Living With The Creed

I have a pretty rigid routine in the morning.

Liam the Cat wakes my up at first light…he wants out and I can either accommodate him or suffer the consequences.

He is a fur covered alarm without a snooze button.

I get up, let him out, and make my coffee…always with a silent thank you to whoever Mr. Keurig is.

Then I hobble to my desk and start taking the days medications…without the pain meds, I won’t get further than my chair.

While I wait for relief to kick in, I start reading my email and all the news summaries I subscribe to.

At that point, I usually get scared.

I get anxious, not for myself, but for those I love who will be living in a world that seems to have lost its collective mind.

By this time I can move, but before I start the rest of the day, I say this out loud.

“I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.”

I have to allow what I believe to inform what I perceive or think.

I say it out loud so I can hear myself speak to myself clearly.

The Apostles Creed is the early churches summary of Christian dogma, as notable for what it does not say as for what it does.

There is no eschatological position other than Jesus will return.

There is no political statement other than the Judge is coming.

There is no statement about the Bible at all.

There is nothing there to clutter or confuse, just a simple statement of what a Christian believes.

I believe it.

I believe it more than the headlines I read or the pain that I feel.

I believe it when the ornaments of doctrine you hang on it are different than the ones I choose.

It’s ground zero for everything else…and nothing else is as important.

I can get on with my day now…I had to repeat it a couple of times…

Make your own application…