Reflections on Blue Like Jazz

I've been reading Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. I recommend it to anyone-- both Christians and non-Christians. I was struck by the beginning of Chapter 10. Miller says that he no longer struggles intellectually to believe in Christ. "Sooner or Later you just figure out there are some guys who don't believe in God and they can prove He doesn't exist, and some guys who do believe in God and they can prove He does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it's about who's smarter, and honestly I don't care."

This reminds me of a conversation I had with Ron today. We talked about why we have faith in Christ. We've heard arguments against putting faith in Christ, but we both keep coming back to it. We agreed that nothing else offers anything better. No philosophy or other religion gives me meaning. I cannot prove God exists. Nor can anyone prove that God doesn't exist. But I choose to put faith in Christ because it gives my life meaning. If the world really has no meaning, (and I don't accept that argument) then you could say that I'm delusional. But I choose to live for a purpose. I'd rather live for God than for myself or some high Ideals without a God. I believe in love and justice as real things not just abstract ideas. I believe they must come from God, and I feel God's love through the story of Christ. I cannot reconcile the suffering in the world with a God who says He loves me unless I believe in the crucifixion. If God did not spare His own son from suffering, then He must love us, and if we want to be more like God than we must embrace suffering. This makes sense to me, but it also doesn't. I don't know why we must suffer or why Jesus had to suffer. I don't know why God decided to create a world that includes evil and pain. But I know suffering is real and a God who suffers is more real to me than any other deity or idea could be.