Faith for the Times

Our nation is currently in a unique and perilous time of division which includes our communities of faith. Unique in the sense that issues of faith are being used by many secular and sacred sources to exploit the divide of our nation further and perilous because if left unchecked, our nation could move to civil war. "Faith for the Times" first describes the political, social, and civil issues facilitating the division in our nation's faith communities. Following those descriptions are discussions of methods to heal those divides supported by anecdotes and experiences from over thirty years of ministry in various communities of faith in the Washington D.C. area. Divisions in our nation exist in several ways, but in this writing, they are generalized into the three areas of political, social, and civil. What is most alarming about our times is that these divisions combine with the many existing divisions in the communities of faith in our nation. There have always been divisions between types of faith and there have been many conflicts between them throughout history. But it seems that since the turn of the century, beginning with the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City, that conflicts among some of the major faiths such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have escalated. What's more, with the accelerated political polarization of the Evangelical Christian community, divides between denominations of the Evangelical church have grown. In the first part of this writing, the author describes the dividing of our nation, and the role faith has played in that division. This is done by borrowing a technique used by David in the writing of his Psalms using the term "shadows". The author applies that term as the "shadows of faith" as an illustration how our faith influences our political, social, and civil expressions of living. The intent with Part 1 of this writing is to expose the complexity of the divide in our nation and how faith interacts with that divide. In Part 2 the author addresses how to close the divide by faith. There is no pretense in this writing to suggest a nation as big and diverse as ours could be united with this one writing. But there is a confidence portrayed in the text concerning what God has done in the author's faith journey that allows the writing of these words and ideas as something to ponder and perhaps light a spark to begin the healing process required of our nation. The reader is invited to embrace what may be a new conversation of faith. A faith that focuses more on what we have in common with other people of faith than what divides us. That passion has been birthed in the author because of a faith journey not of his choosing but by his experience. Being raised Catholic the author converted to Protestant as a young adult. Moving through several denominations by experiences of faith the result has been a faith and a passion to impact people for God, not for a particular denomination. The reader is invited to join this celebration of faith with the author.