Thursday, April 23, 2009

The edge of reason

Photo: Derek, standing on the edge of where eternity washes up against this life...

Just a short post this morning. Waaaaay too much on my plate so I'd better get busy. Busy is just about impossible to handle, however, by running into the day headlong; full tilt. That's why a devotional interlude - even if it's as short as five minutes - is more than worth the investment of time.

So this morning, with a nasty headache, my back killing me and several responsibilities crowding in, I absolutely know that I will be more productive moving out from the context of prayer.

I've been talking with a friend about "how come?" faith has any place in the life of someone he knows to be intelligent (thanks!)... My answer - admittedly rambling - picks up some of the themes I explored in this space yesterday.
  • "It puzzles me," he said, "that you put your faith ahead of your power to reason..."
How I replied reveals the importance of thinking about what faith actually means:
  • That I understand. I wouldn't say "euphoria" so much as enthusiasm - and growing realization/understanding that truth is often a deeper concept than facts... facts in isolation can be kind of flat at times. It's this interface between the known and the unknown; time and eternity; chronos and kairos; the spiritual and the physical; what I understand empirically and what I "know"... I think this is more trans-reasonable than un-reasonable. Sometimes I feel that my faith journey is a splashing around in the surf at the edge of the ocean - a place where something that is both true and unfathomable washes against what is measurable and containable. I am a witness in the sense that a witness in the courtroom simply tells what they experienced or saw - no complete argument from me, just what I "know" myself. Thanks - again - for encouraging me to think out loud..
Have a day full with blessing, and full with the realization that "all things are possible" in terms of belief.
- DEREK

1 comment:

Grace Maul said...

dera Derek, It seems you are stretched too much ! "Come apart and rest a while!" You will say, HOW ? but if you do so you will work so much better afterwards !! So says "Your loving Mum. I gave up trying to use computer at the Library and am at our friend Mikes.