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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Back Away...But Slowly

I am hoping you chose to read this today, even though you were pretty sure I was going to mention Christ, or Christianity....or something about those things. Or maybe I caught you with the title and you had no idea what you were getting into here. Don't back away...not just yet.

You see,  I am finding...most people shy away, or actually back away, and sometimes even run from this blog. Not really this blog...but the name of Christ. It isn't something they want to discuss...or comment on. Maybe they don't want to think about it, or they have their beliefs and just don't feel the need to read anything like this. I really don't know. It has kind of boggled me. But I know it should be expected...we were told it would happen.

I think of all the things I could post on this page and you would read on. I could probably talk about Buddha or some mystical creature god that I make up...and you would read on. I could even talk about politics or evil desires...you would read on. But at the mere mention of Christ...people want to run.

Well, I hope I haven't lost you yet...because today I would love to hear your side. I know where I stand, and I know how I walk through my days and how I am handling life here on this earth. But what about you? I have always had a curiosity about the beliefs and thoughts of others...what makes us tick. I was ready for debate. I was ready for challenge. I guess I didn't expect silence. So, now my curiosity is about the silence...why do people run from the name of Christ? Or at least, why do we move to silence or awkwardness? It happens to me as well.

Why do you stay away from these type of writings...or conversations?

Where does your hope come from?

What exactly do you feel when you hear the name of Christ? Why do you think that is?

As a writer I really would love to reach my audience, and I actually want to write for them. If no one ever read my writing, I am pretty sure I would discontinue pretty quickly. I write, to be read. At least here in public that is my purpose. Writers write for a myriad of reasons. Here, on a public blog, I write to be read...that seems to be how we writers are. We are looking for a connection with our readers. We want a reaction.

My audience seems limited. It seems to be like-minded people.  However, honestly....I had hoped my writing would introduce you, reintroduce you, or at least make you stop and think about Christ...and all that his name captures. I had hoped to give hope to hurt. Peace to chaos. Joy to grief. Answers to questions. Faith to doubt.

Of course, as I draw to the end of this post...I look at the "I"s throughout the writing. What I want...what I hoped...and in there more than likely lies the problem. It shouldn't be about what I want...this writing should be about what God wants.

You see, that is how I try "to tick". I try to walk and align myself with what God wants, the path he chose for me. Not always easy...but sometimes it is the easiest. To just let go, and let God.
But we all deal with that constant battle...no matter who we are or what we believe....we are all in that same boat. We are creatures of sin. We all live in that same boat together. So...how do we each deal with that differently?
I really would love to hear how you "tick"....what brings you here? What makes you want to run? Why do you read, and leave silently? Today, break the silence. Let me sneak a peek at my audience.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19: 14

That is my hope...that my words will be pleasing to God. And in doing so, it is my hope that they will be salt and light to you, my reader.

7 comments:

  1. Hi! Visiting from Lady Blogger's Tea Party and glad I did even tho I am a like-minded. I am always on the lookout for uplifting and God-Jesus oriented blogs! I had not visited your site before but I promise I will be back and I will comment!

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  2. LBD, thanks for coming by...and for your comment. I visited yours as well...love your honest and real sharing about marriage!

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  3. As a Jewish person I have my feelings about Christ. And I won't share them with you. I understand your faith in Christ. I DO believe in a higher power. And that THAT higher power has so many unknowns and variables it is hard to articulate what they are. When I seek guidance, I speak directly to that higher power. I remember to pray in the sun, as well as in the rain, metaphorically. Even if it is only to say thank you for the good weather. :)

    Bev Iris

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  4. I read your blog every time I have the opportunity to spend time on the computer. I have commented to you personally in private messages because that is the person I am. I am not a writer who is comfortable with expressing my feelings for all to see. I would like to say in this post that you and I are so very similar in our views that sometimes I feel as though you are reading my mind or that we are leading parallel lives. I look forward to your blogs and find them so uplifting. Please don't stop writing... I am sure there are others that you are ministering to besides me. I truly believe that we never know the extent that our words and actions have on others. Just pray, listen to God speak to your heart, and write.

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  5. You were right that this is a post/blog I would normally back away from. I did read to the end though, and I'm only commenting because you invited me to, haha.

    Take care to note that I mean no personal offense with my words... but Christians piss me off.

    I grew up Christian and in a Christian household. I sang on the choir. I was a junior usher. I used to win every competition for memorizing bible verses. I've read more of the bible than most christians, I imagine. I stopped being Christian when I was about seventeen or eighteen... and then went back when I married a church boy at about twenty. And now I'm divorced... both from the church boy and from Christianity. That's my background.

    The reason I say that Christians piss me off is that they seem to believe that thinking about something logically is unchristian... and in some ways it is, because there are certain biblical principals that don't make logical sense... like the fact that the ten commandments say "thou shalt not kill" but that god led the army into war many times in the old testiment... or the fact that god "makes no mistakes" but that he had to create a flood to correct the earth which he had created. I know you want to argue with me on that last one, but I've had this argument before more than once, and trust me that I know how it ends. Christians don't like anything that challenges their faith, even if it makes more sense. They'd rather call you a heathen and stay away from you, or worse, try to convince you based on the bible (not realizing that I've read the bible) that what they're saying is true and god-given fact, even when they're interpreting their own bible wrong. Case in point, those crazy Camping-followers who thought the rapture was going to be last month when even the bible itself says no man knows the day or the hour.

    This brings me to another thing I really dislike about Christians: they love to make up whatever they want to make up and then find a way to justify it through the bible. Rather than having their faith inform their opinions, they allow their opinions to inform their faith and then use that to justify their actions. I mean, people use the bible to justify violence against homosexuals, when the bible states that we should "let the wheat and the tears grow together" and that god is the only judge. My mother is guilty of this (well, not violence against gays, haha, but passing her own judgement and pretending that it's god's). I know that there are other religious fundamental groups that do this (I'm looking at you, Mr Nation-of-Islam) but it's even more ridiculous in Christianity because half of the judgements passed are biblically faulty or at least questionable.

    But the thing I really hate about christians, which I actually hate about all religious fundamentalists including dogmatic atheists, is the arrogance they exude, as though being a christian makes you better than somebody. I'm not talking about confidence. I'm well aware of the need for confidence in every day life, for everyone, religious or not. I'm talking about hubris. I'm talking about the attitude that says "We are better human beings than you because we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ to live in our hearts and now we are no longer subject to the chains of sin that bind you. Don't you hate being you? Wouldn't you much rather be one of us? If you don't, that's fine, but it means we can't associate with scum-of-the-earth-careening-directly-to-hell heathens like you."

    I know that not all christians are like this, but enough of them are that I find it easier just to avoid them altogether.

    I hope I haven't offended you too much... that is if you read further down past "christians piss me off," haha! But you did ask...

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  6. Anonymous,
    I know who you are and I thank you for your comments both here and the ones you have sent. They have meant a great deal to me. I won't stop writing...please keep sending me your notes.

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  7. Classic NYer,
    Not sure if you will come back and see this comment...but I do want to thank you for your honesty.
    I am guessing it was enough for you to read this one post, and no others. I am hoping that I didn't come across as you say "most" Christians do. Some of the thoughts you expressed about being better, or my view of the world or as judgemental as you say, I really hope that isn't me.
    You make valid points, and sadly in all groups there are those who give their groups a bad name...and the saddest part is that they are often the ones who speak the loudest.
    I have to admit, you left me curious. You know your bible well, and you obviously have a history with Christianity, what exactly drove you away? Based on your comment, I am guessing people. We humans really screw things up!
    Thank you again for reading to the end, and sharing your thoughts. Believe it or not, I want that kind of honesty.
    I am sure you will not want to hear this, but I will say it anyway. I will be praying for you.

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I would love to hear your thoughts. Questions, prayer requests, ideas for my writing. If you want to keep your comment from being published I will be happy to do that for you.