A Ready Answer

We aren’t secretive; we are ignored. Radix Fidem doesn’t register on the radar screen. Perhaps you understand that the only way we could change that is to compromise on the very nature of what we do.

Still, we struggle with this, because we have an instinct to share, to wish that everyone could experience what we do every day. How many people in this world can hear the songs of Creation? We literally talk to the flora and fauna and hear their voices. Our instincts tell us people should know about this, that there is some awful injustice in having it kept from them. It burns in our hearts.

The rest of the world can’t handle that right now. What they can handle is how we live in the joy of shalom; they can see that, even if not consciously. Something inside of them cries out to have a piece of that shalom. There are a lot ways that cry is suppressed and smothered, but it’s there. That something inside them recognizes when they see it in us.

Here’s a word of prophetic warning: We are going to suffer exposure, a form of attention we don’t want. It’s coming. All of my blather about how to put into words what drives us is meant to prepare you all. I want you to be ready to handle the social pressure. Maybe not so much that we can shut down criticism, but that we have a ready answer for the faith that is in us.

We can characterize it in various ways, but “characterize” is exactly what we do. It’s not something we can tell that easily. Even if we could, it requires such a huge leap of faith that most outside folks can’t do it. So we have to use parables and indicators that point to the real answer so they can move closer.

One of the things I’ve done in the past when faced with someone who is very argumentative is tell them that they are clinging to presumptions that don’t apply to me. In other words, they are pressing a priori arguments that I don’t accept. I’m very fortunate to have the kind of education that makes it possible to speak that language, along with dumbed down versions of it. If I don’t buy into Western epistemology, then any debates will have to take that into account.

At other times, I just disarm hostility by owning up to something they can’t dispute. For example, I’ve told several people to just mark me as a nut-case, some alien creature from outer space. I have no use for mainstream respect in the first place, so by moving directly to the margins and plastering simplistic labels on my forehead, I can deflate a lot hostility. Let them call me whatever they like, because disputing such labels is a waste of time and effort, hindering any chance of doing them some good.

So I encourage you to find ways to answer directly when you can, and deflect any disputes when answering is pointless. The time is coming when the best answer is to live in the power of divine justice by the heart. They are going to start noticing us soon, so be ready.