My addiction. Or why I am a Christian.

My good friend (The Reverend) Paul over at That Which is Central wrote a post worth taking a few minutes to read about why he is not an atheist. Paul is easily among the top 5 smartest and most read people I know and his insights are worth a look.

Anyway, his inaugural post inspired me to do one of the same nature. Why am I a Christian? I started out on a different path for this post than the one I am now taking. I was going to attempt a clearly thought out and mostly logical/rational post for the answer to this question. But I can't. I simply can't convey it in reasonable language that isn't overly verbose and ultimately fickle. So here is my newly revised answer to the question, "Why am I a Christian". 


I must admit, I am an addict. Not to a drug, nor a style of music, nor a particular food or drink. I am an addict of love, beauty, and hope. I can sense the eye-rolls right now, but bear with me, folks (I never said this blog-ride wouldn't go through some turbulence at times!). 


Have you ever caught a glimpse of something beautiful? Like a sunset on the beach, or a flower in springtime? Or perhaps something more powerful like two family members or former friends that you see in the moment of reconciliation? That moment when suddenly you are snapped from the ambient noise of the world around you to something so acutely different from everyday life that even as a distant spectator you feel as if you are intimately a part of that moment? Even fantastic works of art in various forms such as movies and songs can seem to translate us to these moments. Perhaps a good example of it is the Christmas Truce. That is the addiction that I am talking about, and the fixes come so few between. Allow me to quote a bit of C.S. Lewis...


"We do not merely want to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly by put into words- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it... At present we are on the outside of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of the morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in." C.S.. Lewis The Weight of Glory (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco 2001), 397


So why am I a Christian? For the reason Lewis states, that Jesus seems to be constantly filled with these outpourings of love, and beauty, and light, and hope, and that through his power and spirit, that we can too, participate in these moments. These moments that are so rare but seem like they should be normal. We can't fully live into them yet, as just as quickly and intensely that they break into our lives, the moment passes, life goes on, and we can quickly forget that it even happened. I see God working in these moments, and catch a future that will come with the fulfillment of time in which we will be able to live in the ongoing revelation of beauty and love. It isn't fully here yet, but it is arriving. Maybe Emily Dickinson can help shed some light on this:

"Like lightning to the children eased / Through revelation kind,
The truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind"

Again, why am I a Christian? Because of love, and beauty, and forgiveness and reconciliation, because of love given towards enemies, because of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, and other the ultimate fulfillment of reconciliation between God and all of creation (us included):


Colossians 1:19-20: ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
New International Version (NIV)

I am a Christian because I crave these outbursts of beauty. And though we may catch glimpses of them at seemingly random times in our lives, I have seen and experienced the most where Jesus is working and people are focused for real on him, and not on the church or the religion of Christianity.

*A quick note. I have heard it said many times that we all have a "God shaped hole" in us that can only be filled with God. I think that maybe this is part way to the truth, that people were created to love and experience what the biblical writers could only allude to as love, light, beauty, creation, fullness of life, forgiveness, sight to the blind, seeing the dead raised, singing new songs, healing the sick, etc. There is something incredibly powerful that seems to weave all these seemingly separate things together, and I believe -that- is what we long to know, and that is God. People will often talk of trying to fill this "God shaped hole" with other things, and how it never works. Again, I think this is partly true, but that what is really happening is we are trying to create beauty and love and all the things mentioned above on our own. Sometimes we are somewhat successful and sometimes we fail horribly. We might try to curb this aching with other things like drugs, hobbies, etc, but that ultimately leaves us still too empty. That is where I believe and have experienced that a relationship with God comes in and we start to understand how to work with God and his creative power to bring love into the world. Jesus talked about this as "The Kingdom of God, "Kingdom of Heaven", and as "Life in the fullest" or "Eternal Life".

One last thought: I am not suggesting we use God as a means to fulfilling our desire to see beauty and love, as a means to an end. I am suggesting that we join with God in becoming a means to a beginning.

I hope this helped give you a glimpse of insight into what drives my relationship with God. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Oh, great. Another blog. I mean, oh, another GREAT blog!

So, I was thinking what my first post should be about. It should really come in with fanfare and awesomeness, right? Well, that isn't this post, but at least I can talk a little about what is going down here.
I contemplated the big "Why?". You know, the "Why does the internet need another blog?". Well, the internet doesn't, but I do. I guess most of all I am trying to break my awesome insights out of my head, and that involves you, because without you, I am left to my own devices, that that is never good. So, grab a seat, and enjoy the ride as we talk all things life. Remember, as Leonard Sweet points out, participation trumps excellence. If you wait until you are excellent at something until you start it, you will never start it. But, I'll save that for a full post!