Letters of Faith

You show that you are a letter from Christ, … written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.

2^nd Corinthians 3:3-4

I’ve been listening more lately. It is a great way to get to know people. When I have turned up the gain on my intent to listen, I found there were a number of people there ready to talk about their lives and their faith with me. (These names are fictitious but the stories are real)

Susie talked about physical and verbal abuse she has been through and about the joy she has these days in treating people with love and respect that she had not received at some points in her life. You can see the peace and freedom, preciously won, in her eye and hear it in her voice.

Mark talked about his parents who as they age are terribly difficult to know how to care for. He talk about how to “honor your Father and Mother” when their patterns are destructive to themselves and to their adult children. Difficult questions indeed. What an honor to watch a man struggled with being faithful in a difficult situation where there are no easy answers. It reminded me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Your will be done, Lord,” he said. And Mark would add, “By me Lord, May your will be done by me.”

Patsy talked about the wonder of watching her daughter begin to sparkle with the beginnings of faith. As she sees the strength of believing take root in this young child, the deep satisfaction gives her peace and somehow communicates hope and encouragement, even to me, as I listen.

As I think of these stories shared, I also think of this passage from Second Corinthians 2:3-4. Listening to these friends was very much like being encouraged in faith by the scriptures. In fact, I think these lives, like many books in the New Testament, are letters – written by Christ to any who would hear. These stories of faith are the heart beat of the Living Word, making itself known in our lives.

Some days are just seared into your memory by
the shear vitality of a long string of moments
that begin to change who you are.

Upon the Waters

The beauty of specific moments do float by us. How soft and simple their voice -- so easy to overlook. Yet a still small voice does speak. "More than flying, it is in being that we truly soar. so... soar!"

Of Rocks and Walks

Rocks, they're everywhere. Perhaps they tell a story if your geology is better than mine. But for many ages people have used stone to pass messages and to others over long stretches of time. Piles of stones like this one mark trail heads through the wilderness in the arctic and like this pile, they offer a message of encouragement from those who have passed this way previously to those who will come.

Placing stones together, on top of one another in this way, is a curiously human endeavor. It is a way to add your voice to the landscape, "I was here and enjoyed it." Other too, add their voices and a conversation begins along the trail, over time. You can hear these voices with your eyes, and imagine their messages with your heart.

Occasionally, along the trail, enough people will pass over a long enough time frame and enough

stones will be gathered and carefully placed together, that the character of their hope will give rise to a substantial word sent along the trail of time to future pedestrians, saying something like: "We passed this way and hoped to make your way easier . May you too walk upon our effort and share our vision to help others pass this way as well." When you walk across such expressions you can't help but hear the music of the effort that has now echoed through time. In this case some 800 years.

I wonder, how we today will act in faith together that our joint effort and expression will leave a

lasting monument, a commentary of our time and a gift to those who will walk by this place in times to come.

On the road, “fellowship” is a core value

Walking the Camino de Santiago

Journal Entry April 16, 2007 The road is a curious place to stay open to people. It is more natural to keep a protective distance. After all, people walk separated from each other by their pace, their thoughts, their destinations and more. And yet, on the journey, people come up and talk with you. They join in the conversation, the commonality of being “on the way” together.

Slowly, and even in passing, again and again, connection, understanding and points of view are shared. And sometimes you make friends, across the language and cultural barriers. We discovered that even more possibilities open when we share a meal with others, to reveal ourselves, to serve and care for each other.

Perhaps in unsuspecting ways Christ is still being revealed around the table where bread is broken and hearts are opened. A meal together is often a sign of friendship if not simply an acknowledgement that yes, we too walk the road together and that begins to unite us.

Luke 24:28-32a

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road… (NRSV)