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What else is there? Sometimes all I have is Hope.
and sometimes, not even that.
I keep getting asked what I am (Anglican, Methodist, Pentecostal, etc)and I always feel guilty for not coming up with a label. Wonder if the above on a t-shirt would suffice for my inquisitors?
…and all too often some sod comes around and takes that!
repackages it
rebrands it
tells me that it means I should do this, like that, go to bed with
that person or pursue that vocation…
yep, recently people seem to be taking my faith and making it
something different.
…fortunately, my faith is not so important…
the faith that God seems to have in me is wondrous and utterly dependable.
I’d say love is all I have.
But had it not been for God’s faith(fullness) to me, I would not even have that.
What I truly have is God’s faith in me.
Agreed – some days it’s not my faith but God’s faith that gets me through the day.
Everything else is fleeting…
Faith has, I think, always been there, even if only a pilot light of faith. Even when the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, the Bogey Man, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny and fairies at the bottom of the garden had all had their myths shattered, God remained intact. But when the boiler of faith fired up fully (keeping the central heating analogy going) I went through a real identity crisis. Technically I was a Roman Catholic, I’d had my faith revitalised by Anglicans, had made friends who were Methodists and from free Evangelical churches and felt I had a common bond with every one of them. Like a new tent out of its wrapper, once I was out there was no way this Catholic was going to fit back in the bag again. I spent a good couple of years trying to find my label. Then one day the local vicar, amused by my pointless searchng spoke the wisest words. He said, “Just be Carole.” So that is what I am.
I still got lonely as there were no other Caroles. So one day I stumbled upon the little known kingdom of ASBO and found a Jon, a Robb, a Sonia, a Subo, a Caroline Too, a Becky, a Dennis, a Laura, a Boticelliwoman, a Bo and many, many others…then I was a little less lonely.
Jon, at risk of sounding like a broken record…you forgot blog title number…I’m betting it’s going to be “646″, but I might be wrong!
I agree with Carol and cherish the acceptance here I have never found it elsewhere apart from my girlfriend children & family.
Reminds me of one of the songs on the new Streets album ‘we come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing but love. Everything else is just borrowed’
Sorry should have said the song is called ‘Everything is borrowed’ the title track from The Streets new album. well worth a listen
I find James Fowler’s conception of faith as a verb rather than a noun really helpful: faith as a dynamic system helping one to make sense of and negotiate life, rather than something you either do or don’t have.
so should we say that we don’t have faith but we are living faith?
Just remember, faith without works is dead!
saintjonny… thanks. worpress was glitchy when i put this up.
thank you for the beautiful and wise comments. thank you for the honesty. but most of all, thank you for joining in. you guys ‘n’ gals have made this place what it is (whatever that is exactly, i don’t know… but it seems good and i like it).
Nice one, Jon. Another piece of ironmonery firmly struck on its head.
Can’t help thinking the guy in the cartoon is in a bit of a void, though.
Perhaps you should re-do the cartoon with a vibrant background Jon – and give the ‘guy’ a big smile
Everyone who has said that it is God’s faith in them which is important — brilliant.
And Carole (#9) — also brilliant.
(Anyone who can’t tell the difference between belief in God and belief in, for example, fairies at the bottom of the garden, deserves a slapped wrist. Carole is living proof that these beliefs should not be confused).
I believe in kids playing fairies, I believe in the magic of sunlight glinting through water, sparking light illuminating a colourful underwater world, – i believe trees have a depth of understanding, probably deeper than dogs (not completely sure who’d win this one).
I believe in passion, in the integrity of the human heart, I believe we belong to a awesome, loving God. I believe God can hold us through the darkness, can un-muddle our thinking, and is planning a party for us.
this party will be filled with people from everywhere, of every view point, and with diverse asthetic tastes, cartoonists, musicians, cooks, aunties and alcoholics.
I believe in letting your heart sing, and letting the tears fall. Know this my brother, God is close to the broken hearted, and is there when you can’t believe it
Subo (22): That is beautiful
Beautiful Subo, that has really made me smile. I am currently reading about universal salvation, and it is making a lot of sense to me; the idea that every single person will be reconciled with God has been like fresh air and sunshine.
‘This party will be filled with people from everywhere, of every view point, and with diverse asthetic tastes, cartoonists, musicians, cooks, aunties and alcoholics.’
This is the hope
xxxx
ps ‘aunties and alcoholics’. It is amusing how nicely this rolls off of the tongue. You’re quite the poet!
Carole @ 9 -
Ditto
props to all the above =]
Truly i say to you, the kingdom of ASBO Jesus is like a mustard seed…
I believe that goodness has a source, that music and beauty and passion point to something far greater than our current circumstances allow us to see, that our craving for purpose has a purpose, that our universe has a first cause. That good is good, and there’s a reason its good. That the human heart can be changed, and grow, that hope springs eternal.
I believe that good choices and actions (‘works’) are the eventual and natural outflowing, or fruit, of such belief. And a sign that it is flourishing*
I believe that faith is the only thing i can take with me. And that i’d rather put my trust in something greater than myself.
.
*BUT any amount of doing stuff neither constitutes nor by itself produces belief. Works are not the source of faith, rather they are an indication of its authenticity. But good choices and good actions are not always highly visible, and this is an organic process, not an on/off switch, so it is unwise to judge others’ hearts. A glass of water for the least of these…
thank you janetp & Hayles
And that is not of yourself; it is a gift from God.
All I have is faith, for now.
But on some glorious day to come that intangible faith will become knowledge and then remain visible, tangible, certainty, forever and evermore.
Re: #22, subo, around here we believe in grandmothers playing fairies with (and sometimes even without!!!) their grandchildren.
oh, Forrest
that brings back memories for me, amongst the busyness of life, it was an un-related elderly woman who found the time to be interested in my 4yr old stories about fairies
she gave me that detailed interest I so badly craved, God Bless all those able to go with the fairies and delight in nonsense
to believe god has faith in me still requires an act of faith on my part. i’m not saying it’s not true, just that it requires an act of faith. i do believe god has faith in me… that’s a big part of my faith.
Jon (32),
Belief that God has faith in us, that’s born of experience, isn’t it? When you’ve failed by all your counts, and God has brought you through?
Takes you to a new place…
i know what you mean steve. but how you interpret your experience depends on what faith you adhere to… what specs you’re wearing. make sense?
If someone starts quoting footprints I’m leaving
ah Robb, my beloved child, it was then that i turned into a huge pile of schmaltz and got hung in your bathroom.
@Linus – I don’t know if this is relevant, but…when I was part of a bible study many years ago, somebody pointed out that modern-day Christians come at the faith//works conundrum from a cultural perspective where the body is separate from the mind. However, in the ancient Hebrew cultural mindset, that Jesus and his initial followers were operating in, this distinction was (at least) less clear cut. In this context, you can’t say you “believe” something unless you also act in accordance with it. I’m a good protestant (heh) and I certainly don’t want to argue for justification by works, but this argument just blew my mind – and it continues to freak me out from time to time!
@Hayles – do you mind if I ask for details about the book you’re reading? I’ve been curious about the idea of universal salvation (or universal salvation through Christ, maybe) but haven’t seen much written about it.
What lovely comments this thread has attracted! Thanks everyone for the inspiration.
Hi Claire, I’m currently waiting for the books I’ve ordered to be delivered, so at the moment I’m just reading articles on the web (which is, as the internet tends to do, throwing up a bit of a mixed bag!). There are some very interesting scholarly debates though, particularly relating to the original Greek texts. There is so much information out there on this, I can’t believe I’ve never come across it before. One of the books I want to read on Christian Universalism is called ‘Universal Salvation?’ which basically documents the debates on both sides, to give a balanced view. Maybe we could read it together Claire! It’s always nice to chat these things through and be sure that we are trying our best to keep truth and Jesus at the centre.
“Whilst I was still a sinner Christ was sent for me”
But by Faith I am saved
http://www.beatthedrum.wordpress.com
thanks jf.
yeh, he is in a bit of a void. probably because i was suffering a day of anxiety and depression when i drew it. next time i’ll do a less voidlike (ooh, spellchecker doesn’t like that word!) depiction. 
All I have is works….
[you all know that is a friday afternoon joke don't you!]
Claire thats an awesome insight thanks =]
I am a very, very bad protestant (and a lazy one to boot) and yes the understanding that belief is not something that you talk about but something that produces action and change is all over the scriptures when i think of it. And yes its scary for me too when i think of it.
I apologise for polarising too far from the opposite danger: What i was getting at was that this process is a one way street, where faith produces activity, but activity in itself does not produce faith.
And pressurising others to act in a certain way definitely does not produce faith in them.
Also, because we only have a “measure” of faith (ie faith is analog, not digital – it waxes and wanes, can be strong and weak) and because we are fragile creatures and because the heart is deceitful above all things… fruit is a slow and painful process, hard enough to see in your own life, very dangerous to assume the absence of in someone else’s, always wise to affirm when you spot it.
None of which is an excuse for inaction or an attempt to avoid careful self examination, repentance and prayer for assistance from the one who is able.
Linus – if you are active – cool….
erm… faith and actions is a huge one.
Spent an afternoon with academics (bring your torches – I know the ASBO opinions of them and us – burn burn
) discussing this very issue.
If we are in christ it is his thing. If we are imitating christ we can point at him. [both from the bible.]
Don’t we need both? Don’t we need to act like christ and be within him?
We are out there doing the mission – not because we need to perpetuate but because christ weeps about our suffering. We need to do something about it because Christ weeps about the suffering. We need to clothe, feed, …. whatever…. because christ feeds and clothes and whatever.
Faith is the reason why we do. JC commands me to and… we do.
We do and JC gives us faith……..
Hayles, Claire – I think Keith Ward might be another helpful read in your grapplings with the possibility of a universalist perspective on salvation.
Another amazing book is “Surprised by Hope” by NT Wright.
Yep – Tom Wright has a lot of good things to say in that book!