Sunday, January 27
One of the grooviest things about living here is the library. I know that sounds dorky (and I adored the libraraians at our branch of the library in Louisiana), but it's an amazing library. They've got online access & I can request the books I want to read, and those books will be delivered directly to the little e-branch near our house. Because I've been able to easily get books I'd wanted to read for a while, I've been doing a lot of reading lately (especially with the writers' strike ruining tv).
I recently read "I Sold My Soul on eBay" by Hemant Mehta. Mehta is an atheist who put an auction on eBay offering to go to any church or combination of churches the winning bidder selected for a specific amount of time.
Jim Henderson, pastor and author of "Evangelism Without Additives," won the auction and journeyed with Mehta through nearly a year of worship services. It was remarkably interesting to see how Christian services are viewed by unbelievers. It was equally remarkable that I agreed with many of the things he noticed about those same services.
When Mike and I left Louisiana, we left a bad work situation that unfortunately also touched our spiritual lives. We were both really quite ready for a break from organized religion, and most especially, from the denomination of our past.
I've written here more than once about how we need to find a church home, but it's been so difficult to do that. We visited church services in denominations not of our own, and it was confusing and unsettling. Each of these churches was lovely, and the congregations were warm. But there were all of these questions that weren't quite answered.
And so, we're talking about this point about revisiting our former denomination and seeing if we are able to find a place where we can worship without feeling uncomfortable.
It was refreshing to read the book and know that despite the distance I've felt between myself and God these last couple of years, my faith wasn't dependent upon the answers Mehta is asking to receive. I understand that faith is about belief and about trust and not necessarily about answers.
And I suppose that's what I keep coming back to in this life... I don't have any of the answers to the multitude of questions I have, but I do have faith in the One who does. And maybe for the moment, that's enough.
[ posted by Chel on Sunday, January 27, 2008 ]
[ 2 comments ]
2 Comments:
Sounds like some great reads. I need to come visit your library :)
By 
Alexis Jacobs, at
3:55 AM
I love your posts, Chel. I absolutely agree with you, too. I actually feel the same lately.