9 Chickweed Lane, the strip which answers the question “Can a comic have as many simultaneous story lines as For Better or Worse, but be entertaining?” (Answer: Yep.), has had a sequence of strips the last couple of weeks (say, 3/14-2/25, MOL), where Father Durly, by all appearances a Catholic priest (read: I know next to nothing about catholicism) consults Thorax, apparently a trans-dimensional blob with glasses, who is by all accounts not catholic. Ignoring the plot for the sake of room, Thorax (beginning 3/21) explains to Durly that God wants him to listen.

Thorax shares some tidbits about the personality of God, at least as Thorax sees it, setting up for a beautiful line that ought to be included in a sermon sometime. ”I’m saying Monty [God] talks to me. He talks to us all. Actually, he spends a lot of time pouring out his heart to all of creation.” Thorax contrasts this with our tendency to ask things of, or complain to God. Instead of listening to him, being curious about him, we see “prayer” as a one sided stream of ourselves. At least, I generally do.

“Just between you and me,” Thorax states, “I think Monty tends to get lonely.” This is the rub, instead of being a friend to God, I act as though relationship means that I get someone to pour my heart out to. Instead, I ought to be someone God can both pour his heart out to, and with whom God can simply enjoy time spent. When Thorax discuss God’s preferences (3/21), when he says “You should hear [God’s] story about the time he met Katherine Hepburn (3/23)”, he is presenting a God who has a personality, who is a knowable person. That is how I want my relationship with God to be: a friendship, where I can have these sort of conversations, know the personal, theologically unimportant, details about God.

As a Christian, this series highlights my frustration and disappointment with the way my fellow believers are acting. We are whiny. We claim attacks, always on all fronts, that are too much. We somehow require pithy phrases to strengthen our faith–“Just Say Merry Christmas”–and we offend with arrogance those to whom we are called to minister. The apparent Christian’s explanation that his faith is week is indeed the implication. Why must we become angry? Apparently, we feel threatened.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:16-18

No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song. Psalm 28:7

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

We are joint heirs with Christ, walking in the strength of God, against which no weapon can prosper, whom Jesus Christ–the authority over all heaven and earth–has called to do His good work, and we are scared of “liberal propaganda”! This is not as it ought to be. i encourage Christians to stop being offended and focus on blessing others and sharing with them the Good News, Jesus Christ crucified for our sins, resurrected for our hope, and living today in us that we might have abundant life. As follow up reading :-) Check out this devotion.

Rant over. As always, I am impressed by Darin Bell’s examination of our culture and how often his strips can inspire such strong emotions in me.