Faith Choice

I remember when Bob Dylan went through his "Christian" period in the early eighties and he had a song on his Saved album which had a line in it which read "You gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but your gonna have to serve somebody...". I remember the song was vintage nasally Dylan and included the gospel-like choir, I assume to help drive home the christian message. I like Dylan's understanding of the fact that there is a choice in faith.

We lost a friend to cancer yesterday. In times like these—and particularly with the brutality of cancer—what we believe and where we've chosen to place our faith seems to have a bigger significance*. It can allow for comfort and an unworldly peace. And can also create confusion, anger, and despair.

I have another close friend going through his own battle with cancer. He has shared some wonderfully faith-inspired statements as to why this thing, this horrible cancer, has stricken him. Statements like "for some reason God wants me to go through this" and "perhaps someone needs to see me go through this". I trust and pray that he'll beat this disease, but it is strongly evident where has chosen to place his faith.

When our faith choices are considered in our day to day, and we try to consistently view things through the lens of this chosen faith, perhaps things like death can make more sense**.

Hebrews 11:1 states "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.". In Joshua 24:15, the author charges the audience to "choose this day whom you will serve".

Hope? Unseen? The choice is ours. Everyday.




* Though truthfully, I believe there are no times more significant than others.

** Clearly this is not a wash my hands and everything is gonna be okay 'cause I have faith in God time. There is very real tragedy and loss. And we all should certainly do our best to bear each others burdens and participate in areas of grieving and support.