Sunday

Walking by myself today. It feels really good to just be alone and be on the road. It's so peaceful to have Celtic worship music playing on my headphones and watch the rolling hills of hayfields swaying in the breeze. Its a good feeling to just walk and not have stress or anxiety about anything. Not thinking, just being. It's so beautiful. It's also a wonderful and peaceful reminder of the cycle of  life. Just to see the difference facets of farming- plowing, seeding, growing and harvesting all at the same time from one field to another. The cycle life, and the cycle of faith. God readies the soil in our hearts, plants seeds, they grow, and at the end of our lives we enjoy the harvest of our souls to be with Him forever.

I've talked to many people along the way about faith and its been very interesting. Talking to Europeans is different than talking to Americans. With Europeans I start with how I understand religion be about power and faith to be about love, especially God's love and our response to it. We've had lovely discussions about faith in God and about how that went into our lives. Many see religion itself as a tool for power hungry people to rule over everyone else but I can sense an underlying faith that just needs a way to grow.

Americans however, would rather talk about the church and how the church has become irrelevant in their lives. It's very interesting to see how many Americans have been hurt by the church in some way.  They view it as being about traditions and morals instead of being close to God and being compassionate towards others. They see the church as mainly an exclusive social club that doesn't do much outside the walls except condemn others. This is told over and over again to me by many people. It's very sad that because of this they prefer to throw out everything along with the church. What makes it even more interesting is that I'm reading on the kindle app on my phone Francis Chan's, Crazy Love. In the first chapters he  talks about the same thing. About how many Christians are luke-warm and churches are more interested in creating comfortable social clubs within the church rather than building a relationship with God. I have a difficult time trying to explain the difference between what they've experienced and what it can be, what it should be. Because of their wounds they would rather not have anything to do with church or Christians and in some cases God Himself.  Its not our job to change hearts but what can we as believers do to change the perception?

In a way both are very similar and I don't want to paint everyone I meet with the same brush. There are many various views I've come across here and faith is only one of the many many subjects that are talked about on the Way, but its something that as I'm walking God had brought to mind again and again.