Britton Christian Church

Faith was born into a family of adversity. She was the daughter of an only daughter who had married young, given birth to four children of her own, and watched her husband walk out of her life, and the lives of her children, so that he could find himself somewhere on the West Coast. Faith had watched her mother struggle as she had raised those four kids on her own. They lived in Public Housing, scratched and scraped to make ends meet, and overcame obstacle after obstacle. Faith’s mother had lost a child just one year after she was born. The baby boy had come down with the “fever” – Faith didn’t know what the “fever” was, but she had heard her mother speak about it often and each time she had tears in her eyes. Faith hoped she would never get the “fever” because she didn’t want to see her mother cry. Faith had two brothers, both older, who were still alive, but for how long nobody knew. They were caught up in life on the streets. Before they were out of high school both of them had already been in jail. They were rarely at home since mom had rules…rules they were not willing to follow.

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Our everyday life is based on faith. Many people today state that they simply cannot believe in a God who can’t be seen. A young student at John Marshall High School made that statement to me one day when I was speaking to his history class several years ago. I was speaking about the history of Christianity and at the end of my talk I asked the kids if they had any questions. One young man raised his hand and said, “Have you ever seen God?” I said, “No, I’ve never seen God with my eyes, but I see His fingerprints everywhere I go throughout each day.” The young man said, “I just can’t believe in a God that I can’t see?” I said, “I would assume then that you don’t believe in anything that you have never seen before.” He said, “If I can’t touch it or see it I don’t believe it exists.” I turned from the young man and asked the class, “How many of you feel the same way?” Some of the other kids raised their hands and others began to make statements along the same lines. I said, “Okay, I understand what you are saying, but the fact of the matter is that you do believe in things that you have never seen before. How many of you listen to the radio?” All of the kids either raised their hands or shouted their favorite radio station. I said, “But I thought you don’t believe in things that you can’t see? How many of you have ever seen a radio wave?”The room got quiet. I said, “You experience the effects of radio waves when you turn on your radio, but you’ve never seen a radio wave.” I said, “How many of you have ever flown a kite?” Most of the kids had flown a kite at one time or another. I said, “But if you don’t believe in what you can’t see or touch then why would you believe that the wind would lift your kite into the heavens?” Uh? Duh? The class got real quiet. I thought to myself, “Hey, we’re on to something here! Keep rolling!”

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I knew a man one time that got a crazy idea. At one time he was a wanna be athlete who tried to keep in some semblance of shape, but now he was older and not resembling anything that even remotely looked like “shape.” The crazy idea that entered his mind one day was to run a marathon – 26.2 miles. He didn’t even enjoy driving 26.2 miles, but for some reason he was determined to lay down the keys to his truck, lace up his shoes, and run the full distance.

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Once upon a time there was a man who lived in a faraway place. All of the people of his little village knew one another and they watched out for one another’s well being. From the time a child was old enough to follow instructions, the elders of the village cautioned them never to enter the Overwhelming Forrest. According to the elders, the Forrest was unforgiving of anyone who ventured into its eerie environment. The elders of generations past had said that the Overwhelming Forrest would engulf the little village one day. They said the Forrest possessed a power that was unconquerable, a wrath that was unquenchable, and a fury that would one day visit the little village. The elders passed on the stories of those who had gone before them and they cautioned the villagers to heed their warnings. The people listened to the stories in horror. The wondered what they could do to turn the fury of the Forrest, but their questions were soon replaced by their daily activities.

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