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February Words: Do you miss God?

I aim this question mainly at atheists and agnostics, but I pose it to myself, as well. I've come across a few songs as well as a library lecture this week that have led me to this question.

Stavesacre Suffocate Me:

What you call insecure
I call protection
I can't trust anyone who just gives away their whole world
No one gives that up for free

Casting Crowns Voice of Truth:

The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. Boy, you'll never win!
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, Do not be afraid!
And the Voice of Truth says, This is for My glory

Jacques Derrida (1930-2004):

You cannot address the other… without an act of faith…. This, trust me, I am speaking to you, is of the order of faith, a faith that cannot be reduced to a theoretical statement.

What do the voices in your head tell you? Do you miss God?

What am I getting at with all these quotes? To be honest, Mark Salomon's (Stavesacre) lyrics are often too deep for me, but I feel that each of these passages touches on the presence of the divine. At the very least, our communication with other people is driven by a spiritual force; there is something that whispers in our ears to take action. Derrida is known as the founder of deconstruction, a method of interpretation that makes no assumptions and that scrutinizes motivations and contradictions of a text or topic. Even Derrida wrote that justice and love are not deconstructable!

As Christians, our motivation comes from an excitement to share grace. Christ is a gift that cannot be earned, only accepted. Trusting someone who just gives away their whole world is at the heart of Christianity. I often wish that we could all believe in the divine without the controversy of Jesus. To me, though, this would be like fighting racism but ignoring the historical details of the Holocaust. This doesn't mean that different religious beliefs require different levels of respect, though. This is why I can't be a great evangelist - it takes arrogance!

So how do you justify your religious beliefs? If you have none, are there times when something speaks to you? Do you miss God?

Thanks, Robby, for your always-encouraging words (from Psalm 42:11)

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.

By rockofvictory | Sat 2005Feb05 15:20 CST | Beliefs | Last edited Mon 2005Mar07 23:07 CST
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