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FRIDAY THOUGHT 2/13/09

My Wonderful Superstition
 
It’s Friday the 13th, and this one’s going to get a bit longer than usual and ramble a tad.  Sorry.
 
I have a small handful of friends who look upon this faith stuff with a leery eye.  One has even expressed pity for my foolish superstition.  Another hisses back at me angrily if I mistakenly include him on my contact list. 
 
So, just for the record, I did not come by my faith by accident, or fear or desperation or a voodoo curse.  I have spent the better part of my life seeking only truth, and though I kept passing by this God subject from time to time, I often gave it a sniff and walked on, seeking meatier truths. 
 
Gradually, I came to the realization that there were two questions I had to answer first and foremost:  First, there either is or is not a God.  Second, if there is a God, He either is a caring, loving God or an indifferent (or maybe sadistic) SOB.
 
I read, talked, searched, tried a little Zen meditation (a lovely trip down a dead end road), tried praying (“God, are you out there?”) and kept an open, skeptical mind.  Eventually — sorry, no blinding lights or voices from the clouds — I received this marvelous awakening, this incredible gift, this sweet and wondrous thing called faith … so real, so gentle, so loving that … well, if this is some dumb superstition, it works for me. 
 
My point:  Not sure if I have one today.  However, as I read the Bible verse below, the one that Jesus read and spoke about in one of the Gospels, I feel as if it was written for me personally (no, not about me, but for me), a gift from a loving God who has blessed me with “the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”  Most of all, I hope someday to be one of the “oaks of righteousness.”  Sorry again for my rambling.  More joy than structure today.  God bless. — jri
 
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
    and provide for those who grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.”
 
        –    Isaiah 61:1-3