Bewildered

Bewildered

We are bewildered by those who don’t believe!!

I use a double exclamation because I cannot understand how a person cannot recognize what I find so evident. I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and two children. They are all loving, caring, and giving people. But they do not share the depth of accepting God’s presence in their lives. They believe, but I know they question. God loves them; I love them. They attend church and share their bounty with those in need. They are good people to whom I do not preach.

My life has had many difficulties; as I look back on how I overcame the trials, I see that there was an unseen force that opened doors for me to cross. I say to my wife that I have loved her long before I was placed in my mother’s womb. We share a love that is eternal. And if it is truly eternal, it was present before we met. This is God acting in our lives.

I think of John’s opening: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” God is within us before we met and will be with us long after we shed these mortal bodies. How am I to react to people who doubt? Is it my place to try to convert them? I think not. I write a spiritual prayer blog daily. In my writing, I reach out to people trying to comfort them with the word of God.

I was once criticized by one of my fellow church members for giving money to the beggar. She said that all he would do is buy more drugs or liquor. My rector commended me for this kindness reminding me that God wants me to share what I have. What the recipient does with my gift is between him and God. It is not my place to judge him. Only God is worthy to judge us.

Saying this, I meet nonbelievers every day’ I share love with them. I do not try to convert them; I do pray for them. God loves them as God loves me. In God’s eyes, we are equal and equally worthy.

© Russell Kendall Carter