Richard Burgie

Guest Columnist

Thinking back over the past year and going back over the many years of our lives, we begin to have questions about events in the past and what all this will mean for the future. With this start we can go in many directions with this bit of life.

What got me started thinking about this was just recently putting on a T-shirt with an American flag on it and the words “In God We Trust.” This is easy to say as we think about our faith and it has been part of our country’s past for many years and in our pledge of allegiance we say this country is “under God.” We are seeing in our sports gatherings that more players are kneeling during the national anthem and it is dubious that they are kneeling before God to give their honor to God. We also see and hear of many people in a variety of Christian Churches who claim that other churches are not really believers but have a wrong perspective of God. It is obvious those in other religions around the world say God is calling them to violence certainly cannot be the same God that Christians refer to. We could agree on the fact that there are ‘Spirits’ that could influence our lives but we would refer to those ‘Spirits’ as demons.

We have been through another Christmas season (but the gift returns are not complete yet). This is highlighted as a time of ‘giving’ but the focus that young people learn is ‘what am I going to get.’

If we trust in God we need to be more like the early Christians. They were willing to give their lives in proclaiming the Love of God through the example of Jesus. Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions that move you in this ‘loving’ direction (will they die quickly like others?).

If we want changes to happen it will take many people to truly trust in God but this does not mean only verbally or just going to church.

A Story: An atheist was enjoying the great outdoors with trees shading a running stream and beautiful sunshine around. Suddenly he heard crackling branches and turned to see a big bear. He cried out “God, help me.” The bear stopped and so did the stream but a voice came to him and said, “I thought you did not believe in me.” The atheist thought and said, "Well, I don’t but you could make this bear a Christian." The stream started up and the bear knelt down and said, "Thank you God for providing a good meal for me.”

Trusting in God is more than words or the clothing we wear or a building we meet in. What in your life needs a bit of strengthening that will continually reflect the love demonstrated by many who bring healing and hope to others every day of their lives.

Richard Burgie is the retired pastor of Christ Lutheran in Heath.