Faith

Faith exists beyond either time or space while encouraging and evoking both my hope and my love. In the early morning light, Holy Scriptures should lead us toward God. I read the Bible for both education and inspiration. I sometimes imagine myself as a hobo silently walking down a crowded street in the middle of an unfamiliar neighborhood, nowhere distinct yet somewhere closer to Heaven. There are candlesticks, picnic baskets, tumbleweeds, lilies and carnations surrounding my path. There is a forecast of thunder storms. The circumstance of my life can make me feel vulnerable, alone. There is a fragility in my existence; this fragility is universal. My life, like every person’s life, begins with birth, ends with death. In between will be many hopes, prayers, mistakes, trying to move me toward God sometimes, trying to move me away from God sometimes. When my faith is strong, I can keep moving toward God. Urban living allows us to anonymous but it can underscore our loneliness and desire for something to believe in. We need something to believe, a presence that is constant and merciful. I must always remember that I am a traveler on foot. God offers comfort, compassion, love. There is often something unsettled in our lives, something left unsaid, undone. There can be something ironic in our approach and discussion of God. We all want to believe; we must work to believe in God; we must work to have clean hearts and pure minds in our daily lives and when we pray to God. We can not intimidate God. We can only approach God with charity, humility, and compassion in our hearts. At times I am a tumbleweed being blown around by a fierce wind. At times I am a hobo looking for compassion and a shelter. Faith allows us to encapsulate the very essence of our humanity; our hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses are displayed for us. Both the future and the past can be viewed as mirages as we try to live Christian lives based upon love, hope, and social justice. Our goodness and our kindness can be glimmers of compassion. We must always keep our lives focused on serving God, our destination must always be following Jesus Christ, journeying to the kingdom of heaven.

Our day to day lives might be prosaic, lacking any poetry or movement but we must always remember to pray and to live our lives based upon the Word.

I am sometimes the hobo searching for a meal as a tumbleweed bounces near my feet as I silently as God for mercy and forgiveness.