THIS  I  BELIEVE 

THIS  I  DON’T  BELIEVE  

I believe in God.

I believe that God is Three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I believe that God knows I exist by name, personality, story ….

I believe God loves us....

I believe that there is a hereafter - after I die - after a here and now.

I believe that people do good and evil - smart and dumb - that we are a mixed mongrel of motives.

I believe that the good I do - along with the good we do - lives afterwards and impacts the flow of the world - each moment - like the old story that the butterfly that shakes its wings right now - this very moment in Beijing - will be part of the breeze that passes through Paris and Peoria in one of these weeks to come ….

I don’t believe that God decides who dies this day - and dozens and dozens of other things I often hear people state about God….

I don’t believe that sin is singular - but it’s interwoven with everything I do and have done as well as the  mix of influences from many more people whose words and deeds have darkened my life.

I don’t believe that God punishes people with storms and fires,  floods and fury ….

I don’t believe that people actually know what and why they are doing what they are doing, so like Christ I forgive them 70 times 7 times….

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2018
Genesis of this piece: I found a
quote by Edward R. Murrow.
Looking for a YouTube video
to match that quote I spotted
this short video,  "This I believe" -
so I decided to jot down some things
I do and don't believe in - as
Edward R. Murrow suggests we do.