Is balance what I'm after?

Hey Friends! I have involved myself in an internal debate about extremism on either side of the faith/belief spectrum. Tonight I had the privilege of engaging some current doctoral students in my internal debate. I also have to acknowledge that my thoughts are coming from various conversations with folks in various stages of their undergraduate college career. Here are my thoughts.

1. I have encountered both people who are critical and even contemptuous of people with faith. I have also encountered people who find it necessary to reprove or rebuke folks who are more skeptical or balanced in their approach to belief. It's funny to me that both groups don't see that their efforts are equally as damaging as the other. To the skeptic, my faith is personal and communal, and very hard won so your scorn finds no place with me. To the rebuker, you don't love me, you don't know me. Your rebuke is out of place because it lacks wisdom and charity.

2. I am a little weary of people who discount communities of faith. We all are seeking to gather knowledge that will help us explain our world. Some of us do this through the study of science, history, music, or math. A person of communal faith who believes that God exists, and that God desires to know them, wants just as badly as the personal attempting to figure out the nature world to know what things, settings, mindsets, clothing, environment, etc. one needs to set the atmosphere for God's presence. And although we don't believe that God is equivalent to a mathematical formula, we do hope that God will honor our attempt at getting God's attention. What we all can learn is that God is God and does what God does--be that natural or spiritual. You believe that gravity is a measurable force that can be counted on to keep things in place. I believe that God is able to put a bottom on the pit of despair and offer people a revolutionary new knowledge that breaks cycles of pain and poverty. I don't believe that the ideas are that far apart. So churchgoers, continue going to church. People of faith, continue being faithful--in community! Be encouraged by all of the haters! LOL