Tantalizing If True

Maybe you want to know something about the creator of this website. I’m middle-aged, single, a writer and search engine marketer, caregiver for my 93-year-old grandmother. I’m fifth-generation Methodist, descendant of circuit riding preachers in West Virginia, though my family left the Methodist church when I was 17. Since then, I’ve been part of churches with labels such as: Southern Baptist, Nazarene, charismatic, apostolic, Anabaptist, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, and (shudder!) Presbyterian. Hypocrite is another label that has been applied to me. Some aspects of my life I would rather not talk about. But I’d rather be inconsistent with my beliefs than to stop believing them.

In the 19th century, newspapers would sometimes flag articles “Important If True” when their information was potentially urgent but they didn’t have time to verify it before press-time. One wag wrote that churches should put the same sign over their doors.

Even when we don’t fully understand the truth about God and the world he created, even when we’re frustrated when we try to talk about these subjects (“No, that’s not it… what I meant to say was…”), we ought to know that truth really does exist. We might even find that it’s specific, practical, and relevant. And it’s not just important, it’s tantalizing, because it’s so different from the way we’ve been living all our lives. Is the Good News too good to be true? Not hardly.

Unlike most bloggers, I find myself constantly editing and re-editing my earlier posts, sharpening the point I want to make. We need to wake up. We’ve been dreaming.

“…The term “home-comer” has, of course, a religious connotation. For it takes a good deal of courage to say “no” to the fashions and fascinations of the age and to question the presuppositions of a civilisation which appears destined to conquer the whole world; the requisite strength can be derived only from deep convictions. If it were derived from nothing more than fear of the future, it would be likely to disappear at the decisive moment. The genuine “home-comer” does not have the best tunes, but he has the most exalted text, nothing less than the Gospels. For him, there could not be a more concise statement of his situation, of our situation, than the parable of the prodigal son.”

– E.F. Schumacher, Small is Beautiful, Harper and Row, 1973

This site is best viewed by turning off your computer and participating in real life.