Joseph, God’s Man for All Seasons

July 3rd, 2009

josephs-coat1

Diego Velasquez, Joseph’s Bloody Coat, 1630

 

 

 

 

What 

A summary of the Biblical story

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Gen 37:3-4 (NRSV)

 Joseph, age 17, had some flaws. He was his father’s pet. The long-sleeved coat (also worn by David’s ill-fated daughter Tamar 2 Sam 13.18) represented a privileged status which divided Joseph from his siblings.

Genesis began with tragic sibling rivalry between Cain and Abel.

Joseph snitched on his brothers, and told them his dreams of being superior even to his father. All these actions endeared him to the ten rambunctious older brothers.

When Jacob sent Joseph to check on them, they took their revenge, throwing him into a dry pit and selling him into slavery.

Thirteen Years in Slavery

In the house of Potiphar (chief “slaughterer”) Joseph prospered, blessed by God. But when the official’s wife cast her eye on him, he refused her advances and she accused him of making them.

I’ve always wondered if Potiphar’s rage erupted partly because he knew his wife well enough to know the real story.

In Pharaoh’s prison, the pattern is repeated of Joseph’s integrity and God’s blessing. When Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker end up there, they are troubled by dreams which Joseph interprets accurately.

Restored to his position, the cupbearer forgets Joseph for two years.

Second in the Land

Troubled by his dreams, Pharaoh turns to Joseph, whom the cupbearer remembers at last.

Joseph again interprets accurately, and deftly suggests that Pharaoh seek out a man much like himself to administer the grain supplies during the coming years of plenty and famine.

Pharaoh elevates Joseph on the spot. The young man is 30, far different from the boy who was his father’s pet.

Joseph names his children Manasseh “Forgetful” and Ephraim “Fruitful,” a great strategy for handling a chequered past.

His Brothers in his Grip

Starving in Canaan, Joseph’s ten brothers show up to buy food.

They don’t recognize in this powerful lord the little brother who pleaded for mercy.

Joseph begins an elaborate ruse to find out the fate of his father, bring Benjamin to Egypt, and test the brothers’ character.

When they plead for their father’s welfare, Joseph has evidence that their character has changed. He reveals himself to them, and is reconciled.

The Last Act

Joseph brings his aged father and the entire clan to Egypt, where he secures Goshen in the Nile Delta,  the best grazing land for their flocks.

He assures his brothers:

 God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  So it was not you who sent me here, but God

Gen 45:7-8 (NRSV)

Joseph is Christ-like in his forgiveness.

When the clan returned to Canaan, he insisted that his bones go with them.

So What

Reflections on what this story means today

Is Joseph a “real” historical person?

To date archaeologists cannot corroborate the story of Joseph or any of its major features in Egyptian history. Although archaeology enlightens biblical study, it doesn’t destroy the value of the story not to have such corroboration. Who knows what future discoveries there will be!

Joseph resembles the ideal government official in Egyptian and other Ancient Near Eastern texts.

But the Hebrew scriptures took material from the culture and transformed it by orienting it toward God.

A man of God for all seasons

Joseph was nothing if not God’s man.

By the time he appears at age 17, his religious education had been completed. His identity had been securely formed, even though the family had rocky relations.

Joseph’s steadfast confidence in God, and his growing awareness of how God’s purpose might be achieved in his life, enabled him to endure.

Yet, it also gave him the ability to lay aside the trappings of Egyptian wealth and power at the end of his life, and remain after all a Hebrew, son of Israel, whose destiny belonged with his own people in Canaan.

Did he fail in success?

Some question whether Joseph navigated the waters of success as faithfully as he had before weathered those of suffering. Was his use of a divining cup an infraction?

  1. We don’t know if it was at this time in history. The prohibitions of Torah come later.
  2. We don’t know how much divining he actually did, or whether this was a pose.

Joseph’s insight into the providence of God, his willingness to forgive and to provide for his brothers’ families, and his integrity in all circumstances make him today, as he has been for 3000 or more years, an excellent role model for Christ followers.

 

[Note: This meditation grows out of our summer Neighborhood Bible Study "Great Chapters"---Genesis 45 or 50. Notes based on New Interpreter's Study Bible.]

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What it means to follow Christ

June 30th, 2009

In light of my self designation as a “Christ follower” rather than Baptist or Methodist, and  a meditation on what it means to follow Christ at www.TheEvangelismInstitute.org, my friend Jon asks what does it mean for me to follow Christ.

Because of humans’ innate ability of self-deception, you need to ask Jesus, not me. Peter’s answer and Jesus’ answer to “What does it mean for Peter to follow Christ?” would differ substantially.

Nevertheless, I’ll give it a shot.

If I were to pick out a biblical image, it would be old Simeon in Jerusalem (Luke 2.25-35), as opposed to Eli of Gibeah (1 Sam 3-4).

Simeon saw keenly things of the Spirit, waited faithfully for the consolation of Israel, spoke the truth. Eli’s sight was dim, his spirit complacent, he failed to confront his wicked sons, and presided over the capture of the Ark of the Covenant.

Following Jesus for me, given my physical limitations, means watching and waiting as much as doing. But then the vocation of the elderly to pray is an instance of Christ’s saving the best for last.

If only we prayed more throughout our life!

Like all Christ followers  today I am called on to keep alert.

 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:34-36 (NRSV)

 The ruling powers of the so called Free World have learned how to manufacture consent—manipulate the governed to vote even against their own self-interest. The abbas and ammas of the desert teach us much about what is the one thing needful: forsaking all trusting Christ. But oh! the books, the blogs, the iPods, the tv cable, the DVDs!

Following Christ as pastor meant speaking up for the underclasses: women, blacks, Hispanics, lesbians-gays-transgendered-bisexuals. I did so until people wouldn’t listen to me.

Now my discipleship means being still, praying, reading. God has given me two groups of faithful fellow students to read the Bible with.

The best description I know of of following Christ is Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship. He said, and then showed us, that “when Christ calls you, he calls you to come and die.”

I’m certain I have described my failures to follow Christ, as Peter did unwittingly that night in the upper room. May God have mercy, and grant me grace to follow whever he leads. And at this time in my pilgrimage, I know that “to be away from the body is to be with the Lord.”

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What does it mean to “be in Christ”?

June 25th, 2009

bonhoeffer

Left: Bonhoeffer

As I read A Testament to Freedom, Essential Writings of Bonhoeffer, I think I’ll wrestle with what I read here. I’ve completed the introductory life, and am struck again as I was when reading Bethge’s biography of the congruence of Dietrich’s life. He seemed to see clearly and earlier than many in the run up to the Nazi era that Christ called him to die. In the warlock’s cauldron of Nazi Germany,  his life was unified in the love of Christ.

What possible connection to such a life could there be with an ordinary life like mine? If he could have, Dietrich would have lived an ordinary life in the love of Christ; martyrdom was nothing he aspired to, the cult of personality he cosidered anathema.

I’ve read the selections from his dissertations. They’ll take several reads before I can grasp what he’s saying. In “The Communion of Saints” his 1930 dissertation he sees the church in Christ, not a socio-political entity, as the community of those who are in Christ, who live for Christ and for others in the world. I don’t think his views coincide with the emphasis on personal salvation that characterizes my primary faith tradition, Southern Baptists.

 (I no longer consider myself Baptist or Christian—the latter indicating the traditions and attachments to faith in the past two millennia; I aspire to be a “Christ-follower” for lack of a better term. I suppose the biblical name would simply be “in Christ.”)

“Act and Being” his 1931 dissertation requires more than one read. In the intro I highlighted this:

 “God’s Word becomes God’s revelation for us only in community.” (p. 65)

This is true. The word “solidarity” has become more common since the Polish labor union Solidarity successfully opposed the Communist regime. Most in the US, however, still pursue the individualistic capitalistic golden idol, and see no problem with individuals controlling vast wealth, while millions go without work, health care, food, shelter, personal safety, not to speak of the opportunity for self-realization that the middle class and well to do think of as a human right.

I also decided to jump around in the book, to avoid getting swamped in the super difficult sections like “Act and Being.” Therefore, I read

  • “The Church is Dead” and
  • “Learning to Die.”

But not all the dead are blessed; rather “those which die in the Lord,” those who learned how to die in time, who kept faith, who clung to Jesus up to the last hour, whether amidst the sufferings of the first martyrs, or in the martyrdom of a silent loneliness. (p. 267).

Back to the question of Dietrich’s relevance to ordinary life. I don’t think we live in ordinary times. Since Sept 11, 2001, the nation has been preoccupied with national security. Under Bush Cheney we violated some of our most cherished principles: at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, we imprison nameless people without trial indefinitely. We torture. In the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe the CIA (just like the Communists) set up a gulag where human rights were extinct. 

Now with the economic downturn, millions around the world have no work. The prosperity which cushioned many from the inequities of globalization has evaporated. Huge banks which oppose welfare for individuals accept tens, hundreds of billions of dollars from a government which simply prints more when needed. Some scientists wonder if we’re headed for another mass extinction event.

We view our circumstances as normal, whereas in World War II we realized we were in crisis. The church for the most part today has gone silent on all these  and many other issues, in relation to which being “in Christ” ought to bring about a beloved community where Christ is incarnate today through the metanoia and newness of life, not merely of the individual, but of the whole as one body in Christ.

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Reading Bonhoeffer

June 21st, 2009

For several weeks, been living in a gray fog denser than usual. Hence, fewer posts.

But a couple books on Bonhoeffer have penetrated the fog: Jeffrey Pugh, Religionless Christianity; Bonhoeffer,  A Testament to Freedom. The latter is a collection of his writings, spanning his life. I take it to be a textbook for a college or seminary class.

Bonhoeffer excites me because of his vision. An excellent academician, theologian and pastor, he raised his voice against Hitler earlier than most.

He asks  the question: how is Christianity discernible apart from the so called Christian culture of Germany? How do you follow Christ in such a world? Is Christianity even possible any more?

American Christianity urgently needs to ask these questions, because  the Republican party most but all politics to a greater or lesser degree, is handmaid of the U.S. state.

I’m convinced the chains that bind us include property, privilege, and power.

Being poor would help the church see the world from below, the perspective of the underclass. Having no privileges or power also would help the church defrock itself of its collaboration with the principalities and powers.

A question I haven’t answered is: how do you hear God’s voice? The Internet has penetrated even the wilderness.

How do you cultivate silence and solitude?

How does blogging help you listen for the voice of God? Not to mention all the new technologies like the iPod and twitter.

I don’t know. But I think Dietrich knew how to discern God’s voice. I’m going to read these books with a hungry heart.

Oh, yeah, I’ve found daily devotions subject to the graying of life. But nevertheless, those daily psalms.

Somehow, God’s Spirit may break through.

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June 21st, 2009

I am fascinated by the notion of discovering “the historical Jesus.” I read every book I can find. I respect the work of scholars who are seeking to sift through centuries of data. Recebtly read Albert Nolan’s Jesus Before Christianity and Jesus Today. South African Dominican. Interesting take on the American Empire.

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Luv vs. Love

June 14th, 2009

3:30 a.m. classical music on my cable TV, at the moment a Chopin waltz I used to play. Now arthritis has pretty much wiped out my piano ability. I can still peck out a hymn, but it’s mechanical. On the bookcase just at my shoulder is my black cat, who spends much of her time in my lap. I trained her with kitty treats. So whenever I take pills, there she is with her fellow purr ball. They think they must have treats as I must have meds. It’s tylenol for me, and (hard hearted s.o.b. that I am) no treat for her.

Having completed Revelation, we’re beginning a new Bible study on Tuesday nights: Great Chapters of the Bible. We joined Revelation 21-22 with 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter. I was pleased with that. Our group has experienced a lot of death, and the study helped.

I’m pleased with Revelation. I learned some things. This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve taught it, mostly in self defense against end time nonsense in the Christian bookstores or pop culture, which confuses scatology for eschatology. Things I learned:

  • that the purpose of the judgment series, as in the plagues of Egypt, is overcoming the idols of the world; and, warning and hardening hearts (confirming people in their choices). You notice that by comparing the summations at 6:15-17 and 9.20-21.
  • the harmonies of heaven that break out repeatedly throughout the chaos of ch. 6-16.
  • a good summary title for ch. 17-22 is tale of two cities, or the whore and the bride.

The first chapter in the new study is 1 Corinthians 13, a no brainer. But I’ve been wanting to write about the Love chapter, and find it impossible. This is Paul at his Holy Spirited best!

Our culture talks and sings much about love. We might spell it “luv” to distinguish culture’s kind of love from what Paul wrote about. 

  • “I just luv that dress on you.”
  • I luv the Beatles.
  • I luv you, let’s ———-!
  • What the world needs now is luv, sweet luv.

All this is feel good squishy stuff until the hangover of the morning after and all the bubbly has gone flat.

The love Paul writes about (and frequently fails to attain, like the rest of us) is God’s kind of love, good old agapé. You’ve heard the sermon about eros, philia, and agapé many times:

  • eros, 100% taking, sexual love
  • philia, 50% taking, 50% giving love, mutual (aka brotherly) love. Good marriages are NOT 50%-50%; they require 100% from both partners.
  • agapé, 100% giving, Christ-like love.

Granted, that’s an oversimplification. Not all eros is bad. But that summary will do in a pinch.

Agapé is not humanly possible, because 100% giving love is soon depleted. But agapé is the fuel of a life of faith. As quickly as we burn up our supply, God replenishes it.

Without love, I’m nothing, Paul / Holy Spirit says.

Love is the motivation that the world cannot master (comprehend, overcome). Love never fails. Contrary to all other motivations, love abides.

The Christian vocation to which we all are called, whatever our circumstances, is love.

Like Truth, Peace, the Way, Life, for Christ followers Love is the Risen Christ, living breathing touching caring through us.

This is not so much a polished essay as a grab bag of reflections on love. What’s clear, looking in the mirror at an enigma, is that luv may feel good for a night, but love lasts forever.

A life built on agapé is truly worth living.

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Poems by Noah Wyatt

June 4th, 2009

Noah has written a couple poems which I want folks to get a chance to read. He’s a high school student, whose folks Barry and Lisa, and sister Emily belong to our family of choice. I like how these poems make you feel as though you’re on the beach or feeling the onset of night as well as the poet. There’s also a mystery about who are the two of the last line of  ”Across the Silent Seas.”

 

Across the Silent Seas

Sand between their feet
The water on their toes
The Sun Blazing hot
The Palm Trees grow

The gentle breeze
Across the silent seas
Four foot prints on the shore
This place would be called home
And neither would like more

 

Rise and Fall (Day and Night)

When the sun  rises,
So do the rest,
From their needed slumber,
Their comforting rest.

The Light from the sun
Shines through the trees
Casting shadows on the ground
From branches and leaves

When darkness comes
the rest follow
The Suns light
The night swallows

When light is dim
And nearly out of sight
They all sleep
In the eternal night

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On Pentecost

June 3rd, 2009

Check out these Pentecost theme posts from fellow bloggers (mine immediately precedes this list):

When Love Comes to Town - “Pentecost, Peace, and Grace.”

Theolog - Donna Schaper writes about a double miracle.

Reflectionary - Martha Hoverson is asked to do a funeral the week before Pentecost .

Don’t Eat Alone - Milton Brasher-Cunningham offers us a Pentecost poem .

Welcoming Spirit - Paula Jenkins struggles to understand the nature of the Holy Spirit.

Just Words - Ed Sunday-Winters reflects on the age of the Church. Almost 2000 years old, and yet Pentecost reminds us that the present experience of the Spirit is the locus of our power.

Unorthodoxology - David Henson: “I wonder if they still continue to speak in the tongues of men and of angels, because that is the only language they now understand.”

Life and Faith - Ernesto Tinajero remembers a seminary professor who called the Holy Spirit, “Holy Breath.”

Everyday Liturgy - Thomas Turner: “The Holy Spirit is more than a placeholder to complete the Trinity.”

Where the Wind - Fiction by Adam Thomas: Davies writes a paper on the Holy Spirit.

Grounded and Rooted in Love - A Pentecost sermon.

Seeking Authentic Voice - Terri Pilarski reflects on Pentecost having grown up in a non-liturgical tradition.

Eclectic Faith - Christopher Keel reflects on Pentecost having been raised a Pentecostal.

Faith in Community - Diane Roth: Remembering Azusa Street.

I Thirst - Mark Hogg remembers Pentecost 2001.

Dancing on Saturday - Chad Holtz: Pentecost and the Ethiopian gospel choir.”

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Digging for Camelot

May 29th, 2009

sauls-death

 

Left: Death of Saul and sons (Marcuse)

Pentecost 2009

This morning we’re going on an archaeological dig of sorts, only of words, not artifacts in the ground. We’re going digging for Israel’s Camelot—the one before Mt. Zion, the City of David.

J.R.R. Tolkien, the great wordsmith who gave us the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion, believed names are the slowest elements of language to change over time. Therefore, you can learn a lot from place names. Perhaps that explains his fascination with names. Each character, each place, in his work has four or five. Someone dubbed the Silmarillion, choked with difficult obscure names,  ”the Elvish telephone directory.”

You’re invited to put on your Tolkien caps, and see what a singular name in the text can teach us.

1 Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on [Saul's] head, and kissed him; he said, “The LORD has anointed you ruler over his people Israel. You shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their enemies all around.

5 …You shall come to Gibeath-elohim, at the place where the Philistine garrison is; there, as you come to the town, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the shrine with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre playing in front of them; they will be in a prophetic frenzy. 6 Then the spirit of the LORD will possess you, and you will be in a prophetic frenzy along with them and be turned into a different person.

     9 As he turned away to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart; and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they were going from there to Gibeah, a band of prophets met him; and the spirit of God possessed him, and he fell into a prophetic frenzy along with them. 11 When all who knew him before saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 A man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When his prophetic frenzy had ended, he went home.       

1 Sam 10:1, 5-6, 9-13 (NRSV)

Before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in the year Christ was raised from the dead, Holy Spirit possession was, you can believe it, a wilder and even more frenzied thing. The Lord’s presence seized unlikely vessels, the most famous of whom was Saul, the ill-fated first king of Israel.

The trouble with Saul is that the only records we have of him and his reign have come down to us heavily edited by David’s court historians. The equivalent would be a Confederate account of Lincoln’s presidency or a far right-wing description of President Obama’s term.

Some scholars believe, for example, that the birth story of Samuel was originally the birth of Saul or that some of the stories about Jonathan, Saul’s matchless son, originally were about his father.

But this name Gibeath-elohim strikes me. It means “Gibeah of God,” and this is the only occurrence in the Hebrew Bible. Otherwise, it’s referred to as Gibeah, Gibeah of Saul, or Gibeah of the Benjamites.

You must understand that some terrible things happened at Gibeah: gang rape every bit as brutal as the gang rape attempted in Sodom, massacre, betrayal. Gibeah became the symbol of a lost king and a failed kingdom.

The prophet Hosea would cry out:

 They have deeply corrupted themselves
     as in the days of Gibeah;
he will remember their iniquity,
     he will punish their sins.

Hosea 9:9 (NRSV)

All the more astounding, then, this unique description of Saul’s capital as the Gibeah of God. What made it so?

We don’t know. The facts are buried deep in the earth. But we have this story, of Saul.

He’d set out to find his father’s donkeys. Without success, he and his servant consulted the seer, a judge-prophet named Samuel.

The prophet welcomed Saul like a king. In fact, he anointed him with oil. And he said, “When you get to Gibeath-elohim, Gibeah of God, you’ll meet a band of prophets, you’ll fall into a frenzy and become another person.”

Samuel always loved Saul, and perhaps always cherished the ideal of what might have been. So it’s no surprise to find on his lips alone this Hebrew term that has the same associations as Camelot has for us, the seat of King Arthur, and the days of the Round Table.

Saul did fall into a frenzy. But he hid what Samuel said and did.

After his selection became public, he won a victory and gave credit to the Lord.

What went wrong? Historians don’t know absolutely. Even without the Davidic court historians’ viewpoint, we know Saul’s bright hopes tarnished.

He fell into despair and madness.

When next the Spirit fell on him, he was pursuing David to kill him. He fell into a spirit-frenzy, stripped off his clothes and lay naked before Samuel all day and all night.

A key phrase is missing, however. 1 Samuel 19 does not say that God gave him another heart or that  he became another person.

Gibeath-elohim, Gibeah of God, remained a dream in the heart of the prophet Samuel. It never became Saul’s capital. Saul never achieved his potential as king, despite twice being possessed by the Spirit.

In much the same way, the Washington of God which ought to be this nation’s capital remains a mostly forgotten mirage.

When we think of the Holy Spirit, we too often dwell on the snazzy bells and whistles which He can perform: speaking in tongues, healing, etc.

Instead, we need to pursue the fruits of the Spirit:

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.

Gal 5:22-25 (NRSV)

May we so live that when people ask, “Is John or Susan or Jose among the prophets?” the automatic response is, “Isn’t he or she always?” May our day to day self denial, taking up the cross, and following Jesus  in the power of the Spirit transform us into women and men with new hearts and our capital city into Gibeath-elohim,  Camelot of God.

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Holy Spirit Hope of Glory

May 19th, 2009

9 ’So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ 

Luke 11 (pasted from Oremus Daily Lectionary)

This piece is a warm up to the piece Gordon RLP CCblogs has requested. Whether snake or scorpion or Holy Spirit, others may decide.

 I’ve been distracted

Recently I’ve enjoyed streaming video. Through a $9/mo membership Netflix offers unlimited streaming videos.

I’ve watched The Song of Bernadette twice, the story of Lourdes.  The Gospel of John, in the entire Good News version, dramatized. In Italian The Gospel of Matthew and St. Anthony of Padua.

Through normal rentals I’ve seen a bio of Patrick of Ireland and two films about Karol Wotyla, John Paul II.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve also enjoyed a lot of film noir from the 40s, sappy Shirley Temple flicks, Les Miserables with Liam Neeson. The technology fascinates me.

Saints’ bios make me wonder

But there’s a whisper: am I 110% sold out to Christ like Patrick or Anthony or Wotyla?

No chance of being in their league, but surely average Christians can be just as committed.

How does the Spirit make her/his mark on me? What are the evidences of my commitment?

One of my favorite saints is Joseph Schereschewski, Episcopal missionary in China, who spent the last 20 years of his life completing a Chinese dictionary. Nothing unusual about that, right?

Except he had Parkinson’s, and could use only one finger.

Or William Cowper, who died insane. His last bout of depression never lifted. But his collected works of many standard hymns, among the best letters written in English, and other writing ran into 15 volumes.

Speaking in tongues the Spirit’s  sine qua non?

 I never have been gifted with speaking in tongues. Being a pianist I had a way of emotional release akin to glossalalia. I prayed mightily for it at one low point, friends persuading me that baptism in the Spirit aka speaking in tongues would solve all problems.

Finally, I said, “Lord, if you want me to have this gift, you’ll have to give it. You know how badly I want it. But I’m not going to work myself into a frenzy.”

So my longing faded, and I felt assured that being a Christ follower means having the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is why I belove/believe/belive

Basically, I am a Christ follower because of the Holy Spirit witness in my heart. The Bible alone could not persuade me. Nor could the church, or individual followers.

As it says in The Song of Bernadette, “If you don’t believe in God, no evidence is sufficient. If you do believe [with heart, mind, soul, strength], no evidence is necessary.”

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