The Undiscovered Country

Simple, yes. Easy? No.

I finished up one of my novels the other day, and something one of my characters said got me to thinking (odd, that, but there it is anyway).

He was struggling with the idea of a loving God, and what he asks of us, which is quite simple: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.

My character commented, "It all seems too simple, too easy."

I'm sure in real life, many have the same thought, nor should it be so surprising. We all live in constant struggle and adversity. With rare exceptions, people have to work hard for every scrap, whether it be material goods or emotional and spiritual fulfillment. Life has taught us to be cynical; that if something does come easy, we wonder what's the catch. There's no such thing as a free ride. Everything comes with a price.

So for God to offer us eternity and the only requirement is to love him with everything we are, often our first thought is, no way. Nothing is ever that easy.

But when we accept the challenge -- the invitation, we discover that although it may be simple, it is never easy. We are constantly bombarded with temptations, and face difficulty that challenge our faith. What's easy is giving in to it all, because the struggle to maintain our faith in those terrible times becomes nearly impossible.

But faith is meaningless without those struggles, because it's during those dark times that faith, and God himself, truly shines.

I write my best when I desire God's presence and will in my life. When I turn my back on him, my desire to string words together completely disappears. It's no accident or coincidence. At the age of 16, I gave my hands to God to do with as he pleases. They, and any word I type belong to him. When my hands refuse to write, it's his way of telling me that I've strayed too far from his path. In other words, I've left God -- and consequently my hands -- behind. I need to turn around if I want them back.

Because, really, how can anyone write with stubs?

Although I'm speaking figuratively, trying to write when my heart isn't in the right place feels very much like I'm trying to write with stubs for hands. It's cumbersome and ultimately pointless.

So, yes, God gave us a simple way to find his path, but that path is never easy. As one of my favorite biblical passages says: Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what God has made crooked?

Easy words, but very difficult to put into practice.

The optimist that I am, however, I firmly believe it's the most difficult journeys that in the end are the most rewarding.