A few months ago I caught an absolutely hilarious MythBusters episode where they tested the theory that  it is IMPOSSIBLE to walk in a straight line blindfolded.  They took it to the extreme, sight canceling goggles, earplugs, etc.  so that no outside influence could affect their ability to find a direction.  And this picture is roughly like how their trajectories moved. 

When they interviewed the walkers, they each described in detail how good they felt they were doing, how straight they seemed to be moving, how on target they thought they were.  Wow, were they wrong!   Without the point of reference in focus, guiding, they could not stay on course.

And that, my friends, is what life is like.  Without an external point of reference we flounder and spin.  I believe we each want what is best for ourselves and our families, but I know that people feel at best uncertain about what that actually looks like.  The human tragedy aspect of it is that regardless of how we feel we are on target, our lives end up looking like the picture.  And who wants to reflect on a life shaped like that at the end of their days.  "I worked too much.  I didn't really know my kids.  I never forgave my father.  I should have spend more time with my wife."

The Good News, is that there is a simple and accessible guiding standard, Jesus.  Jesus taught a paradigm-busting set of truths, establishing himself as a model of living that no one in the history of humanity has undone or superseded:  
1. Love God (keep your eyes on the target) 
2. Love One Another (serve and welcome and give more than you get)
3. Do Not Judge (because nobody's perfect - least of all you and me)

For 2000 years, no one has articulated human excellence better than this.  No one has defined right living more clearly or succinctly, and no one has established a better paradigm.

Ultimately, it is up to you.  You are free to roam, free to circle, free to meander.  But for me, I am gonna stay as close to the Way as I possibly can.

I was 13 when I had to get glasses.  I was nervous because, frankly, I was never very popular or good looking to begin with.  And my mother (much beloved) had a penchant for picking things out for us not because they were cool, but because they 'complimented the shape of our face'.  Now being young & much Irish, my face was roughly akin to a pale, freckled saucer.  (When my son was young, well-meaning people would say, "oh, how cute, he got your cheeks.")  So long story short, I got enormous brown plastic framed glasses... because I had an enormous pale brown-freckled face.  Not cool.

BUT when I finally got them back from the doctor, I remember standing on the edge of my parent's farm, staring over the rolling Illinois hills, and seeing, for the first time in a long time, the details of the landscape.  Tiny leaves blew across the bow of every tree that stood against the distant sky.  The rows carved into the plowed fields gave texture and depth to the Illinois farmland.  Birds spun dizzyingly high into the enormous sky.  It was like I had never seen how beautiful it really was...right in front of me...every single day.

And that, my friends, is what faith is like.  Sure, you and I can live and make do with our daily existence.  Sure we are 'functional'...more or less... depending on our individual proclivities.  AND YET - if we would dare, there is beauty all around us that we cannot fathom without seeing it first-hand.  Faith gives sight to those of us tending towards blindness of any degree.

I know my atheistic friends will object.  And I understand, I was there once as well.  But I will speak clearly for myself now; once I saw, living without sight was no longer an option.    

I have been hanging out with a lot of Christians lately...actually most of the time since officially disavowing my season of doubt.  (I spent about 6 years as an atheist or some variation of agnostic.)  One thing I hear often is that a well-intended Christian has read this or that atheistic writer and now feels equipped to proselytize the Gospel to atheists.  I sort of wish those books came with a siren - a LOUD SIREN - and a disclaimer. Wooowooo - If you are Christian, you aren't going to 'get it' from reading this book.  Wooowooo...  you get the idea.

The point is this: there are two kinds of atheists.  (Maybe more - I've got two in mind.)  First, there are scientific atheists, these are the guys writing books - and into this camp I will lump people who bother with philosophy - ie: God can't exist.  Second, there are post-trauma atheists - ie: God couldn't exist, a good God would never allow this horrible thing to occur, therefor there must be no God.

Christians, unless you are science literate , HIGHLY science literate (like - you are a scientist or science student), and no, I am not talking about people who read a Dawkin's book, you cannot hang with the folks in camp #1.  They will eat you alive, they look forward to it - it is their intellectual way of snacking.  They prey on Christians who think they can hang (and then eventually end up muttering about 'you just have to believe...')  It is how atheism has gotten teeth; they have sharpened them on Christian pseudo-intellectuals. I would know - I was part of camp #1 back when I was studying biochemistry and philosophy.  I was not nice.

Ok camp #2 is where Christian's drop the ball.  This accounts for most atheists, practical atheists, and many pagans.  They have endured something and it OFTEN comes back to Christians behaving reprehensibly.  Not always, but abuse, lying, thieving...we all know the headlines.  Well somebody lived through all of that and more.  This is where Christ gives us the go-ahead, the green light.  Love non-church people like your life depends on it.  Go visit people.  Drop them a line.  Care when caring makes NO SENSE.  Let Love LOVE do the talking, the walking, and the evangelizing.  He is way more convincing than you are. 

Anyway - the good news is you will also win lots of folks in camp #1 just through irrational, relentless care.  It sort of trumps everything.  So put down the Dawkins (you're just making him rich and toothy) and bake some brownies for that atheist you had in mind when you bought it.