“Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for wonder, and he gave it to me.”

― Abraham Joshua Heschel

“Has my faith gone dull? I ask myself this question on occasion. It’s very easy to slip into a routine and allow everyday cares to get in the way of a life filled with wonder. Christianity can be reduced, if we are not careful, to rules, attending church once in a while and attempting to be a ”good person”.

** Let’s be honest, religion can be boring.**
Those are hard words to write considering the vocation I have chosen (or better said called to). More than once I have heard the phrase “church is boring.” As a kid, Sunday was the worst day of the week because we had to go to church. It was a drudgery to get up on Sunday morning and sit through a set of rituals that I did not understand and listen to a man pontificate about things I did not care about.

If we lose sight of the awe, mystery and power of God, religion is just a set of dry rituals and empty dogmas. How can we recapture the wonder of our faith?

Part of the problem is, we have fallen into a trap. We believe that everything can be explained. We need to know “why?” That is the dilemma of the western mind. We need to figure it all out, explain away the mystery of the cosmos, yet even the Apostle Paul knew that was not possible this side of heaven. He writes to the Corinthian church “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT).

Wonder is “radical amazement”. When was the last time you went outside at night, looked up and said “WOW!” The Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote “As civilization advances the sense of wonder declines. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind. Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only want for appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder.” How can we recapture the wonder?

First, it begins by looking at the world in a new way, seeing small everyday moments with fresh eyes. Last October I was driving down a country highway, and I noticed a tree, the leaves were ablaze with color. The Midwest in the fall is truly spectacular! Usually, I would just drive by, but for some reason, I pulled over, took a picture and then just stood there and looked at it, taking it all in. I thought to myself “I need to do this more!” God has created this beautiful thing for me to enjoy and I usually just pass it by, without notice. Something truly wonderful happens when we see each moment of our life as a gift.

Secondly, God is so big, great, mighty, awesome, loving and mysterious that I will never entirely figure him out, but I can enjoy an incredible and satisfying relationship with my creator. People that tell me they think they have this whole “God, Christian, Bible thing” figured out scare me. Can we figure God out in His totality? Does he even want us to? I love what’s recorded in the Old Testament book of Job “”Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? I have come to appreciate that there are some things about God I will never figure out, and honestly, some things don’t make sense to my finite mind, but I am ok with that. When someone asks me a hard question about God, and I don’t know the answer, I have grown comfortable with saying “I don’t know,” instead of making up some smart sounding but cheap answer. Being honest is so refreshing in an age when we hide behind how smart we think we are.

I have a few more thoughts that I will share in the next post. How do you keep “wonder” alive in your life?

I love social media. It is a great way to connect with people from all across the world. I enjoy sharing photo’s and staying up to date with the adventures of my friends and family.

However, sometimes things get out of control, even ugly. As a follower of Jesus, I want all of my conversations, even those online, to honor my relationship with Him. The Apostle Paul writes in the letter to the Colossians “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6). It is very easy to have unseasoned conversations hiding in an office or living room, some of them even turn bitter. It’s easy to hide behind a computer screen armed with our keyboards and mouse.

Social media can turn into a weapon

People say some pretty incredible things online. I’ve had a front row seat to married couples air all their dirty laundry on Facebook, passively aggressively sending each other subtle messages. I have watched as disgruntled employees say horrible things about their employers, parents say hurtful things about their children and children disrespecting parents. I have observed passive aggressive behavior, vicious attacks and uninformed pontificating…and yes I have ben guilty of some of these things. I wonder if there a better way? In search of that better way I have established some “rules of engagement” for my online presence. These practices have helped me stay out of trouble and live with integrity.

Five practices to have a better voice on social media

I have set some ground rules for myself and my social media presence. These have helped live honestly and honor my walk with God. I am convinced that our online activity is a spiritual activity and is an extension of our walk with Christ. Here are my rules:

1. Never say anything I would not say to someone personally.

Lots of people say things online that we would never say to anyone’s face. If I am frustrated with someone, I would rather sit down and have an actual conversation. Conveying and reading emotion is hard when interacting online. Having hard but respectful conversations seems to be a dying art.

2. Check my facts

Have you ever posted something on Facebook only to be fact checked by someone and experience the embarrassment that follows? I have. It is so easy to hit the “share” button before doing the hard work of research to determine if what I am sharing is actually true. Before I share, post or repost anything I always check my facts.

3. Keep all posts positive

I work  hard to keep my posts as positive as possible. I have decided there is enough negativity in the world, and I don’t need to add to it.

4. Never attack anyone personally

Attacking someone online is shallow and immature. Most of the time we don’t even know the person. Realize you only know 50% of the story (AT BEST!). The person on the receiving end has a story and a version that may differ slightly from yours. If you have an issue with someone, refer to rule number one.

5. Share useful information

Sharing great information new practice for me. I have begun to share things that are helpful for life. The internet is full with lots of great articles and videos that are useful. I want my presence online to be useful, helpful and life-giving

Those are my social media rules…what are yours? I would love to hear them!

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

That is one of my favorite quotes of all time. Some say the quote is attributed to Plato; others say Philo of Alexandria and some even say, John Watson. I suppose it does not matter who said it, what it represents is so much more important.

I am committed to practice kindness every day. Even with that person. You never really know what that person is fighting on any given day. People act as they do for a reason, and, you never know, your act of kindness may be what that person needs today.

It has been a long time in the making

I have been considering writing a blog for a long time, actually for a couple of years. I have always had some excuse as to why I could not do it: “I am too busy”, “I am not a good writer”, “I don’t feel like it”.

From time to time people say to me, “you should write something” or “if you wrote a book, I would read it.” I am not ready for a book yet, but I do have somethings “in me” that I would love to share, thus the creation of mikebellanti.com: At the Intersection of Real Life and the Mystery of Faith.

This blog is also the result of an online course I took called Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt | Your Virtual Mentor. This course helped me to establish ten goals for 2016, one of them was the creation of this blog. You can check out the course here: 5 Days to Your Best Year Ever!

At the intersection of real life and the mystery of faith

An intersection is a point where two or more things intersect. Each day when I wake up, I am confronted with this thing called my real life. Much like yours, my real life is filled with ups and downs, joy and sorrow, gain and loss. I have bills to pay, kids to feed and a job (that I love) to go each morning all while trying to maintain my health, both physical and mental, have quality time with my family and stay vibrant spiritually…its a tall order. Intersect all of that with the mystery of this thing called “faith.”

Trickey

Faith is a tricky thing. As a follower of Jesus, I work very hard to model my life after him and his teaching, particularly the sermon on the mount, thus, there is a very practical and applicable side of faith. But there is also a very difficult side to God, a mysterious side to faith, and Christianity. The Apostle Paul writes to the church gathered in Rome “For who can know the LORD’s thoughts”? On one hand, faith can be practically applied and lived. On the contrary, it is filled with mystery, questions and sometimes confusion.

A Safe Place

This blog is a dedicated safe place. A safe place to talk about hard things, the issues of life and the practice of applying this mystery of faith to everyday living. I welcome honest, wholesome, kind and respectful conversation. A conversation that respects opinions and convictions. Let the journey begin, for we are all real people, with real problems and real questions.

I hope you will read this blog, subscribe to it and share it with your friends!