Because the Butterfly

If you were to ask me why I believe I would counter with a question of my own. Have you ever seen a butterfly in flight? Of course you have. Everybody has. But have you ever genuinely watched? I watched a butterfly flit and flutter across a parking lot one afternoon and it was clear to me that God was real. Here’s a creature that weighs less than a tissue and aerodynamically has no right to stay aloft. Yet as the breeze blows to and fro the butterfly is unaffected. It is here and it wants to go there. And it does it.

Why do I believe? Because I’ve seen a butterfly, impervious to the breeze, go where it wishes. I believe because I have met people who should be dead.  I believe because everyday around this earth another life begins in another womb. I believe because every day babies are born. I believe because if the earth was slightly off access, if the sun was just a little farther away or closer, if the moon wasn’t in lockstep, nothing would be living on this sphere. I believe because an airplane can stay aloft. I believe because a single kernel of corn planted today will provide enough to plant an entire field next season.

Nietzsche once said, “I think therefore I am,” in order to prove his own existence. I would posit that, “I am, therefore God exists.” Is that a simplification? Of course. Could somebody smarter than me who believes differently pick that argument apart? Sure. Could somebody smarter than that person, who agrees with me pick apart their argument? Yep. It can go on like that ad nauseam. But the fact that I am here, alive, breathing, tells me that God exists.

Why do I believe? Because a faith that started thousands of years ago with a man claiming deity continues to thrive today. Its founder died and was witnessed alive 3 days later… a fact that would be easily disapproved and should have resulted in a fringe cult that was snuffed out in no more than a generation at most. Yet 2000 plus years later that faith exists and thrives. Not because it’s a salve for the wounds of the weak minded but because it is, in fact, true. It could not and should not have survived otherwise.

Has this faith been lived out through history as it should? Of course not, but that’s the exact reason I believe. It’s a faith that has not done what it should have yet it still is alive and doing some good in a broken world.

I believe that God is real for many reasons. I believe because I am, to paraphrase the philosopher. I believe because today a butterfly will ignore the physical world around it and fly from one blossom to the next.

Merry Day 4!

Here we are at day 4, it seems like just yesterday it was day 3. How time flies...

Today's installment is going to be brief for two reasons. One the video below is about 5 minutes long and two, it's been a busy few days and I'm a bit short on time.

A quick intro to the video. It's one of those Christmas flash mob clips which I'm sure many of you have seen at one time or another and, like most of those clips I've seen, it's really moving. I posted one last year that was shot in Macy's and included hundreds of people singing the Hallelujah Chorus. Like that one, this one is incredibly heart-warming in my opinion. I can't think of a better scene than a group of people publicly singing about the Lord and Savior. You know, the real reason for the season. Christmas movies, Christmas music and even Christmas smells are all great but ultimately it's about the birth of the One true Savior of the world. On the surface all religions seem to point to the same conclusion but only Christianity is about what God, through Jesus, does to offer salvation to us VS what man can do to earn salvation, which is the focus of every other religion. That's actually a pretty big difference.

Anyway, I hope you take the time to watch the video below. I admit that it brought a little tear to my eye hearing the lyrics. Special shout out to my mom for passing this one along and to our family friend Neil Sheehy who passed it on to her.

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out Kid!

It's officially Christmas in our house now. At least in my book. Technically speaking our house has had decorations up since the first week of November when we hosted our annual "First Christmas Party" for our closest friends but tonight we brought home our Christmas tree. I'm not talking about one of those fake plastic trees that Radiohead sang about but a for-realsy tree.

For me that's when Christmas really starts. Nothing says Christmas like letting a fir tree slowly die in your front room. Really a weird tradition when you think about it but I love it. I grew up with live, I mean dying, trees at Christmas and if at all possible it's a tradition that I want to pass on to my son. That smell when you walk in the house after a long day...that's the best.

Obviously Christmas is much more than a tree, there are a lot of other wonderful traditions that make this time of year the best. Everybody thinks of Church pageants, houses festooned with lights (yep, I just used the word festooned), and of course the biggie, Christmas music! I've been listening to Christmas music since the day after Halloween. It's a necessity