Faith, Fun and the Circus!

I’m tired and it seems there aren’t enough hours in the day. On the bright side the sun has come out a few times in the last two days and it has been a real mood booster to say the least to see that beautiful piece of fiery goodness.

This weekend we had a family outing on Saturday, we went to the circus together and then worked on some landscaping as a family. The circus, what a feeling of electricity I felt from our kids as we walked into the big tent in the Grant Park mall parking lot. We bought “Circus” Cotton Candy, and “Circus” Popcorn , a “Circus” Balloon and a “Circus” hotdog and mini doughnuts. What was so special about the “Circus” Food, to us it was simply really really expensive but to our children it was magical. It seems I have something on my forehead that says “Pick me” because in the whole tent full of people the clown picked me to come up on stage, be an idiot and ultimately get shot backstage (My kids were more than a little concerned about that) before ultimately emerging from behind the curtain to new life and a new lease on life.

Speaking of that I have had a number of people ask me about my faith, views on faith and all the rest of that mumbo jumbo so I will take a moment to let you into the deepest part of my being and share with you where I am at.

Firstly, I’m not a terribly religious person in that I define religion as a list of rules to follow to appease the gods or God. I do however have a deep faith and here it is:

I believe that God loves me (and you) and has a plan for my (and your) life.
I believe that I (and you) have missed the mark that God has set out for us, and are therefore sinful and separated from God.
I believe that God sent his very own son Jesus die on the cross 2000 years ago to bridge the separation between us and God.
I believe that God gives us the opportunity to either accept or reject the gift of his son and thereby accept or reject the opportunity of having a relationship with him (although God is not a boy or a girl, history has generally given God the Masculine words like he, him, his) should we choose.

To put it another way, Dad just wrote us a check for a million but the money isn’t actually ours until we decide to deposit the check or cash it.

As a Christian I don’t somehow feel as though I’m any better than anyone else because I’m not, I have simply chosen to ask for forgiveness for my many imperfections. I have also been asked how as a Christian I can do the type of work I do at Eve Studios or the types of projects I do such as Just As I Am. The answer is a simple one, when I look at the universe around us and the world in which we dwell I see such incredible beauty everywhere I look and I feel as though God is the ultimate artist. I also look at the body that God created and marvel at the beauty and complexity of it and quite frankly feel as though it is the ultimate slap in the face to God to not appreciate and capture the beauty of the human body and spirit.

I know this is sort of the readers digest version that I’ve just given you but when it comes right down to it faith is not nearly as complex as many make it, God’s biggest command is “to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength; and to love your neighbour as yourself." I feel as though if we all lived even a little bit like this the world would be a much better place.

I hope this answers some questions, if not, call me up and set up a time to bring me a beloved Pepsi and we can sit down and discuss anything that’s on your mind.

Love you all,

Rodney