When Nothing Else Works

It’s not for everyone.

Perhaps it’s a good time to remind ourselves that Radix Fidem is not meant to be universal, something that represents the one true path of faith for the whole human race. Honestly, it’s quite the opposite. I, at least, am self-consciously an outsider. This began as a search for the path that would allow me to stay sane in a crazy world.

Sure, I’m like the rest of humanity, in that a part of me wishes there were more people like me. It’s lonely. But the farther I went down this path, the more I realized that this is not just a hard path, but one that may be utterly impossible for a very large part of the human race. Not because I’m better, but because I’m weird, and I’m supposed to be.

Indeed, I’m conscious of just how boring this would all be if this became the mainstream. I’d have to reinvent myself just to feel “normal” again. A critical element in who I am is to always be outside the mainstream, whatever that might be. There’s a certain sense in which I’ll always look for some place to stand where there aren’t any crowds.

I don’t hate the masses by any means, but for me to be true to myself, I can’t live where they live. In some way or another, some part of my existence has to be peculiar enough that I can find refuge in solitude. So the question for me in most decisions is whether I need to be weird on this or that, or can I afford to let it slip back into the mainstream because it’s not that important. Or maybe it’s a question of how I can make it my own thing with the available options. Weirdness is a fundamental element of how I love others.

It is highly probable that a great many people in this world will find enough peace with God to go on living without any part of Radix Fidem. I’m comfortable with that. If nothing else, the real mission here is to challenge, never mind where folks end up. I’m not trying to drive them any place in particular, just keeping it real because faith thrives where things are always somewhat unsettled, and believers are fully aware of that unsettled feeling. Getting too comfortable is easily the greatest spiritual danger in this world. When it comes to the core nature of being human, too much stability is death.

So when I write about shalom in terms of social stability, it’s not that I’m trying to lock things in concrete. The social stability of Biblical Law is a dynamic place, a matter of being comfortable while riding the tornado. It’s having a core sense of who you are so that external instability is not only non-threatening, but is expected. The disjuncture between inner peace and external chaos should be frankly fun and entertaining. Peace is not stasis; stasis is death. Shalom is being a source of stability.

That’s how I deal with life, and I have seen enough to know it’s not for everyone. So when I promote Radix Fidem, it’s with the full expectation that the majority will turn it down. I’d be disappointed if too many embraced it. It’s not supposed to have a wide appeal, but a radical provocation to wonder about faith.

We shouldn’t want everyone to join us. If you have embraced Radix Fidem, God bless you and welcome to the weirdness. Be encouraged to pour your own brand of weirdness into the mix. There’s room for lots of individuality, and very little room for anything conventional. We are not iconoclasts for the sake of iconoclasm, but very selective about it. It’s all contextual. Today’s safe harbor is tomorrow’s cesspool; the anchor is in your heart.

People should join us only because nothing else will work.