Dale Cresap's blog

Do you like things that are entertaining? Do you find things that are informative to be more helpful, for they enlarge your understanding? Is there yet another step to take? What about things that are profound? Informative sources give you facts, but things that are profound address transcendent subjects in an articulate way. Their truth is enduring rather than transient. Truth that is forever is more important than that which is only true today. Haven’t you observed this already?

Do you normally think of courage as a virtue of soldiers? Is it possible to be courageous if you are not a soldier? Are you a courageous person? Combat is a special category, but even in everyday life it is possible to show moral courage, and even here there is a distinction. If the culture, or the crowd you are in, is going in the wrong direction you can part company and follow the path you regard as true according to your own conscience. And there is still another distinction, for you can do this silently, or you can speak out against what you see as the wrong direction.

Do you have a title? How strongly do you identify with your title? Do you know that I never wore a nametag? You may say they hadn’t been invented yet, but there were indicators of rank and status in my day, but I didn’t have any of them.  If I had worn a nametag what would have been written on it? You have many titles for me, but the one I chose for myself was the Son of Man. Does this seem like the least grand of all the descriptions that you could apply to me? It is not wrong to hold an office, but you should be wary of the influence a title has on you. Is it enough to be my child?

Do you like ice cream? This favorite desert is famous for coming in many flavors. Do you think love comes in flavors too? You know what sacrificial generosity and kindness look like when you see them. Is there a Baptist way to take in a stranger? A Presbyterian way to feed the hungry? A Muslim way to visit those who are sick or in prison? These acts of kindness are not related to doctrine or dogma. Perhaps this is the moral of the story of the Good Samaritan. Does it bother you when people who believe the wrong things do the right things? It shouldn’t. There is only one flavor of love.

Can you afford to be generous? The Biblical pattern of the same percentage for all whether rich or poor recognizes that different people have different amounts of money, and is an expression of equal sacrifice rather than equal giving. I made an observation about a widow who gave the smallest amount of money possible but I said that she had given more than the rich who had given out of their excess, where she had given out of her necessity. In doing so I suggested that even equal percentage giving did not tell the whole story.

Are you concerned about contagious diseases? It is appropriate to practice good hygiene, but diseases are not the only thing that can be spread. Have you ever been in a group in which someone suddenly expresses anxiety or fear and the entire group becomes ‘infected’ with the same attitude? Such attitudes can spread faster than diseases. Do you have immunity to diseases of this type? It is good if you can avoid such an infection. It is better still if you can be a carrier of the antidote. Are you a carrier of infectious calmness and peace?

Do you see me everywhere you look? Have you ever moved forward into an uncertain future and had things work out better than you expected? Could you see looking back that I was present and involved in ways that were not obvious to you looking forward? If this happens consistently then you should learn to trust the concept that I am with you and watching over you even if you are not aware of it at the time. Moses asked to see me and for his own sake I had him hide in the rocks so he could only see my back and not my front.

Do you prefer things that are new or things that are old? Few people want to drive an old car, but in matters of faith practice and beliefs, things that are old are accepted as having more credibility because of their longer history. It is true that time is a revealer, so the concept of having stood the test of time is valid, but can you discern the difference between things that are old and things that are eternal? Eternal things are not merely old, they are timeless.

I told a story about sheep and goats that was really a redemption story, and you wanted to be a sheep. They did several things, including feeding the hungry, providing shelter for the stranger, and visiting those sick and in prison. How many of these things have you done? Is visiting those in prison the least-practiced activity on the list? Why is this? Is it because you think those in prison are there for a good reason? But this story is an invitation to benevolent action rather than judgment. Why not do everything on the list. How hard could it be to find those in prison?

Do you believe? Belief is a strong theme in the Bible. What do you believe? Do you think this is limited only to doctrinal matters? Belief is more than a list of items to consent to. Is there such a thing as a general faith? I promised that if you would seek you would find. This implies that the Kingdom of God is available to all. You have no certainty about tomorrow, but do you still put forth effort today on the premise that there is value in doing so? Do you see yourself as a part of a world that is good and then live with confidence and peace?