Just like there is no end to the making of books, there is
no end to the making of snarky remarks. I want to respond to what Joy Behar’s
remark about VP Pence. I don’t intend to insult her; I only want to take her
reasoning to what appears to be her understanding of faith.
Essentially, she seems to mean that communication or
relationship with God is a one-way conversation. We can talk to Him, but if we
think that He will talk to us, there is something wrong with us. We live in the
“real world,” & faith (whatever we have determined it to be) is a matter
for the individual to work out in private. He had better keep it there, too.
Fair enough, in our secularized & individualized
culture.
A one-way relationship or way of communicating with God (or,
in popular parlance, “god”) is very convenient. It can imply at least a couple
of things. First, we get to use God on our terms; He is, or is not, whatever we
decide. He might hear us if we talk to Him, but He has nothing to say to us. Second,
it can mean that, whatever we think He is, He has no relevance for the “real
world” where we live every day.
My belief, & that of hundreds of millions of Christians around the world, is that God
does in fact speak to people. He has done this in the past (His revelation to
us in the Bible, & also throughout Christian history). He continues to speak
to us today thru His Word & thru the faithful working of the Holy Spirit in
our daily lives. Christians read the Bible, pray, attend worship services,
& expect to hear from God in the daily experiences of life.
To take it a step further, God even speaks to those who are
not necessarily listening. This happens as He works to reveal Himself to those
who are not yet in a personal relationship with Him thru Christ.
The fact is, we all need to hear from Him. Otherwise, we are
lost. Lost, just like those who believe that faith is a one-way communication,
the parameters of which each individual can determine.
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