October 1, 2016 — Words of Wisdom
Doménico Cieri Estrada

“Reason and faith are both banks of the same river.”

“But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21-26

Cieri Estrada is a Mexican writer. He is the author of books like “Take Your Time” and “Pondering and Meditations”. He received the “Histonium” national literary prize in Italy in 1989.

Today I ask you to pray for those who are struggling with the paradoxes of faith and reason. Reason wants us to try to explain all that we see, we experience, and we read. Faith asks us to accept certain tenets of a belief system that, by the nature of G-d and even the nature of science, we cannot explain fully. Reason says, “No man or woman can die on a cross and come back to life” – our faith says, “Jesus died on the cross, was buried and descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again…” Many people today will struggle with a life that tries desperately to point them away from faith, to instead a life where they can reason out everything, including their own salvation. So, pray for those who struggle with faith, even if that includes yourself, and pray that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide you toward a sure and certain faith, hope, love and trust in and for G-d. It will be a life-long journey, this path, this wrestling with faith and reason – but it is through the journey where the Holy Spirit will strengthen our faith, hope, love and trust.

Pastor Dave