Deepening our Christianity

the Monday Newsletter of Paul Prins

Edition #10 · 17 July 2023

Blessings Reader,

A Love with Faith & Hope

In our time, it is almost the default to break things down into smaller pieces. We have been taught that to understand something, we must find ways to break it apart. There is wisdom in this, but it also fails us.

The phrase "missing the forest for the trees" comes to mind. I often think of our modern struggle to observe the many when it comes to our Christian faith and our formation as believers. Let's look at a popular verse. "But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13 NASB) It is fitting that with last week's reflection being on faith, this week we add in hope and love.

Both hope and love are words with strong individual emotional connections and meanings. Yet, what happens when we try to hold these three together? Faith is the certainty of things hoped for but not seen. A faithful love is indicative of the only way we can love God. A love that is hopeful grieves over us when we are in pain and is an encouragement as one embarks into change. This love is so much larger than the tender care and knowingness that many of our definitions of love entail.

So let us see our faith as a gift from the loving hope of God. To live a life of hope born out of both faith and love. Let us grow in our ability to embody faithful and hopeful love. When seen together, the sum of each part is greater and informed by one another. Just as we are when in community with God and with each other.

Let us return again to 1 Corinthians and see with all the more clarity why the greatest of these is love. A love that will forever call us to the hope we have in the Kingdom to come. In the quiet voice with gentle love, that hopes we will take time together with the creator of all things. To sing out our praise and pain. To the one we can only know, love, and hope for in faith.

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Until Next Week

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Unpublished Photo for this Edition

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Curated Goods just for You

Sharing what I've come across from around the internet that may encourage or help you.

• ​Religious Observance in America: Evidence from Cellphone Data ~2 Minutes
  ​Devin Pope is wrapping up a paper mapping religious observance in the US using cellphone data. Its a pretty innovative approach to collecting data that does not rely on self reporting. He published the abstract online. A few highlights: Only 3% of Americans attend services ‘weekly,’ compared to ~22% who self-report to do so. An average of ~30m (or ~9%) attend a religious service per week. So about 2/3s of people attending a service do not attend weekly. Weekly in this study was really about 3/4 of weeks per month over ~6 months period.
• ​Synodality on Wikipedia ~2 Minutes​
  This past week the Church of England has been holding one of their synods. The term and practice have not been a part of the traditions I've been involved with (Presbyterian, Evangelical, Charismatic, Baptist). It is a very interesting and intriguing practice. I had read this other longer piece (+10 minutes) on its place within the Catholic Church.

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A Prayer for the Week to Come

May our Lord help you learn new ways and depths of love. A kind of love that is only possible with faith and hope. A love that can animate your life now and forever. A love that is the greatest of all things and includes all things.

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