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Lisa writes...



Some often wonder how a person of intelligence can believe in God. To that, I can only say that my faith is just that; faith. Perhaps I canât prove the existence of God scientifically; I canât point to a tree or a blade of grass or a child playing in the park and say âThere! That is the work of God! That proves his existence!â. But neither can I, with any scientific certainty, explain how a cell phone call travels from one place to another or how a voice comes out of my radio when I turn it on. Sure, you could show me a manual or try to demonstrate with models the principles of the process, but I can no more recreate the process of transmission in my own living room than I can recreate the creation of the universe.



There are some things you just know and donât question. I have faith that my phone call will connect just as I have faith that God is my creator and is with me wherever I go; it is that simple and that profoundly irrational. There is no rationality to faith; it is something that springs from hope and optimism and the belief that there has to be something to everything that we see and feel and experience. If that is ignorance, then it is a beautiful ignorance that I wish were more evident in this angry, fearful world.



If intelligence is the true question in this, though, then I must also present to you the idea that I am not the first, nor will I be the last, âintelligentâ person to profess a love of Christ and faith in God. Would you question the intelligence of writers such as T.S. Eliot, C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien? Would you wonder at the mental capacity of Copernicus or Newton? Certainly, where there is intelligence, there is the capacity for free-thought, and often intelligent people are less inclined to blind faith without suffering, first, the trials of a life without it.



However, if you want proof of Godâs existence, I stand before you now and hope you see what my faith has brought to my life. I love without question, I forgive without thought; I wake up every morning with hope for the day and I am able to find peace in a world that rarely nurtures that concept. I have come to terms with my lack of perfection, but that doesnât stop me from trying to be the best version of myself that I can muster, and all of this- every last bit- comes from my faithful knowledge that God is at the center of my existence.



What does faith cost? To believe, you donât have to take out loans or sell your house or abandon your family and friends. You arenât asked to join a crazy cult or embarrass yourself in public or âdrink the Kool-Aidâ (and if ANY of these things occur, you are not in the presence of true Christians). So, then, what is so frightening about the idea of believing in something? Certainly, there is the whole notion of letting go, of not being in control, but donât we already have enough to worry about in this life? Why not have faith that God is watching over you, protecting you, loving you, guiding you in the right direction? Why not? Perhaps you donât believe every word of the Bible or you question the validity of manâs interpretation of God; well, then, you do it.



I challenge you to interpret the word of God as you see fit, to find its meaning for your life as I and millions of others have done, to look to that book as an ownerâs manual for your life and see the evidence of Godâs promises to us as they appear all around you. Pour over it, rip it to pieces, analyze it to the last breath in your body; use the free-will, the free- THOUGHT God has given you to find your own brand of faith, then embrace it with every fiber of your being. Allow yourself to be warmed in a cold world by the brightness of faith and the joy that comes with it.



Make a habit of believing, and soon, you will find that it is not quite as scary as it might first seem; that actually, allowing yourself to admit that you donât know everything is, really, the most intelligent thing of all.