THE BREAD BASKET

I began oil painting as a 13 year old in 1956. In retrospect, some of my early paintings look rather crude and amateurish. Being self-taught, I've developed my own "style" through the years, and have discovered that my best paintings have areas of both radiant light and deep shadows. (I love the eye-catching contrast of light and dark side by side.) Take away the shadows, and the painting appears dull and uninteresting.

I've come to realize that the same is true for Christian faith and discipleship. For most of us there are the occasions of "radiant light"--feeling God's nearness in a special way during a Love Feast and Communion experience; knowing the peace of heart and mind after reconciliation has occurred; realizing that He has been with you all the while during a time of grief; sensing the fullness of the Almighty during congregational singing; experiencing the joy of a prodigal come home. And the list goes on.

Conversely, the "deep shadows" of doubt also emerge in the course of any thinking person's life. What Christian hasn't asked himself or herself some foundational questions about their faith.

In every church you'll find those who are threatened by believers who doubt, categorizing them with those who have lost their spiritual moorings. You and I certainly need clear guidance and specific patterns of discipleship to guide our daily living. But that can only be helpful in the context of a community of faith where Christian friends, who serve to support each other, aren't threatened when there are those who articulate times of doubt.

"Those of us who are strong and able in the faith, need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter," is what Paul wrote to the young Christians at Home (Romans 15:1/The Message). Let's not be threatened by those going through "deep shadows" of doubt, but rather "step in and lend a hand," so they can once again experience times of "radiant light."