All I Have Seen

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Did Ralph live some kind of sheltered life??! I don't remember his biography, but looking around the world I know, well, much of what I have seen challenges my trust. Sometimes I really do understand the people who say that all the sorrow, pain and suffering convince them there is no god. Yet, I believe.

I believe in God, that He is a loving Father of our Spirits who knows what we are going through and where we are going to, who has a plan, who can see the end from the beginning and that the end will be right and good. I believe that Jesus Christ truly is our Savior, Redeemer, and Friend. They know all our sorrow and all our pain. Somehow if we will have faith and follow them, all things (ALL things??!) will work for our good.

Why do I believe?

There are those who think that religion is just a crutch for weak people. I admit that even if that were so, I would choose religion. Faith gives us comfort and hope in a sometimes difficult and frightening world. If this earthly life were all there is, I don't think I could bear it. Better to believe than to live with hopelessness.

What if I am wrong? I would rather live in belief and hope then die and have it all be over, than live in despair and doubt. Especially if after rejecting God, I would die and find out that I had blown my opportunties and blocked my own progress and potentioal by rejecting God and His word.

But I am confident that I am not wrong.

It is not just because I need a crutch that I believe. Although I have seen no angels nor visions, the Spirit has many times quietly manifested itself to my spirit – in affirmation of truth, in comfort, in love, and in guidance. I have not cultivated the gifts of the Spirit as I should, but even weak as I am in faith and practice, I have felt the presence of the Lord. I believe because God has witnessed to my spirit that He is and that He loves us, that He loves ME. He has witnessed to me of truths as I have listened or read. He has on occasion given me warm spiritual hugs. He has sent me 'dark clouds' as I contemplated wrong decisions and warm waves of confidence when I accepted the course correction. I believe in God and because of what I have felt, I trust His promise.

I testify that God is real and that He loves us all. Everything will be right – eventually. The question is will we be found with Him or will we have separated ourselves?