Master Mentor #22

Chapter 21 (Book 3, Chapter 11)
I got lost quite a bit in CS’s discussion on faith today. It seemed to me that he was talking around in circles. He seemed to use too many illustrations and I got a bit confused.
But he did say something that I want to think about some more. He says, “The first step (to faith) is to recognize the fact that your moods change. The next is to make sure that, if you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day” (page 125).
This is one of those things that I think students miss. When they begin a relationship with God, whether its something that happens at CIY or something that happens on the weekend at church, they assume that has happened and it’s going to continue to happen. They figure that it isn’t going to require any work. Or what is some times worse, they go to an incredible week of CIY or camp or a retreat and then they come home. And the thought is: “How do I keep this feeling going?” But really, they make two mistakes. The first is that they assume that it will happen on it’s own, as if the feeling or experience of the camp, retreat or CIY happened on its own the first time. The second mistake is that it’s a feeling in the first place… and feelings change from moment to moment and are very difficult to depend on (as we have talked earlier about marriage). Then, two weeks after the retreat, suddenly they don’t “feel” like they did before and they wonder what has happened. Often, one thing that has happened is that they haven’t picked up their Bible since the day they got back. And they are just assuming that somehow those incredible thoughts about God just jumped into their mind. CS goes on to say that that kind of mindset needs to “be fed.” It needs to be fed as often as I need to be fed (and right now, I need to be fed).
CS has some good thoughts in this chapter… but I think I need to go back and reread it again and see if it makes some more sense.

Jim