Seems like an appropriate day to talk some religion. I've been asked why I consider myself a Christian. It's probably a question many ask of themselves over the course of a lifetime.
The best answer, outside of having faith that the biblical accounts of Jesus are indeed true, is responding with a question of my own.
For me, if what I learn from biblical scriptures is indeed factual, then by following them in faith as best any flawed person could, I'm at least attempting to trod the right path, hopefully for the salvation of my eternal soul.
Yet even if the Bible isn't true, trying my best to follow its messages of love and compassion will have meant I at least tried to live a good and decent life, especially where others are concerned. Knowing that, in itself, will be enough to bring satisfaction and comfort on my death bed.
I can't go wrong since one of those choices is bound to be correct, right?
Because of my life experiences, I've come to believe this temporary earthly realm, while a testing phase for growth of our individual spirits, is part of a far grander plan we can't possibly comprehend. As I once told Fayetteville Rotarians, I'm convinced we are spiritual beings spending a brief period in cumbersome physical bodies, most likely to gain experience and growth in a denser level of consciousness.
In physical form we inevitably experience all the interactive joys and demands of what we know as life. I'm referring to the joys, fears, tears, happiness, laughter, disappointments, heartaches and, well, you name it, that only our spirit's temporary confinement can manifest.
That rationale has never been a stretch when realizing we each originated from a single sperm and egg uniting in a mysterious electrical flash of energy. So why wouldn't I believe our authentic home lies in the eternal energized realm from which conscious life materialized? Without this spark in the womb, we would not exist.
Because of such observations and reflections across 73 years, I also believe there is angelic involvement in our lives. I've certainly seen it in my own existence. I suspect many reading have as well, particularly involving other people who weave in and out of our circles.
It's not so much I believe in fluorescent winged figures (although many survivors of the catastrophic 2011 Joplin tornado insist they witnessed protective "butterfly people"). Rather, I see what we agree to call angels as the involvement of inexplicable interventions, which through purely spiritual influences helped inspire my beliefs.
Through unselfish and beneficial actions toward others, even we mortals can be used in various angelic responses to prayers.
And that leads to the thorny notion of divine providence, another hot button for atheists who are quick to dismiss this possibility I've increasingly come to accept as not only possible, but probable.
Providence exists for me because I've lost track of the times when there was no doubt I was led to make a specific choice or take certain actions that led to unanticipated positive outcomes for others. In every instance, I was merely following intangible urgings stemming solely from being conscious.
Moreover, all too often many events and circumstances I initially believed were negative eventually became positive for me and/or others. Heard of praise for unanswered prayers?
Although a longtime friend recently stopped short of fully embracing providence as playing a role in his many successes that wound up benefiting others as much as himself, it was clear he too had followed urgings that led to such ends.
You could say he'd repeatedly stepped into the abyss, often with the possibility of high-risk failures, based largely on faith.
In that respect--and in retrospect--we agreed that, while we obviously cannot know for certain, the likelihood of providence as a mysterious and indefinable factor in human lives is likely probable, so much so for me that I don't believe in coincidence.
If it sounds to some like predestination (perhaps gobbledygook), to believe God decides before we enter this realm via that electrical spark how our physical lives will unfold and for what larger inexplicable reason, then I suppose it is what it is.
I'm not wise enough to lead academic discussions on such weighty theological matters. My thoughts arise solely from observations. I'm qualified to evaluate only my experiences when it's often been true that the results of my behavior definitely appeared providential.
Perhaps when the smoke generated during this mortal existence finally clears, we each will have the splintery planks removed from our eyes to recognize the truth. Hopefully, I'll learn the ultimate nature of our worldly intuitions and realize the fundamental role of the creator in all we can detect with our limited physical senses.
And there, valued readers, you have ol' Mikey's unsolicited sermon for today. Relax, communion's been deferred and there's no collection plate.
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 01/26/2020