Skeptical Faith

Google Image To be close to family, my wife, Amparo, and I recently moved from Iowa to Colorado, and I’ve been soaking up the natural beauty here. About five minutes from our house, in fact, is a park where you can see an incredible view of the whole “front range,” from Pike’s Peak south to Long’s Peak north with a beautiful, lush valley in between. I doubt if there’s a sweeter view in all of the Denver area. Iowa is beautiful, too, of course. It just has a different kind of beauty. I’ve been thinking about how many people fail to notice nature’s attractions. We are so tuned in to day-to-day projects and problems, so attentive to what’s on our smart phones, computers and TVs, we often miss what’s really important. What We Miss Seeing In a recent article in the New York Times, Tish Harrison Warren, an Episcopalian priest, quotes author Andrew Sullivan, who writes: “ With that power comes a temptation, like never before, to miss seeing our own city park, our own block, our own ya...

Google Image I’ve always liked the slogan, “If you want peace, work for justice.” It’s a 1972 quote from Pope Paul VI, according to an online site summarizing five sources. The quote expresses the connection between peace and justice, which require “honoring, respecting, and protecting the dignity of all human beings, and eliminating the threats to their dignity.” It is also related to global issues, such as wars, poverty, and human rights, challenging us to work for justice if we want to see a more peaceful world. But most of us are also interested in another kind of peace, the personal kind that’s related to our reaction to adversity, anxiety, boredom, loneliness and all the problems that confront us in our daily lives. This kind of peace is at least as hard to come by as global peace. Social media is full of advice about this kind of peace and as I mentioned in a recent blog, we need all the help we can get. A Ready Source of Peace But many people searching for God have a re...

Google Image Having studied Journalism as well as taught it at the university level and spent much of my life in journalism, I’m sensitive – some might say obsessive – about the use of language. Words and expressions that others would think nothing of often cause me mild irritation. Sometimes I see this exaggerated awareness as a kind of curse. I’ve been noticing recently an increase in the use of the word “perfect.” Salespeople, wait staff and other retail employees now often use the word after completing a transaction. For instance, they may ask you for your credit card, you hand it over, and they answer “perfect.” I’m often tempted to say, “Nothing’s perfect, my friend, including my credit card.” Another expression that I find annoying is “amazing,” which seems to be the only adjective known by people under a certain age. “You guys,” applied to people of all ages and sexes, is another. And, of course, there is the word “like” – as in “so she’s like, no way” - which some people, ...

Google Image If you’re at all tuned into Holy Week, reading or hearing the passages about the cruel and inhumane treatment endured by Jesus, you will be amazed at the apparent calm with which he suffered his torments. Most Christians believe that Jesus was human as well as divine, however, so there were cracks in his calm, such as when he quoted Psalm 22 from the cross, “God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Hearing or reading those lines leads me to think about all those people who, ironically, can relate to those words if nothing else in the Christian Bible. For me, it’s a reminder that faith is no reliable shield from doubt, that if you expect faith to save you from uncertainty, you’re likely to be bitterly disappointed. Self-Confidence And, I believe, that’s why the author of Mathew’s gospel recorded those words of Jesus, even though it may have confused some early – and late - Christians. Yes, even the God/man had to rely on faith, which provided Jesus, and can provide us,...