Fearless Faith

The big picture is becoming more difficult to discern as social media, hyperbole and AI take center stage to an alarming degree. The picture is here, mind you, just a little hazy on the edges. In an age where veracity is not only fluid but hotly contestable, we are faced with choices of belief or disbelief, truth or untruth. It is no small hurdle that future generations face. We know it well, for we have placed it squarely in their path and declared ourselves innocent. Such audacity.

Regional artist Jessie Scott, well-known for her watercolors, excelled in a broad variety of media. Her stained-glass creations are some her best known pieces, ranging in size from a few inches across to eight-foot panels remarkable for their colors and vibrancy. She loved nothing better than to take a few moments and share her knowledge of each work. Her humble air pressed her to include not only the highlights, but every small nuance that she would reconsider if a redo was in order. She wanted people to know the work before them and she felt compelled to provide a full palette of information to them.

Could you identify the one small crack of imperfection barely visible in one small piece? How about the piece whose grain was mis-matched within the context of the larger picture? What piece represented the most expensive glass used? Can you find the piece never intended to be used but that could not be left out when all was said and done? Which one took the most time to cut and shape, ruining several other attempts in the process? What piece was stored away for years waiting for just the right time and place? Which one was a personal favorite?

What Jessie wanted people to know were not the imperfections and underlying framework but the nature of our humanness as seen in the total work. In our view, could we discern the parable of the woman at the well by viewing only the water vessel or stones in the foreground? Would layers of straw and hay tell us who Jesus was without something more? Would lost sheep or stars in the east change our view? How about the sunshine itself, bringing light and brilliance to accompanying scriptures? What about the large variety of flowers that form a portion of the tableau. Were the choices important to each of the scriptural stories?

We don’t have the exactitude that accompanies AI, nor can we recite oral histories with a great deal of perfection. What we can avoid is the extreme nonsense that tags along with social media, irresponsible as an infant and willing to invite hype over intelligent discussion. You mean to say that not all sorts of information regarding Jesus might not be on the up and up? What if we attach his name to every other phrase we utter or declare false narratives whenever it suits? That is when we should think of re-examining whose ministry we represent.

If by looking at one small piece of a very much larger story, we can declare familiarity with the faith, then by all means step forward. For the rest of us, it would appear prudent to examine each piece in context.