Happy Ash Wednesday!
by Dean Burkey
for St. Paul Lutheran Church videos produced by Jeff Miller
Photo by: David Wehman
Happy Ash Wednesday!
Maybe that’s an oxymoron.
Like Happy Day of Repentance!
You’ll never guess what I’m giving up for Lent?
Go ahead. Guess.
All right, I’ll tell you.
But the weird thing is, if I hadn’t asked you to guess, you would’ve guessed.
(Whatever.)
Okay, now remember, we’re supposed to give up something precious to us.
Something near and dear to our hearts.
So that’s right.
I’m giving up Christianity for Lent.
What else is most cherished by a Christian than his/her faith?
I would have thought that after discovering that there is no H-ll*, which was my biggest problem with Christianity, that I would have embraced my faith with greater fervor.
But I recently learned about something called The Belief Disconfirmation Paradigm.
This is where you can prove a person’s faith is wrong; and more than likely, if the person has a lot invested in that faith, that person will not deny his faith, but instead, cling to it with greater tenacity, even after it’s been proven false.
Most people think reading the Bible increases our faith.
But not mine.
When I read the Bible, I find the discrepancies and such that make me question and wonder.
I realized that if I were an outsider looking at this faith, I would never believe it.
But being raised in the faith, I’ve hung on and clung to it for quite some time.
Off and on.
Joshua told us not to waver between two opinions.
Even Jesus said He didn’t want us to be hot or cold.
So I’m giving up Christianity.
And not just for Lent.
I’m writing a book called “Faith Versus Doubt” which should chronicle some of my thoughts.
The funny thing is, when I started the book, I really thought it would lead me in a different direction.
That is, toward faith. Not against.
But like I wrote in that forthcoming book: “No matter what I believed or didn’t believe throughout my long and winding journey of faith and doubt, I can honestly say: The story of Christ always makes me cry.”
But Spider-Man 2 makes me cry too. When he’s unmasked and passed out; and the people pass him over their heads.
Very moving.
In a macho, moving way.
So my being moved doesn’t constitute my having faith.
I still believe everything** I wrote last Friday.
In fact, I wrote that after I wrote this.
(Except for this part, obviously.)
And I feel fine too.
When you leave the faith, those who still believe will be convinced that your heart and/or mind and/or soul must be in a shambles.
I hope we can still be friends.
If not, were we ever really friends?
So anyway, ...
If you believe in Jesus; and that faith sustains you and gives you hope. Alleluia! Praise the Lord.
If you don’t believe in Jesus; and not having faith in Christ sustains you and gives you hope. Woo-Hoo! You go Boy or Girl!
And either way, I wish a Happy Ash Wednesday to one and all!
Maybe that’s an oxymoron.
Like Happy Day of Repentance!
You’ll never guess what I’m giving up for Lent?
Go ahead. Guess.
All right, I’ll tell you.
But the weird thing is, if I hadn’t asked you to guess, you would’ve guessed.
(Whatever.)
Okay, now remember, we’re supposed to give up something precious to us.
Something near and dear to our hearts.
So that’s right.
I’m giving up Christianity for Lent.
What else is most cherished by a Christian than his/her faith?
I would have thought that after discovering that there is no H-ll*, which was my biggest problem with Christianity, that I would have embraced my faith with greater fervor.
But I recently learned about something called The Belief Disconfirmation Paradigm.
This is where you can prove a person’s faith is wrong; and more than likely, if the person has a lot invested in that faith, that person will not deny his faith, but instead, cling to it with greater tenacity, even after it’s been proven false.
Most people think reading the Bible increases our faith.
But not mine.
When I read the Bible, I find the discrepancies and such that make me question and wonder.
I realized that if I were an outsider looking at this faith, I would never believe it.
But being raised in the faith, I’ve hung on and clung to it for quite some time.
Off and on.
Joshua told us not to waver between two opinions.
Even Jesus said He didn’t want us to be hot or cold.
So I’m giving up Christianity.
And not just for Lent.
I’m writing a book called “Faith Versus Doubt” which should chronicle some of my thoughts.
The funny thing is, when I started the book, I really thought it would lead me in a different direction.
That is, toward faith. Not against.
But like I wrote in that forthcoming book: “No matter what I believed or didn’t believe throughout my long and winding journey of faith and doubt, I can honestly say: The story of Christ always makes me cry.”
But Spider-Man 2 makes me cry too. When he’s unmasked and passed out; and the people pass him over their heads.
Very moving.
In a macho, moving way.
So my being moved doesn’t constitute my having faith.
I still believe everything** I wrote last Friday.
In fact, I wrote that after I wrote this.
(Except for this part, obviously.)
And I feel fine too.
When you leave the faith, those who still believe will be convinced that your heart and/or mind and/or soul must be in a shambles.
I hope we can still be friends.
If not, were we ever really friends?
So anyway, ...
If you believe in Jesus; and that faith sustains you and gives you hope. Alleluia! Praise the Lord.
If you don’t believe in Jesus; and not having faith in Christ sustains you and gives you hope. Woo-Hoo! You go Boy or Girl!
And either way, I wish a Happy Ash Wednesday to one and all!
P.S. I didn’t mean to sound flippant about such a sensitive issue. But I also didn’t know how else to broach the topic.
* See my previous post:
* See my previous post:
** See my previous post:
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