FAITH BIGGER THAN HANDS

The Christian faith here is overwhelming. The photo above is a newly rebuilt church inside Burma. The past 3 in the village have been burned down by Burmese SPDC soldiers. The Karen keep building it, knowing God has a plan for them while the world ignores them.

In only one day of living with the Karen you can sense their faith coming out of corners, smell and taste it on all fronts and hear it sung earnestly. I suppose they have nothing better to do, nothing else to soak up hours. Why not go to church five times a Sunday? I am not sure though what better things exactly we have to rush off for back in the States. We seem to get ants in the pants after one hour in God’s house. I am starting to wonder if we should be so lucky to have nothing to do on the Sabbath but sit and worship. Back in New York wheels turn quickly yet there is little progress. I remember days filled in busy work, trappings and self-obsession.

Watching these people for only a few days, I already wonder if the faiths of these beaten and scarred people would change in freedom that large, massive word that seems even harder to hold along these borders. Perhaps there is no maybe about pressure building faith in a dying criminal or a low-life who knows his need for Christ long before a rich, pious man even realizes something is missing. Many of us will never know a thing about the joy a stone broke man feels when he finds one single dollar lying on the road. Still my new neighbors could be doing about 1,000 things that have nothing to do with going into a church and getting down on your knees.