In his book The Gospel According to Moses, Athol Dickson makes the following statment about the paradoxes of life and faith...
"If I am to escape the warped perspective that turns virtues into vices, I must refuse to choose between the truths and focus instead on the Almighty Truth between the truths."
The specific "truths" he is refering to here are the hard realities of love and suffering (i.e. If God loves me why am I suffering?).
With this in mind, I would like to hear from you...what are some of the paradoxes, both big and small you find in your life? How do you reconcile them? What faith do these require of you? What paradoxes of following Christ do you find most difficult? Do you agree with Dickson's conclusion? Why/Why not?
Monday, December 11, 2006
Paradox & Faith
Posted by Ted Ancelet at 8:28 AM
Labels: Faith and Paradox, Spirituality, Thoughts
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Ted,
I’m not sure where this fits into your comments on paradox and faith, but on several occasions God has used my children to help me see reality with greater clarity.
Several months ago, we were spending a weekend on the Holston River at my in-laws with several other families. A new electric golf cart was the rage with the younger children and the ladies who didn’t want to walk a few hundred feet from the house to the river. Our 6-year old son has an intense interest in how things work and once he has learned how to do something the right way, it’s his God-given duty to make sure the proper procedures are followed. He paid special attention to the directions his grandmother had given regarding operation of the golf cart. So, when it came time to recharge the golf cart, he followed my every move to make sure Dad, who didn’t hear Grandmamma’s instructions, didn’t cross any wires.
As I walked away from the wired cart, my son informed me that the keys weren’t switched off. So I asked him to do it, knowing he love the opportunity to participate. To my surprise, a paralyzed stare - deer in the headlights kind of look, came over him. “Weston, turn it off.” Now I could see fear in his eyes, but I still insisted that he turn it off (after all, he needed to obey his father – but my parenting decisions are a slightly different story). It took quite a lot of persuasion, but he finally, with tears in his eyes, walked to the golf cart and turned it off.
“Weston, what were you afraid of?” I questioned my dogged determination to make my son obey when he told me, “I thought it would explode.” I hugged him tight as I assured him that I wouldn’t knowingly make him do anything that would harm him. Then I praised him for showing the courage to do the very thing he feared.
My God has ushered me into several situations where I experienced fear, doubt, even a period of prolonged depression. In the pain, the question of “why” kept my focus on “the truths” I believe Dickson is referring to. But my Father longed to wrap his arms around me and assure me of His favor, the favor of “the Almighty Truth between the truths.”
Reid...thank you.
Post a Comment