Thursday, January 26, 2006
Can You Change Your Mind?
I wrote a letter a while back, to a family member who was terminally ill. I was absolutely convinced that it was an inspired word from God to this precious, dying man who did not have faith at this crucial time. Here's what it said:
Hello,
Whenever mortality becomes real, people of faith want to talk about faith because it provides answers to some of the questions raised by mortality. I recognize, however, that faith answers are only ANSWERS for those who have faith in the first place. It’s circular. So, I expect you’ve heard from people about faith lately, and I guess I wanted to join the fray and throw a few thoughts your way. Please take my thoughts for what they are worth and feel free to disregard them if they don’t fit. I won’t take offense.
First, eternity - or the expectation of eternity - is pleasant for people of faith. It is a fairy tale for those without. Since I came to faith as an adult, I remember thinking, “ Sure, that’s a great thing if you believe it. But I just don’t. ”
Secondly, I think it’s hard for adults to have a significant change of mind (about anything). If we make a big change in what we believe, it means we reject long held beliefs as wrong - and if you can’t trust what you believe, whose beliefs CAN you trust!?! This makes us tend to stay in the camp we’re in - right or wrong. Perhaps the longer we’ve been in one camp, the more we want to stay there. If we change, we might have to consider ourselves fickle, or hypocritical, or otherwise weak-minded. So, we get stuck believing a certain way because we have always believed that way.
Thirdly, it’s hard for adults to accept Christianity because it doesn’t all add up exactly. It only goes so far intellectually, than requires a person to accept some impossibilities (for example: virgin birth, resurrection of the dead…). We are taught by life not to accept a package unless it can stand pretty serious scrutiny.
On the other hand, there are unexplainables in favor of the Biblical perspective. For instance, there are lots of examples of things being foretold in detail, thousands of years before they actually happened. I suppose regardless of one’s position regarding Christianity and the Bible, there remains plenty of mystery to grapple with.
Lastly, it’s easy to identify ourselves as imperfect, but not as easy to accept that God of the universe IS, and has a specific concern and remedy for our imperfection.
So, I apologize for going a bit long, but I simply wanted to encourage you to consider if some of your beliefs remain because they are long-held, and thus feel like they need to be protected. Could you reconsider the possibility of the existence of God, using creation as evidence of a creator? Could you imagine a creator desiring to know his creation - to befriend those He made? Thanks for considering these thoughts,
Love, Julie
As I finished the letter, the phone rang and I was informed that he was gone. I was told that same morning that he had 90 days, or thereabouts. I was cheated!!! I'm still not sure what to think about the timing.
I still think it's hard to change a mind. Especially mine.
¶ 1:25 PM
Hello,
Whenever mortality becomes real, people of faith want to talk about faith because it provides answers to some of the questions raised by mortality. I recognize, however, that faith answers are only ANSWERS for those who have faith in the first place. It’s circular. So, I expect you’ve heard from people about faith lately, and I guess I wanted to join the fray and throw a few thoughts your way. Please take my thoughts for what they are worth and feel free to disregard them if they don’t fit. I won’t take offense.
First, eternity - or the expectation of eternity - is pleasant for people of faith. It is a fairy tale for those without. Since I came to faith as an adult, I remember thinking, “ Sure, that’s a great thing if you believe it. But I just don’t. ”
Secondly, I think it’s hard for adults to have a significant change of mind (about anything). If we make a big change in what we believe, it means we reject long held beliefs as wrong - and if you can’t trust what you believe, whose beliefs CAN you trust!?! This makes us tend to stay in the camp we’re in - right or wrong. Perhaps the longer we’ve been in one camp, the more we want to stay there. If we change, we might have to consider ourselves fickle, or hypocritical, or otherwise weak-minded. So, we get stuck believing a certain way because we have always believed that way.
Thirdly, it’s hard for adults to accept Christianity because it doesn’t all add up exactly. It only goes so far intellectually, than requires a person to accept some impossibilities (for example: virgin birth, resurrection of the dead…). We are taught by life not to accept a package unless it can stand pretty serious scrutiny.
On the other hand, there are unexplainables in favor of the Biblical perspective. For instance, there are lots of examples of things being foretold in detail, thousands of years before they actually happened. I suppose regardless of one’s position regarding Christianity and the Bible, there remains plenty of mystery to grapple with.
Lastly, it’s easy to identify ourselves as imperfect, but not as easy to accept that God of the universe IS, and has a specific concern and remedy for our imperfection.
So, I apologize for going a bit long, but I simply wanted to encourage you to consider if some of your beliefs remain because they are long-held, and thus feel like they need to be protected. Could you reconsider the possibility of the existence of God, using creation as evidence of a creator? Could you imagine a creator desiring to know his creation - to befriend those He made? Thanks for considering these thoughts,
Love, Julie
As I finished the letter, the phone rang and I was informed that he was gone. I was told that same morning that he had 90 days, or thereabouts. I was cheated!!! I'm still not sure what to think about the timing.
I still think it's hard to change a mind. Especially mine.
¶ 1:25 PM
Comments:
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That’s an awesome letter! I’m sure it was Spirit inspired. As for the timing, I think it is just a reminder of how our lives are but a vapor – all of us, not just the terminally ill. My best friend was killed a week after getting her driver’s license, and for years I carried the guilt that I did not share Christ with her. It made me become a bolder witness, because none of us knows how long we have here.
It's true. We're ALL terminally ill.
In Ron's case, I had shared Christ with him several years before, and he respectfully declined. His wife is a Christ follower, as well as many other family members. I know I'm not the only one who broached the topic.
But, since the message came to me in such a direct way - so urgently for Ron...I still can't believe he didn't get it. But I do know who holds the future.
In Ron's case, I had shared Christ with him several years before, and he respectfully declined. His wife is a Christ follower, as well as many other family members. I know I'm not the only one who broached the topic.
But, since the message came to me in such a direct way - so urgently for Ron...I still can't believe he didn't get it. But I do know who holds the future.
That's an amazing letter, and thank you for posting it here! I'm not sure what your view is on "salvation" but I tend to take the view that God truly WANTS everyone to be with Him... and who are we to stop the will of God? Just ourselves. But who are we to judge whether another person has not opened their hearts enough to actually accept God's glory? We are nothing, God is everything.
This might sound silly, but I really think that God has a way of "getting to" just about everyone. You said you had shared Christ with him, and he respectfully declined. Oh, but how many times, before I was a Christ follower, had I been witnessed to, and had inched so close to accepting Jesus personally... and yet I now know that God was there with me all along. I cannot imagine that, had I been struck by lightning a split second before confessing my faith, I would be rejected by a loving God.
It could be that Ron made his peace and was ready to go when he did. I'm sure he was and is aware of the love you showed toward him. And I'm also sure that the impact he has had on you and your life has made you the person you are. It's just one of those things we can't explain until "we get there."
Whenever my six-year old philosopher son (Cameron) wonders about some profound thing (yesterday it was "how was God created?") when he doesn't get a satisfactory answer, he says simply, "I guess when I get there, I'll just ask God myself." What great advice. :-)
This might sound silly, but I really think that God has a way of "getting to" just about everyone. You said you had shared Christ with him, and he respectfully declined. Oh, but how many times, before I was a Christ follower, had I been witnessed to, and had inched so close to accepting Jesus personally... and yet I now know that God was there with me all along. I cannot imagine that, had I been struck by lightning a split second before confessing my faith, I would be rejected by a loving God.
It could be that Ron made his peace and was ready to go when he did. I'm sure he was and is aware of the love you showed toward him. And I'm also sure that the impact he has had on you and your life has made you the person you are. It's just one of those things we can't explain until "we get there."
Whenever my six-year old philosopher son (Cameron) wonders about some profound thing (yesterday it was "how was God created?") when he doesn't get a satisfactory answer, he says simply, "I guess when I get there, I'll just ask God myself." What great advice. :-)
I've been chewing on Chris' thoughts and I do think God was still speaking to Ron tward the end. He could give no outward indication of his response, so we won't know until we're there, but God doesn't necessarily tell us other people's stories.
Just like Cameron, we'll find out when we get there.
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Just like Cameron, we'll find out when we get there.
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