Following

This past Sunday, Jesus told us that our faith heals us, that we are freed from our suffering (Mark 5:21-34.) Belief leads to relief from suffering. In other words, trusting him yields freedom and life.

Suffering is inevitable for humans. Who does want to be healed?

I am bothered by a stream of Christianity that says that if we "like" Jesus, all our problems are solved. I am not sure that is the truth.

Faith/belief is an investment in following a man whom we cannot see, touch, or hear and who left a short life story filled with mystifying empty spaces. Following Christ is not for the faint-hearted and involves risk as well as trial-and-error. Faith is a gift from God that needs to be practiced in order to be powerful, which makes it a step into thin air that we trust as a net somewhere below. Following is way more than "liking" Jesus. As a matter of fact, we may NOT like Jesus during the process.

Following Jesus takes us through terrain of doubt, discovery, dreams, disillusionment, danger, detour, and denial.

Oddly, the route through random suffering is through following paths of chosen suffering.

Will you risk living today?