Saturday, May 7, 2011

Walking the Good Red Road in Faith

I know that until any of us take the 'final trip ' the truth  about belief and faith is just a speculation. None of us knows first hand the  mysteries that the Universe holds.

There are many spiritual  paths to adopt and allign with that describe our personal 'Belief' and whatever our connection is to the Divine- and that choice is personal.

Our need to criticize, judge and admonish the 'belief' of others seems inaccurate- for there is no 'truth' except for the personal truths that we each hold and express through Living our Faith.

Our lives are the example of the path that we follow- there should be no need to 'convince' another of the rightness of what we believe. If we are living examples of what faith brings to our life- then my Life is my Testimony- there is no need for words to explain my spiritual choosing.
 I remember as a child,  there was a song that we used to sing in school- it was called- They will know we are Christians by our Love. I would observe others and see if I could 'see' who the Christians were. I tried to see if  you could really know if someone was a follower of Christ just though their actions- as an expression of Christ's love. Walking examples of the  teachings of Christ.

If I was to sing this song now- as a woman of faith I would sing it "They will know I'm a _________ by my love."...... Am I? I try to be, and hold MYSELF to that  observation. When people meet me- am I a walking example of my Faith? That is my question.

When I leave this journey- I want to go to  the Source of all there is with clean hands and a glad heart- and none of the other things will matter. My impression on those I have met and leave behind, is my testimony.

Just pondering today..... :)
Marianne




Let us pray to the One who holds us
in the hollow of His hands,
To the One who holds us in the curve of Her arms,
To the One whose flesh is the flesh of hills and
hummingbirds and angleworms,
Whose skin is the color of an old Black woman
and a young white man; and the color of the leopard
and the grizzly bear and the green grass snake,
Whose hair is like the aurora borealis, rainbows,
nebulae, waterfalls, and a spider's web,
Whose eyes sometime shine like the Evening Star,
and then like fireflies, and then again like an open wound,
Whose touch is both the touch of life and the touch of death,
And whose name is everyone's, but mostly mine.
And what shall we pray?
Let us say, 'thank you.'


Reprinted with the author's kind permission. Reverend Max Coots is the Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Canton, New York. © Max Coots.