At the Border of Doubt and Hope

Fellow Labourers-

I would implore us to read the attached article over and over again. Here are three quotes from the article.
1) "There is nothing like empty time and constricted space to bring to the surface feelings, questions, and doubts."
2) "We have to learn that personal suffering is a more effective key, a more rewarding principle for exploring the world in thought and action than personal good fortune."
3) "Christianity is not an escape system for us to avoid reality, live above it, or be able to redefine it. Christianity is a way that leads us to grasp what reality is and, by God’s grace and help, to navigate through it to our eternal home."

As I read the article a phrase I heard once came floating through my head. "Emptiness is the greatest barrier to the human mind." Are we familiar with the phrase, "The vast emptiness of space." Sometimes I look from the hill into the National Stadium at the empty seats and try to comprehend it. This morning I walked into an empty church and the feeling is not like when I see a full house on a Sunday. Just imagine yourself for two weeks in an empty cell with no one to talk to and your future is uncertain. In our western world these are things hard to imagine and is a part of the reason why our faith is so shallow. Our problem is not the border of doubt and hope, but the border of doubt and sensuality. We crave more for the desires of the flesh which is a reality that confronts us. We must grasp this reality and navigate through it by focusing on our eternal home.

Pax vobiscum

Robert Stewart