Don’t miss your chance to commit treason!

And before I started into Selma R. Williams' Fifty-Five Fathers: The Story of the Constitutional Convention (ISBN 0396090370) I thought I was reading a reiteration of the Declaration of Independence -- incidentally, the Declaration (I quote John Hancock from the musical 1776 for today's title) has just one more signer than the Constitution does -- but it's not that simple. The big issue for George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and fifty-three other men was representation that developed into the compromise we now see in our Senate and House of Representatives; at least, that's what this book seems to convey. After that it was ... smoother sailing and, based on the notes taken by James Madison and the diary of William Pierce of what happened in the Constitutional Convention, we have in the United States not only the world's first written constitution but also one that works. No matter who gets into office sometimes.


What my faith means to me is having someone who's always there. Like many, I have had the good and bad times in life. The hardest thing was losing someone from a horrible disease. Some days were harder than others, but knowing she was with someone who dies for us, loves us, and cares for us gave me some comfort. Having faith gives me a sense of relief knowing God has a plan and he has what's best for me in mind while everything is happening. Knowing that even in the worst of times somehow it's all going to work out.


Yesterday before work I mailed a Mother's Day card to my stepmother Susan in Florida. She's the only parent I have left, even though I regard my in-laws, Martha's parents Robert and Sharon, as parents too since my own are both dead. YES I know I'll meet them again in heaven but there are moments I see my kids in me or some old photos that it's hard ... but when I was in line at the Post Office to get a stamp (I thought I had a roll of those FOREVER stamps, but I guess not) and thinking the government operates the Post Office and Wal-Mart on the same principle (five times as many lanes as there are employees at them; that's eerie) Cindy who waited on me remarked that I could buy a roll of stamps and then find the one I think is at home! We both had a great laugh at that, and I'm sure other people in the P.O. think something wrong with us for it. Because my laughter projects.

What my faith means to me is having someone who's always there. Like many, I have had the good and bad times in life. The hardest thing was losing someone from a horrible disease. Some days were harder than others, but knowing she was with someone who dies for us, loves us, and cares for us gave me some comfort. Having faith gives me a sense of relief knowing God has a plan and he has what's best for me in mind while everything is happening. Knowing that even in the worst of times somehow it's all going to work out.


Today the first Thursday of May is not only the National Day of Prayer but also Cinco de Mayo. Neither of which I remember celebrating or commemorating when I was in school. Prayer and celebration as I think about it writing this on the last day I'm sharing Bethany's comfirmands' statements of faith don't have to be mutually exclusive. In many ways, Henry Van Dyke's story The Fourth Wise Man teaches us that God will place us in the right place and at the right time to help others. Beautifully retold by Susan Summers and illustrated by Jackie Morris (ISBN 0803723121), the story of Artaban who wanted to see Jesus along with his fellow Wise Men to give gifts but stopped along the way to help others with his actions and his treasure finally learned that as he did unto others, so he was also doing unto Jesus Himself. And in how many ways are we finding in this day and age that putting ourselves out for others, even those close to us, is treason?


Having faith means a lot. Whenever I'm down or having a rough part in life, my faith is there for me, telling me there are better days to come. It's amazing knowing my Savior has promised me eternal life. This gives me strength and hope. When my loved one died, my faith was there and was a big help. Even though I can't understand what the Lord is doing now, I know it's for a reason to help me.Join the club. Even though I can't, and likely would be better off not, be understanding what the Lord is doing now in my own life, I can count on the end result being SO worth it! I don't know if I can say that so much about the current construction season going on in Minot; between the parking garages that seem to be stalled or moving very slowly despite being open for use and the current war zone Main Street seems turned into ... ok, it's not quite that bad, but you can actually get a good view of chunks of street and blocked off sidewalk and planned-to-be-taken-down traffic lights (seriously, you'll have to be VERY CAREFUL driving down and at some Main Street intersections once construction's done) due to studies done saying there's little traffic at said intersections. BECAUSE NOBODY CAN USE SAID INTERSECTIONS, OF COURSE THERE'S NO TRAFFIC!


I like Galatians 2:20 [I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.] very much because it talks about how God is in us all and how he gave himself for all of us on this planet. He gave up himself so we could all better lives. I have a lot of faith in Jesus and everything he does. He died to give us eternal life. He loved everyone no matter what they did or what wrongs they made. We were always going to be his children and he will always love us.


Putting our faith into words can be so ... limiting.  Perhaps the reluctance I've had in writing a faith statement myself stems from that feeling within me. Compare to the title character in SF Said's debut novel Varjak Paw (illustrated by Dave McKean, ISBN 0440420768); although I'm not a Mesopotamian Blue cat that escapes a family picking on me and treats me as more of a child than I am brings back help by relearning some ancestral traits as dealing with "the Vanishings", I can see this step Varjak takes into a larger world and I'm reminded of Luke Skywalker's own odyssey. And Ulysses' (Greek name Odysseus, from which we get our English word "odyssey" for a length quest ... that's a typo, but I like it so it's staying). While faith may not need proof (see below), without proving yourself you'll never have an opportunity to "need" faith, I find.


Faith to me is completely and explicitly trusting and believing something with unwavering loyalty. Faith does not need proof. One of my favorite quotes is "In Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song." I think this brings me closer to him and to realize he is there. My faith helps me realize that there is hope in the world and helps it to make more sense. Faith in Christ moves me even when I don't feel it or don't want to make a change.


So does an earthquake (oh wait, you would feel that wouldn't you),

David