Everything keeps coming back to Jesus.
No matter how I approach thinking about faith and religion, or the way in which I try to come at writing about God or reading about God or talking about God, the only time I end up with any clarity on the matter is when I just brush away most of the intellectual and emotional chatter and focus solely upon Jesus.
The rest of it all just falls away, and there is only peace left. Quiet and rest. Unambiguity.
It goes against everything we believe in as a self-absorbed civilization to set aside our own desires and questions and pursuits, but it is only in doing so that Jesus remains as the sole element left to fill the void, and the purity and simplicity of Jesus, and what he did for us, become so much more distinct.
There is much baggage and uneasiness that comes with bringing up Religion with a capital 'R' with those who are opposed to the entire concept of belief in that which cannot be proven, but the idea of Jesus seems to be universally accepted as the embodiment of love and peace and charity. Referring to myself as an 'evangelical' can be a hackle-raiser, and there is so much politic wrapped up in the term that I almost feel its initial, more precise, definition has been lost amidst the misinformation.
I think I'll stick with 'follower of Jesus' as my creed. There is an innocence there, a cleaving to faith in God rather than faith in ritual and religion, that better expresses why my heart is wrapping itself so tightly around this confidence.
After all, everything keeps coming back to Jesus.
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Oh, Sarah. I so get this. Some days, a LOT of days, it's all I can come up with.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's a pretty huge comfort.
I love you dearly. So happy to be walking in pursuit with you.
P.S. tacky to link to my own blog, but it's simply to share the similar epiphany I had a couple of months back. http://gladsurrender.blogspot.com/2009/12/but-im-yours.html