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If someone were to ask you why you believe what you believe, what would you say?  Would you take them down the Roman Road?  What if they knew nothing about the Bible?  Than the Roman Road is just a bunch of cobbled-together random sentences from one thick book.  Can you do the same thing with the Harry Potter Series?  Does he point to God?  Or would you point to a few science articles that indicate an intelligent creation?  Or talk of tales from your personal life experiences?  Seriously.  Why do you believe what you believe?

And how strongly do you believe it?  Would you die for your beliefs?  Are you willing to enter into discussion with others about why they believe what they believe (and actually HEAR them)?  What would happen to your faith if somehow it was brought into question?  If you were shown discrepancies within the Bible? Does that make it any less true?  Or if you were told that most of the stories were actually just that – stories, good stories, to teach us lessons.  But nothing more.  Maybe they were even “borrowed” from other surrounding religions during the time the Bible was being written.  What then?   And what do you do when someone shows you a picture of an adorable little girl dying of starvation in Africa, or a woman caught in the sex trade?  How do you tell them that God is a loving God who “knows the plans [He] has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you”?  Or what about the people who tell you that “as long as you believe something  – that’s all that matters”?  Or the people who call you arrogant because you believe your scriptures, which say that Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven?  What about the little children who never have a chance to believe in Jesus?

How strong is your faith then?

Can your faith stand up against messy life, heartache, deep pain and everything life will throw your way?

Why do you believe what you believe? 

This is a crucial question.  YOU HAVE TO KNOW.  If you are living your life right, someday someone will ask you.  And you better be ready with an answer.  Or you will run across people who have been hurt by the Christian religion, and you will need to know how to answer their probably-angry questions with a great deal of grace and love.

And, as a little caveat, if the foundation of your faith, if your answers to hard questions are sort of wishy-washy (“well, I think…  “or “somewhere in the Bible it says….”), or come from Sunday morning sermons, (“Well, Pastor Peter says…”), or, worse, come from “biblical” movies (like The Passion, or Veggie Tales, or so many more) your answers aren’t going to hold up.  That being said, if your answers are ONLY from scripture and the person asking you questions isn’t from the Christian faith, or a religion that values a main instructional book like the Bible, you scripture references aren’t going to mean much…yet.  I mean, as Isaiah 55:11 says, anytime you speak scripture (with the right intent), God will use it. So, by using scripture you’re potentially planting seeds…but you’re not necessarily going to be helpfully answering the questions they have right at that moment.

So then, how do you defend or share your faith?  A whole lot of listening for wisdom from the Holy Spirit.  A whole lot of living a life that points toward Christ.  A whole lot of owning your weaknesses.  And a huge amount of confidence in how Christ sees you.  Knowing what the Bible says, knowing what science says, and being willing to share your life story.  And patience, a whole lotta patience and humility.  And a huge helpin’ heap of depending on Christ.

A year and a few days ago I broke up with my boyfriend.  And I’m still healing from it.  Which, to me, is crazy.  It wasn’t like we were dating long – only almost three months (which, for an adult is SHORT – for a middle schooler, this is almost an eternity). But it was fast, intense, passionate, and over

And today, almost exactly a year from when it ended, I still have no doubts that it needed to end.  But I also am still working through hurts and memories and lessons that I received during my time with him.  And this astounds me.

Because I’m supposed to be over it by now.  I’m supposed to have worked through it all, and not need to spend another second thinking about the past.  But that’s not the case.

The thing is, I know I’m not the only one in this situation.  Somehow, in our modern world, we tend to think people heal from stuff fast.  They’re supposed to get over some major emotional injury quickly and not bother the rest of us about it.

But healing doesn’t work that way.  Healing is a slow, painful, HARD process.  It takes a great deal of effort (healing demands you actually work through stuff, not just ignore it) and a great deal of time.  So. Much. Time.

When I was a very little girl (like, 4 years old) I fell down and scrapped the palm of my hand.  It bled and I had a nasty red and yellow scab for a week after.  It only took a second to be wounded, but exponentially longer than that to heal.  And while this particular wound was a physical one, the same is true of our emotions.  Healing takes so much longer than the wounding.

So be patient with yourself.  Give yourself the permission to take the time to heal.

The thing is, the same is true of our friends.  They might be in pain from something so much longer than we’d expect.  Please, please sit with them in their pain.  Sure, encourage them to heal, but don’t rush it.  Allow them the time they need.  Someday (or month or year or lifetime) they might be sitting beside you while you heal.

A friend shared this with me, and I’m really enjoying jamming to it today.  If you’re too old or not old enough to appreciate Veggie Tales, I’m sorry. Listen to the music while you do something else.

MERRRRRRRRY Christmas!!!!!!  May the Light of our savior flood your world today!

Turkey, rolls, stuffing, cranberries, rolls, green-bean casserole, rolls, pie.  The table is practically bending in the middle with the weight of all the food that has been placed on it.  And by the end of the meal, you will be uncomfortably stuffed from all this wonderful deliciousness.   And it’s tradition.  And it’s community.  And it’s expected.  And it’s amazing food.  And it’s communion with friends and family.

And yet…..

Can someone explain to me how a day that has come to represent over-indulgence, a day that precedes a whole season of over-indulgence, be called “Thanksgiving”?  If we are truly thankful, we wouldn’t be focused on ourselves, would we?   We wouldn’t be stuffing ourselves with food, than rushing off to get the best gadgets that same evening and following day.  Nothing about that sounds very Thankful to me.

Thanksgiving means we recognize that we are given so much more than we are worthy of.  Thanksgiving means remembering where our health, our food, our relationships, our houses and all the stuff in them, where all that comes from.  Thanksgiving should be a gathering of family and friends to, as a community, give thanks to God for what He’s done.

But I don’t see that really happening in our culture.  Sure – in pockets – little glimpses here and there – but not over all.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for celebrations.  And yes, it is good to sit down with friends and family and eat together.  There is something spiritual and holy about it – or should be.  But if the meal wasn’t about us, but about giving thanks to God for what He has done throughout the year (because that was the original point hundreds of years ago) than shouldn’t it look different?

I don’t know.  Maybe I’m just grumpy this morning.  But then, that scene from Catching Fire keeps circling around my mind.  (No spoilers if you haven’t seen it.  Promise. ) There is a scene where Peeta and Katniss are at the Palace, in the celebration of the culmination of their victory tour – they are eating, and stuffed.  When they mention this, one of their stylists hands Peeta a glass of pink liquid (I’m sure it’s named in the books, but I don’t remember), which, apparently, allows you to throw up so that you can go eat more.  Peeta politely refuses the drink, and whispers to Katniss, “People are starving back home, but here, they’re throwing up food”.  Or something like that.

And I wonder.  We’re thankful, and eating too much, but out there, beyond where you can see them, people are starving.  Literally.  In The United States of America, kids are starving. In Haiti, in Peru, in South Africa, in Germany, in China, in The Philippines, in India – people are literally starving to death.  The ache in their bellies is not from eating too much – but from not having enough to eat.

Shouldn’t, in our thankfulness of what God has done for us this year, we somehow remember those who are less fortunate?   Shouldn’t our thankfulness lead to action?  Shouldn’t we share our bounty – in whatever way we can?  Whether that’s donating time and money to a local food bank or homeless shelter, or inviting someone to your meal who doesn’t have anyone else to eat with, or even simply smiling at the bell-ringer outside the grocery store, or forgetting all the doubts you have about how the man at the corner with the sign would spend your money, and giving him a five anyway, but making sure you look in his eyes and tell him “God bless” before handing it over.  Wouldn’t that be the grateful thing to do?  Or maybe even just being more intentional with how much food we eat, not abusing His graciousness?  I don’t know.

This isn’t what I intended to write about, it was a much cheerier subject.  This is just what came out.  Sorry if it’s a downer.  I don’t mean to sound judgmental or anything along those lines.  I just… I guess I feel like something about this holiday has gone horribly wrong, and maybe we should do something about it.

 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

1 Chronicles 16:34

Turkey Pic Cred