If something is good, right, and true, it should change us from our head to our heart to our feet. Such has long been my mantra about faith. If a faith is good, right, and true it should totally change us… establishing the reasoning in our head, molding the emotions of our heart, and prompting the action of our feet. If any of the three are omitted, the validity of the faith may be in question. On a day such as Easter — a day unlike any other in the course of history — I find myself examining all three…
The reasoning in our head…
The Intramuralist will always advocate for a respect for all religion. Note that a respect does not equate to accepting all religion as equally good, right, and true. Hence, when I examine the world’s religions solely from a position of intellect, I don’t find myself spending much time, for example, on wrestling with the validity of Scientology. When I take note of the fact that the Church of Scientology was established by a science fiction writer, who taught that, Xenu, the dictator of the “Galactic Confederacy”, came to Earth 75 millions years ago, bringing billions of people here who were then killed by hydrogen bombs — etc. etc. — I will be respectful of Scientology, but I do not question if it’s true.
My head is most affected by the resurrection at the core of Christianity. The bodies of all other religious leaders are dead and decaying in a tomb somewhere. Jesus Christ’s dead body, however, was never found, and multiple persons attested to seeing him alive after his death. My head simply can’t let go of the unparalleled uniqueness of that account.
The emotions of our heart…
If a faith is good, right, and true, it should magnify the most virtuous, contagious, character change. Granted, we each are still capable of error, but for the most part, love, selflessness, compassion, humility, and empathy should be magnified — and magnified not only in singular, limited aspects of life, but magnified in how we interact with all people.
It’s the glaring flaw in the Islamic extremists desiring to murder the “infidel”… in the unaffiliated Westboro Baptist Church known for their hate speech… and in the plethora of people last week on Facebook — often in the supposed name of Jesus — on both sides of the religious freedom issue — who also utilized hate speech. My sense is so many of us have allowed our faith (or lack of it) to mold only a portion of our heart; it’s as if we only allow it to affect certain compartments — selfishly holding onto places were we say, “Sorry, God, but that doesn’t apply here.” No faith that is good, right, and true will advocate or encourage such justification.
The action of our feet…
Knowing what we know, therefore, and feeling what we feel — meaning our heads and hearts are totally submitted to the teachings of our faith — even to what’s humanly hard to comprehend — our feet should be moved into action. Our faith prompts our service…
It’s what I witnessed from afar in Mother Teresa, a selfless woman who intentionally chose to live among the poorest of the poor, attempting to meet more of their physical needs…
It’s what I witnessed in Chuck Colson, a once ruthless man who was so changed that he established a worldwide ministry to give hope to the hopeless — to encourage the imprisoned…
And it’s what I witnessed in my sister, a beautiful young woman who inspired so many so deeply, holding onto her positive, confident hope in Jesus, even as the shadow of death closed in.
A faith that is good, right, and true changes us. It changes our head, heart, and feet. It’s also contagious. Thanks, God…
Respectfully…
AR