Smell the Color Nine

A perfect storm of thoughts converged in my head on the way to work this morning, and it all congealed into an emotion while listening to the song, Smell the Color Nine, by Chris Rice.

One thought: in an off-Blogger comment about a recent post where I stated, "I reserve the right to be wrong, but if I am, so what? What have I lost in this life if this life is all there is?", the person commenting was decidedly less-than-impressed that I had culminated my thoughts with "Pascal's wager."

Two thought: My comment actually had nothing to do with Pascal. I wasn't aware that he had said anything similar. And it certainly wasn't meant as a REASON for anyone to believe in Jesus; just my personal thought that my faith is not a detriment to life on Planet Earth, and if I'm correct, it's a great bonus for whatever is after that.

Red thought:  I am extremely less-well-read than the small circle of atheists/agnostics with which I sometimes converse. Their references to so-and-so's thesis and what's-his-name's counter-balancing communique most-generally go far over my head.

Blue thought: Sometimes it seems like these guys have turned their intellects into their personal objects of worship; that brain power is the only true power; that they can't understand the God of the Bible, and therefore refuse to accept...and while it is conversely true that I can't understand a lot of what they're trying to say, I can't imagine wanting to worship a god who I COULD understand and keep all neat and tidy in a box made of verifiable, quantitative explanations.

And now, the song in question:

Truth is...I don't have all the answers. Sometimes I don't even know the questions. But I know what satisfies my longing for purpose and meaning like nothing else can do. Facts alone have not brought me to this place, but they led me to within shouting distance. Maybe this is what's meant by a Leap of Faith.

Using Love As A Weapon - And Winning

Thanks to Upworthy.com for finding this short video of former KKK wizard, Johnny Lee Clary, telling how one old black minister chose to fight hatred with love and started him on his road to redemption.

Truth is...true love is always a choice, not a feeling.

Going Public

Soul Pancake's YouTube channel is full of encouraging, amazing, beautiful, daring things.

For instance...

What kind of things do you think would happen if you set up a live microphone on a city street with an encouragement for people to give a shout-out to someone who changed their life?

According to the following video, beautiful things...

This brought tears to my eyes and a desire to let the important people in my life KNOW they are important to me.

Truth is...there's no need to wait for a giant microphone to show up on the local sidewalk. Debbie Ann Brewer Roth, aka Beloved, you are making me a better person, even after 34 years of marriage.

Going Against the Flow

A few weeks ago, I posted a piece titled "The World According to Calvin (and Hobbes)" that used a few panels from that wonderful comic strip to make a point about how to approach life.

Amazingly enough, a blog called ZEN PENCILS: Cartoon Quotes from Inspirational Folks chose that very same day to publish an homage to Bill Watterson (C & H's creator) that included a quote from a graduation speech by Watterson and is practically perfect in every way.

"A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential, as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth."

I encourage you to click here to enjoy the whole thing.

Truth is...Standing up for one's convictions is often unpopular at the time, but lasting respect and admiration far outweigh fleeting popularity.

Doubtful Praise - Psalm 13 Rewritten

Found this in some old papers. Not sure when I wrote it, but I am sure it still rings true from time to time.

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How long can I take this, God? It seems like you've forgotten me, or that you're ignoring me ... even hiding from me.

I sit and talk to myself, and it's depressing. And everybody else seems to really have it all together.

Will you please help me make some sense of all this, God? I could just die!

You see, there are those who seem to get their kicks out of seeing me falter.

And yet, you've been so wonderfully kind and generous to me in the past ... there's really no reason to doubt that you'll do it again. You have saved my soul for eternity and you will stand by me in this life, too.

I praise you, oh God, because you have blessed me more than I can thank you.

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Truth is...David was never the only one who could be filled with doubt and praise at the same time.