ‘being still’ and listening to God. I’ve even tried practicing that before. It also got me thinking about how I’ve even learned things away from the church that have been useful in my Christian faith as well. I used to be really into Eastern religions and learned a lot about meditation. It’s not something that’s easy to practice but because meditation is used by people in so many traditions around the world there is a lot of great information out there about how to keep from being distracted, how to maintain a regular meditation practice, etc…. and so many of those things can really benefit us when we use them in our time with God…”

And the conversation could continue…

This is my dream, not just for my blog but for Christians all over the world, in any denomination. My dream is to see more of us encouraging each other and sharing ideas rather than tearing each other down and trying to show who belongs to the true church. Only God knows for sure who’s a real Christian – and I bet there are plenty in every denomination.

Unity with all… if only they conform

I recently had the experience of being fooled by someone I thought understood the idea of Christian unity.  He said so many things that sounded very loving and non-judgmental… but when it came right down to it, he wasn’t at all prepared for the challenge of accepting that I have the same kind of faith he does and that it’s possible that we both know God though I may be Catholic and he is Pentecostal.

I was having lunch at a table next to this man and a lady who was driving him home from church.  They had stopped for lunch because she felt that God was leading them there to speak with someone.  When he sat down, he introduced himself to me then turned to the woman and they started talking.  The conversation began with the woman saying to him, “So, I didn’t know you’d been to heaven”.  And the man told a beautiful story of a vision he’d had.  It included God saying to him that all Christians are the same.  The souls in Heaven of those who have passed on are not labelled as Pentecostal, Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran and so on… They are one body.  After he’d told his story he eventually started talking to me again and near the beginning of our conversation, used these words: We don’t need to all be under the same roof… but the walls between us need to come down.

Sounds good, right?  I thought so.  I love meeting Christians from other churches and when I get into a conversation about the faith with them, it is always in the hope that we can relate to each other simply as Christians.  I feel that it’s a blessing to be able to share what we have in common and enjoy the unity that is intended for us.  But not everyone feels that way.  Some people have pity on you as soon as they find out you’re part of a certain church.  Older traditions are seen as devoid of the Holy Spirit.  They think we go to church to feel like we’ve done our duty.  This man I’m talking about said things like, “Do you want to know God?” and “You must be born again” and “Can I pray with you?” and he prayed against the “religious spirit” within me and told me to stop running from God.  Wow.  Judgment without sufficient information.  I couldn’t be further from running.  I pray, I’m open to God’s leading, and I finally feel grounded and sure of things I want to do with my life.   Besides all that, I DO NOT believe in the idea of being born again and will never go back to believing that.  I’ve been an evangelical and it stopped feeling right… and my theology changed naturally, to the point where I understand Catholicism.   So I know I’m where I need to be.  I can practice my faith and have a relationship with God, without being in an environment where someone is constantly beating me over the head with a doctrine that I’ll never believe in.  I think we each need to be where it feels right.   It isn’t logical to think that your salvation depends upon acceptance of a particular doctrine.  I will always believe that my words and actions are involved in my salvation.  I know very well that I will be criticized by protestants for that.  But that’s ok.  It’s what I believe and it makes me want to be a better person because I love God and believe that “love does no wrong to a neighbour.  Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law”.  I am in complete agreement with John and that scripture has meant so much to me.  And I also completely agree with James, who said that faith without works is dead.  He wrote about the necessity of faith and works.  He wasn’t denying the grace of God.  But believing in God’s grace, for some of us, just cannot simply mean we are ‘born again’ in the way it is often understood by evangelicals.  It’s too easy and it allows people to think they’re far more special than everybody else and to treat the rest of the body of Christ like we’re inferior.  It’s not overly “religious” to believe that if you want to be saved, your character must change and you must try to love as Jesus loved.  And some Christians would do well to take a really good look at how Jesus loved.  For me the first thing that comes to mind is that he loved without discrimination.  The Bible didn’t talk about Him having pity on everybody He met.  He simply loved and spent time with people, being a friend.  And He taught them about how to treat one another.

The Lord did not create denominations.  We all know that.  But when I say that, I’m not saying you shouldn’t be a member of a particular denomination.  So many people use this idea that God didn’t create denominations to rail against the old traditions like Catholicism.  Many of them think they are going to be able to find the perfect way to be part of a church – “Apostolic” or “First-century” or something like that.  Well, here’s what I believe… there will never be a perfect church with perfect doctrines.  We are not God and cannot understand everything about what is unseen.  We know in part.  Each denomination interprets the message of Christ as best we can.  And the interpretations we have can certainly help us to live better lives and live the gospel.  Some people need to stop preaching the gospel long enough to see that kindness doesn’t mean trying to convert people to your way of thinking… even if you do it with a smile on your face and show compassion for those wayward non-evangelicals who couldn’t possibly have a deep enough relationship with God.

As I talked to my partner about it last night, we came to the conclusion that you can’t actually have a deep relationship with God apart from being in harmony with other human beings… and not just the ones in your church.  We all know what Jesus said – that what we do to other humans, we do also to Him.  But here’s something else to consider – God created us all, He created the earth and all living things.  The Spirit of God is everywhere… in everything.  God gave life not only to us but to all living things.  His life is in everything.  If you cannot be in harmony with those outside of your little North American evangelical bubble (or your Catholic bubble or your Baptist bubble – whatever the case may be), you are missing out on a large part of being one with God.  I’m no better than anybody else and I know my relationship with God can always be better.  But it is certainly there.  It is deep, but I don’t compare the depth of it with the depth of someone else’s relationship with God.  That’s not my business.  I give people the benefit of the doubt.  But for a long time I’ve observed that some people can love without needing to convert, they can truly be in harmony with people of all denominations and they look at us all as equals.  They accept differences in doctrine and realize that each Christian’s needs for a place of worship may be different.  I have evangelical friends and family  who treat my partner and I with the same love and respect (not pity) as anyone in their churches.   These people are living the gospel.

There is still no doubt in my mind about what I believe.  This is what I told the Jehovah’s Witnesses who just came to my door.  I believe in the message of Christ and have seen that message lived out in the lives of people belonging to all different churches.  I respectfully told them I didn’t want to meet with them again because their interpretations of scripture are not the same as mine and there’s no point debating them.  I’m very happy with where I am in my spiritual journey and very confident that what I believe makes more sense than Christianity has ever seemed to make before this point in my life.   I believe that I, along with people in many different churches, can truly live the gospel and that theological differences only make us more comfortable in our respective churches – they don’t make some of us more Christian than others.   As the song says, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

“Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”  – St. Francis of Assisi

Onebodyonefaith is staying!

So, it turns out onebodyonefaith isn’t moving!

My plans for web sites I wanted to work on have changed a lot, mostly due to the fact that I don’t like using a computer. This has unfortunately also affected my writing but I hope some people who have enjoyed my writing in the past will check back and enjoy it once again.

Thanks to any readers who have enjoyed my blog and continue to do so, and thanks also to those who have just found me. I hope you find some inspiration in my message of unity. Be blessed!

Zane

onebodyonefaith is MOVING!!!

It’s been a long time since I posted and I do regret that I haven’t kept up with myblogging. Those of you who have been reading, thank you so much for being a part of what I’m doing and caring about Christian unity. I look forward to hearing from you and reading your blogs in the near future.

I’m excited to announce that I now have a domain and will be moving onebodyonefaith to that domain. I’ll include a link on the new site to this one, so that if anyone is interested in my old posts it will be easy to find them. The new site is onebodyonefaith.zanelarive.com and I expect that I’ll be writing again very soon. So come and check it out! Leave comments! Be part of the discussion. I’m still very excited about the reason for this blog and hope it will facilitate some really great discussions between Christians from many traditions.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

happy new year!

Now that the holidays are over, I’m back into work/get my life in order mode.  I had the most amazing holiday season and I almost wish I could go back and do it all over again… except it was so busy!  

I was just thinking about the new year and how things have changed for me.  I find it so exciting that a new year has started and I suddenly have new plans for my life that make me feel so much more optimistic about the future.  So I guess I wanted to write a post to share how happy I am. 

I have to start by telling you that I’ve always had many interests and many ideas for my future.  I’ve chosen many career paths but then I quickly realize that it’s a fleeting interest and I can’t see myself doing it for years.  After the last decision I made about a career in 2010, I started having a lot of doubts about it and feeling a lot of uncertainty about the future.  I realized that I really didn’t want to go to university at my age and if I could be successful in something that didn’t require university, that would be more ideal.  But it wasn’t just that I didn’t want to go to university.  I really enjoy learning, and I especially enjoy studying English… but it didn’t seem practical to take time out of my adult life to be a student, and eventually start a career that wouldn’t make me very happy.  The trouble was, I could picture the life I wanted but couldn’t figure out what the perfect career was to go along with my idea of who I am and how I want to live.

Just a couple days into the new year, I was helping my boyfriend assemble a filing cabinet and as we were working on it, I was reminded of how much I love wood furniture and how much I’ve always loved woodworking.  It’s an interest I’ve had since I was child and probably inherited from my mother, who studied carpentry when I was young.  Suddenly I knew I wanted to be a cabinetmaker.  As I thought about it that night, I was in such disbelief that I had never considered it a real possibility.  Once I allowed myself to think about it as a real possibility for my future, it felt right.  So right, in fact, that I had no hesitation about getting started.  It’s only been about a week since I decided, and today I’m going to take the first step by getting registered with an agency that will help me begin my job search to become an apprentice.  

I’ve never felt so sure about my future, and I’m SO thankful!  God has a way of surprising us, suddenly showing us a clear path when we can barely see in front of us, and helping us become who we really are and who we’re meant to be, if we trust that things always work out somehow.  Life is frustrating at times, it can seem boring, it can seem too difficult and it’s so easy to get discouraged.  But we have to trust in the way things are.  When we want change but we know that there’s nothing to do, either because we’ve tried everything or because there simply is nothing to do in that situation, then things are the way they’re supposed to be.  If you can’t change it, God can.  If He’s not changing it, you don’t have to worry because you’re supposed to be exactly where you are. 

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.

i heard the bells on christmas day

Merry Christmas!

I know it’s boxing day, but it is still the Christmas season and many of us continue celebrating after December 25. I hope everyone reading this has had a great holiday season so far. The last couple of days were absolutely amazing for me! I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas. It was my first Christmas with the love of my life and also my first Christmas since reconnecting with my Christian faith and being part of a church. I am SO blessed!

What I wanted to share with you today is a reflection on the song “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”. When I got home last night, I lit my Christmas candle and prayed… and something really hit me. First of all, here are the words. The lyrics to this song were written by Longfellow, one of my favourite poets.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

The third verse really hit me as I thought about it last night because amidst a really beautiful time celebrating Christmas with family, there was hate that obviously interfered with one person’s enjoyment of the festivities. This one person refused to talk to or even look at me because I was there with my boyfriend. I feel perfectly confident that God has blessed me with this relationship and that I’ve met the person who was meant for me. If anyone heard my story with an open mind, they wouldn’t be able to deny that it was meant to be… But some people insist on believing in the impossibility of this notion and will even make themselves look foolish in order to make a statement against us. I didn’t so much care about the one person and how she felt about me. What I care about is peace. I mean, maybe I don’t agree with this person being ignorant and unkind… but I’d still talk to her and be nice to her. We don’t have to agree on everything in order to have peace.

I mentioned this situation to someone this morning, and the response I got was that sometimes it’s hard for people to just change their ideas. Well, I’m not asking anyone to change their ideas for me. I responded with the idea that kindness doesn’t come from agreeing on everything. It comes from healthy attitudes toward fellow human beings. I was told again that it’s really hard for people. Really? It’s hard for people  do what? Say hello and Merry Christmas to a gay man? All I’m criticizing is the lack of civility. She can believe whatever she wants. But am I really supposed to care that it’s hard for her? 

Forgive me if I have no sympathy for people who are struggling because they refuse to accept my existence. Here’s what people forget when they think it’s my problem that I make people uncomfortable just by being alive…

The suffering I’ve endured as a result of society’s ridiculous and unnatural ideas, is most likely worse than what any ignorant homophobes will ever have to endure. Whether they’re straight people who don’t understand or gay people who live in fear of themselves, I have no sympathy because I’ve suffered far worse by being out for the last ten years.  I’ve been frustrated, I’ve asked God to take it away from me, I’ve tried to live as a straight man, for a few years I wouldn’t pray because I actually felt so guilty I thought God had rejected me, I stopped talking to a lot of my friends because they were Christian and I was afraid of more condemnation, there were years that I wouldn’t have anything to do with my family if I could help it, I’ve done far more drinking and drugs than I ever expected, I have a mood disorder…. and I was not a problem child. I moved out of my parents’ house with good intentions, I’d always been a good student, never gave my parents much to worry about, and I had never been drunk or touched any drugs.  But when I moved away from home, I came out in the first year and it destroyed me… or at least it seemed to destroy me at the time.  But really, it just changed me. 

And now I’m happy.

Now I’m not suffering because I’m solid in what I believe. And now I have a great job, a great relationship and a spiritual life for which I’m very thankful. I’m close with my largely Christian family, who will accept me and my partner regardless of anything we may disagree on.  So, I’m not concerned that I met one person who won’t have anything to do with me… but it struck me that even on Christmas Day, some people would rather continue hating than recognize that peace is more important than having the same beliefs.  Peace should always be more important, especially when you consider that to live peacefully with the rest of the world, you don’t have to like everyone or have a close relationship with everyone.  I’ve met many people I wouldn’t really care to spend a lot of time with, but if I were in a situation that involved interacting with the same people, my hope is that I would have the grace to treat them with respect and kindness.

May we all see the value in each other, no matter what we don’t understand about each other. And may we seek to understand.

god loves westboro

Have you heard of the site http://www.godhatesfags.com? It is the web site of, believe it or not, a church that claims to be Christian. Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas has been picketing for years, with signs that say things like “God hates fags”, “Thank God for AIDS”, “Thank God for 9/11”, “God hates America”, etc. They are an incredibly hateful group that thankfully doesn’t believe in physical violence. I just wonder how long their anger can go on before they change their stance on violence. They’re one step away from being terrorists. If they thank God for tragic events like 9/11, how long will it be before they think they can justify creating those tragic events?

But I’m not writing this post to bash Westboro or to give you my explanation of why they’re wrong. It’s pretty obvious to most of us why they’re wrong. But they’ve been on my mind a lot since I learned that they’re going to be picketing the Vatican on Christmas Eve. I thought it was sad that people who claim to be Christian can’t even let go of their anger and hate for a couple days in order to stay home, have a nice celebration and honor the Lord on such an important holiday.

One thing I know for sure is that arguing against these people will not convince them they’re wrong. What they need is the love of Christ, since that is clearly what they don’t understand about the religion they claim to be a part of. So, I wrote them a message to say Merry Christmas. My message was a little prayer for peace, for the Spirit of God to be with them and that sort of thing. I want to continue praying for them whenever I remember and also occasionally send them a kind message.

I guess I decided to write about it because so many people know about Westboro and we know how misled they are. But in the past it’s been really easy for me to forget that they are without the love of Christ and that’s unfortunate. They need to be shown what it’s really all about. So if you think of them at all, say a little prayer for God to miraculously touch their hearts. It is possible. God can do anything!

checking in

I feel like I haven’t been very focused on writing lately because I’m so excited about my first Christmas at home in three years! But I wanted to at least write a short post this evening and share what’s on my mind.

I’ve really been challenged lately, by my blog posts. As I’m writing about my ideas, I find so many examples of how I’m not living up to what I believe. So I’m seeing what a challenge it can be to always be kind and forgiving and that sort of thing. But the good thing is that I know God is giving me the grace to be the kind of person I want to be. He has shown me again and again that prayer really does work. When I really believe that the Lord can help me to be more like Him, and I pray for that help, I find that I have a kind of strength I know isn’t my own.

Recently I prayed and asked that my love for a certain person would increase, and that I would feel a stronger bond with that person. I forgot that I had prayed that during Mass, until later in the day when I was so overjoyed to be around the person I’d prayed about that it seemed to come out of nowhere. I remembered what I prayed and knew that God was reminding me of the power of faith.

advent

Wow! It’s been hard to sit down and write a post recently. I think it has a lot to do with Christmas quickly approaching. I’m getting so excited it’s hard to sit down and focus on anything. All I want to do is bake, decorate, watch Christmas movies and… well, I hate shopping but it has to be done.

Something I wanted to share about this Christmas season is what I’m doing for advent. Since being in an Eastern Catholic church, I’ve been fortunate enough to learn about some really beautiful traditions that I can incorporate into my existing spiritual practice. It’s especially exciting to think about as Christmas approaches, for a couple of reasons. I haven’t spent Christmas with my family in three years… and I also wasn’t entirely sure why I was celebrating Christmas the last couple of years. But now that I’m celebrating this holiday to remember Christ coming to earth, I wanted to do something for advent and learned that in Eastern Catholicism, we have an advent fast. It started in November (the 15th I think – I just know it’s been awhile now), and it goes until Christmas Eve. Similar to Lent, there are traditional ways of fasting but many people choose what they fast. For myself, a complete fast is out of the question because of medical conditions, but here’s what I’m doing… every day, my caffeine intake should be no more than one cup of coffee, and for the rest of the day I try to only drink water. It’s definitely a challenge – I don’t know what I’d do without Perrier. On Fridays, I’m not supposed to have any meat, fish, dairy or oil.

One might wonder, what’s the point of fasting before Christmas? I wasn’t entirely sure when I started, but I found that the fast has been helping me to remember the importance of this holiday. Every time I want something and can’t have it, I’m reminded that I’m symbolically waiting for the coming of the Lord. It makes the Christmas season so much more meaningful. For myself, I think I need that spiritual focus to help keep my mind off the stress of all the preparations.

That’s something we hear about all the time – the stress of getting ready for the holidays. I’ll admit it gets to me sometimes too… but here’s something that could help us to relax about all of it. Yes, we are busy getting ready for Christmas. But as we prepare – shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking, making arrangements with family – we can think of every detail as being for the Lord, since that really is what all those details are about. Everything related to celebrating Christmas really is for Jesus. It’s a holiday that celebrates His birth, so even the more challenging parts of getting ready are part of our worship. We shouldn’t whine and complain about worshipping the Lord, so why do the same in regards to Christmas? I have to emphasize this point again. When we prepare for Christmas, even in details like trying to make arrangements with family, we are trying to create a really beautiful holiday. If the holiday is for the Lord, then all those details should be done with cheerfulness and as much peace as we can manage. We hear it over and over again… and for that reason I almost didn’t write about Christmas. But I realized that we don’t usually hear it put quite this way, and it’s something I never thought of before this year. “Jesus is the reason for the season” is a slogan I never want to hear again because not only is it not as clever as people think, it has also become meaningless. Every year, in church we hear about “remembering Christ in our Christmas celebrations”, but too many people just say it because they feel obligated as Christians. It doesn’t usually affect our attitudes about preparing. We still insist on being stressed and trying to share that stress with those around us.

In the last few years, whether or not I was thinking of this for religious reasons, I have developed the attitude that no matter how much work there is to do for a holiday, I will not get sucked into the bickering, complaining, panicking, worrying and all that.  I had to just laugh a couple years ago at Thanksgiving because my sister and I were having so much fun cooking dinner, and something happened that reminded me that so many people automatically switch into stressed-out mode at holidays, even when there’s nothing to worry about.  We had everything perfectly under control, and yet a much older family member insisted on talking rudely and acting as if we were taking care of some huge emergency, not like we were just relaxing and enjoying a holiday with family.  We didn’t get upset about it.  We just laughed because of how obviously unnecessary the stress was.  But when I think back to that, I realize it’s really sad that we put no thought into these attitudes.  We just automatically switch into that mode because it’s a holiday.  I really just want to try to keep holidays peaceful and there’s never a good reason to panic about getting ready.  Why talk about love, peace and joy at Christmas if we don’t involve those ideas in our celebrations? Often we forget that we each make a choice to be stressed out. It is possible to be busy and peaceful at the same time. It is possible to be busy and joyful. There is a difference between knowing that there is work to be done, and letting yourself be upset that there is work to be done.

Let’s remember that love, peace and joy are not just words. They are important Christian ideas that are entirely possible, even with the business of the Christmas season.

confidence and listening

I have to thank one of my friends for this post. I received an email saying that my friend had been reading my blog and he mentioned how important it is to be confident and also be able to listen. I wholeheartedly agree with this idea and while it may have come up in the context of something I did well, I also know it’s something I should always be conscious of. There are certainly times when I have confidence in myself but forget that I can always learn from others. I still need to listen, even when I feel fairly sure that I know what I’m talking about.

An idea I’ve believed in for awhile is that when voicing our opinions, we should always have the mindset that there is a possibility we’re wrong. I can’t say I even come close to practicing it regularly, but I work on it because I don’t want to become too proud. We can find ways to keep ourselves humble without being really down on ourselves or anything. For me, one thing that helps is the belief that none of us really knows much at all, especially in regards to spiritual matters. We all work with the bit of truth we believe in and from there we’re making a lot of guessess… and often they’re not educated guesses. We’re only human. We’re all human. None of us can have all the knowledge there is about the spiritual realm. I like to really embrace the mystery of it, and admittedly I’m bad at it sometimes. I just want to know things!  But when I really think about all the mysteries of the universe, I am absolutely thrilled sometimes.  It’s such a beautiful thought because it tells me we don’t have to be worrying and striving and accusing as much as we do in the church.  I don’t have all of the truth, you don’t have all the truth and believe it or not, neither does your pastor.  We’re all on a journey together, and none of us knows which details of our belief systems we’ll be able to look back and laugh at when we are with God and really know Him.  

There is so much freedom in the idea of being confident and yet listening to others, listening to God and always keeping an open mind about the possibility of learning.

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”

 – 1 Corinthians 13:12-13