For most of history I was not alive, so let me tell you not what I have witnessed but what I have learned. Brick by brick humans built the pyramids. Columbus did not fall off the edge of the earth and in doing so proved it was round; he also ran into America. Knights in shining armor were common place at one time; they were not just a cliché to describe nice guys. Covered wagons did somehow make it West despite the heat, the cold, the animals, the mountains and no tires, air conditioning, or antilock breaks. Dinosaurs roamed the earth, war and all its ugliness took place many times, and some people got way into the seventies. During each class, each PBS special, each documentary we are asked to accept that things we did not see happened. This is where belief becomes important; this is where believing becomes a personal adventure.
Proof (Science, consistency, fossils, what the senses can detect) and trust (the gut, a feeling, a risk) make us believe. It has been proven by historians that Jesus walked the earth and was a real person, but it’s hard for some to accept that he was the Son and sacrifice of God. It’s understandable to have doubt. Jesus was one man. He was seen and heard by a relatively small amount of people a long, long time ago and is now the foundation of Christianity. His life and death are legendary. It’s a lot to accept. We ask for proof that God exists, proof that Jesus was more than a good man. We ask for hard evidence, something to touch or see, but proof is only proof if we trust it. An apple falling is only proof if we trust in gravity. To believe not only that Jesus lived but that he was the savior of the world takes trust.
I pray this advent season that trust springs eternal.
Amen
Betsy Warren
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