We've wired ourselves to derive meaning from the explanation, rather than the experience.
We have put our faith in a creed, rather than a relationship that would make any creed possible.
We too often see prayer in the words, rather than in the silence that holds the words.
We want to find our meaning in the moral of the story, and not the mystery that veils it.
So this is what I'd like to make of these phrases stolen from a Terry Hershey newsletter. I like this so much, I think it's worth turning them around into actions...
May I derive meaning from experience.
And experience faith in relationship.
May my prayer be the silence that holds words.
I want to pursue the meaning of story through the mystery around it.
The other day a friend asked me what "doctrine" the Chinese churches are since it seems there are no true denominations there. At least that was my experience this past trip. I could only blurt out, "screw doctrine", these people only have one thing on their minds. Learning from the Bible and their experiences. They seem to only ask "who is God and how can I know Him?"
When a church has been persecuted and rises out of the ashes through a remnant of committed people who will hand copy the Bible and hymnbooks word for word because that's all they have... it seems doctrine is a luxury.
This quote helps me to see that there is way more than what meets the eye when it comes to our faith.