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I don’t believe those who say they have true faith without any uncertainty
I don’t believe those who say they have no faith with no doubt.
I believe in the true believer in me,
That finds the truth through the uncertainly,
That uses doubt to find the faith in the innermost parts.

The Cat's Claw

I learned from my wife that when a cat tries to grab you with its claws the last thing you want to do is pull away. Pull away and the claws dig in to your skin, however, push inward far enough towards the cat’s body and the claws release. This lesson is important because cats are crazy, one second they are just loving being touched and the next they are trying to tear your hand apart.

Now I am not one to freely admit learning a lesson from a cat, unless that lesson involves outsmarting the cat, such as this one. But here is the lesson I learned

When someone you care about hurts you from what seems to be out of nowhere your initial reaction may be to pull back. Well actually, the initial reaction may be to scratch back, and the second to pull back, but neither will be very useful because that scratch may not have been as intentional as it seems. I am sure you can remember a time or two when you did something similar. I am also sure that when you did there was something else going on with you.

Sometimes when someone you love hurts you, even when you know their true desire is to love you, you are in a unique moment. A door has been opened, but you can only enter if you push forward rather then pull back. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee you will not get scratched a time or two, but the opportunity for joy and connection is there for the brave lover willing to run the gauntlet.

Faith in a Chair

My teacher once told me, faith is not so hard to understand.
Come let us reason together, faith is like sitting in this chair.
You place your faith in this chair every time you take a seat.
The faith that the chair is strong enough to hold you,
It is just the same for your faith in God.
Have faith, take a seat, and see.

But that is not what faith has been to me.

The real faith was placed in the teacher who had his hand on the back of the chair.
The same teacher that pulled the chair out from under me once my full weight was falling.
I looked up at the chair, as strong and trustworthy as ever, yet my back still ached.

The first lessons in faith are easy, like a child learning from play.
The real lessons in faith are as painful as they are unexpected.

Truth is, that chair never really failed me, and faith may be that simple after all.
The teacher, my own pride, convinced me I had it all put together.
I see now, the irony, that pride comes before a fall.

Pain is the most impartial of instructors,
And this was a lesson I was born to learn all along.
Appreciate all the simple faith you can find in this life,
Because if you do not, even the simple faith will be taken from you,
And you will not be able to find it on your own.
Have faith, take a seat, and see.