Power to Continue

"The Power of God and gods of Power" series has been challenging, but enlightening. It is difficult to translate what it means to rely on the power of the living God, particularly when I feel like I'm personally running out of steam. But the fact that I am continuing to put in a full day's work means that the power is coming from somewhere, and I choose to believe it is from being tapped into the living power of God.

This week we're going to explore 2 of the biggest theological topics there are: Why does God permit suffering, and how do we discuss and understand the Trinity. These are big questions -- and the answers only partly satisfy. This is where faith is necessary -- that certainty of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. We can't always explain everything to our ultimate human satisfaction, just as human activity would never be fully explanable to an ant. We don't have the capacity to fully understand the ultimate Mystery. This frustrates some and confounds many. Yet to throw up our hands and say "forget it all" isn't an option either, because the longing to be connected with this power doesn't go away.

Some answer this longing outside "organized" religion (only those on the outside think we're really organized -- we know the truth!). They try to connect with the "universal life force" or talk about karma. No matter what we call it, we're still looking for completeness. Even the atheists that rail against the existence of God and claim that the evils of society can be laid at the doorsteps of those of us who believe in God's existence "doth protest too much." (Besides, if we're responsible for all of those evils, you have to acknowledge all of the things that we've done right as well, because there have been many.)

I think the power to continue to explore Mystery is given to us by that Mystery --- because God loves us so much God is always looking for us to come and dance!