Sunday's Musings

I have really been enjoying this book, but I must say that the chapters are far too long. You see, I am the kind of person that likes to read a chapter in a setting and the process it, but the problem is that there are so many thoughts in each chapter that I cannot process them all. A chapter may be 30 pages and it presents several different ideas, so I tend to read the whole thing but only digest 1 or 2 ideas.

The one part that really spoke to me is when Zacharias was speaking about faith. He gave one example of a person that had everything go wrong (i.e. death of several children), but despite everything this person continued to trust in God. We have all heard that story in many different forms. I am always reminded of the guy that wrote "How Great Thou Art", but this wasn't the end of the example. He went on to tell the story of a many with extreme wealth (one of the 10 wealthiest people in the world at that time). This man knew had had everthing he could ask for, but he was still empty so he decided to give God a try. I think of the camel going through the eye of a needle...The question he presents here is whether one faith was greater than the other. To quote Zacharias, "May I suggest, however, that in reality this kind of situation is more often the realizing or the testing of one's faith. An equally viable faith is demonstrated when dependence upon God is show in the midst of success, when everything is going right. That kind of faith knows that every moment and every success in life is a gift from God." (Zacharias, 2000, p. 59).

This point really struck me because there have been times that I have felt guilty for not having my faith tested like so many people that I have heard. He goes on to say that, "One of the most startling things about life is that it does not start with reason and end with faith. It starts in childhood with faith and is sustained either by reasoning through that faith or by blindly leaving the reason for faith unadressed" (Zacharias, 2000, p. 60). I think about the past couple of years and I think it has been a process of reasoning through my faith to figure out how it applies to my day to day life. Afterall as Zacharias says, "Faith is not bereft of reason" (2000, p. 60). So many many people say that those who have faith have no sense of reason, but to me it is the exact opposite. I believe on thing that all faiths do have in common is that people choose to seek faith on a quest for A reason. Does that make any sense? I know that for me Jesus Christ represents reason - God created us to have union with Him and Jesus came so that union with the Father is possible. How is that not reason? Anyway, it is late and I must prepare a lesson for Summer Life. Pray for me - this is my first time!