"Statement of Faith", or, "Hoops, we are jumping them"

This is what I wish I could have said:

To believe is to “hold dear.” 

These are things that I hold dear:

I believe in doubt.  

I believe in knocking.

I believe in laying in the green grass and feeling that sudden dip of your body turning with the earth.

I believe that Jesus came so close to being who he was created to be that the lines between himself and God were blurred. Because of this, Jesus casts out fear.

I believe that even though we do violence to ourselves and to each other and to all of creation because of our fear, this isn’t who we are created to be.

I believe in the power of story.

I believe in breath. Inhale and Exhale.

I believe that Jesus taught us, through the power of stories, vulnerability, and community, how to live more like we were created to be.

I believe that the Scriptures are a testament and an inheritance.  They are a bunch of stories that do not tell us what to believe, but how to believe.

I believe that God’s presence is with us all the time, but when we break bread together, we have a way of naming that presence in such a way that unites us, makes God real for us.

I believe in water.

I believe that God does not will suffering. I believe that God can make good things out of bad.

I believe that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

I believe that God is the creator.  Everything that God creates has a “piece” of God in it.
That means we're all family.

I believe in rest, and in sea glass, and in flesh and blood and that God is part of all of history, even as it changes and moves and is birthed and re-birthed.  Which means God changes too.
I believe that God wants us to crawl in God's lap. Maybe to take a nap, maybe to tell a story, maybe just to pat God's cheek and smile.

I believe that we can be what God is doing in the world. 

We are called to do what God is doing in the world. This is the kingdom of God.

I believe we are practicing resurrection when we do this.

This is what I tried to say:

God is the Creator of heaven and earth who invites us, even in our weakness, to be in relationship with God and with each other, participating in creation with God, and inviting others into the dance and beauty of this creation. We, who are created in the very image of God, experience God through God's transcendence, through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and through the workings of Holy Spirit. We feel separated from God when we sin, when we fall short of the creation that God has made us to be, and when we fail to trust in God's full and complete love for us. The incarnate love of God reveals God's absolute care for us, showing that God is fully in relationship with us, suffering as we suffer, rejoicing as we rejoice.  We, as the catholic Church, are called to share this presence of a fully relational God with others, through word and deed, baptizing by the power of the Holy Spirit, and working toward the fulfillment of God's kingdom of justice and joy for all, a kingdom which is close at hand. Because of this, we rejoice that nothing can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. We celebrate this and our unity with Christ through the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, through the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup, which binds us to God and to each other.  

This is what I ended up saying:

God is the Creator of heaven and earth who invites us, even in our weakness, to be in relationship with God and with each other, participating in creation with God, and inviting others into the dance and beauty of this creation. 

God is one, but is revealed through the great mystery of God’s “three-ness.” We, who are created in the very image of God, experience the mystery of God’s oneness through God's transcendence, traditionally expressed through the imagery of father, through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who, being God’s Son, became vulnerable to us in love, and through the workings of Holy Spirit, the living, intimate witness of God in our lives today.

Jesus Christ, as God’s Son, is the perfect response to God’s calling to all of us, and thus, embodies God in flesh and bone for us all. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God within all of us, who leads us and directs us, calling us into relationship with God, and draws us into the kingdom of God which is here, now, and also yet to be.

We feel separated from God when we sin, when we fall short of the creation that God has made us to be, and when we fail to trust in God's full and complete love for us. 

The incarnate love of God reveals God's absolute care for us, showing that God is fully in relationship with us, suffering as we suffer, rejoicing as we rejoice.  This incarnational love is fully expressed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who although in the very likeness of God, accepted the humiliation of death on a cross in order to destroy the power of violence and death, and invites us into the community of the Kingdom of God, where every tear is wiped away and death is no more. This is our hope. This is what is yet to be, but also what is here and now, available to all of us who call out to God. God’s kingdom stands within and outside of time; God’s kingdom has no end.

The Holy Spirit speaks to us in many ways, but especially through the Scriptures, which are “God breathed” testimonies of who God is and who we are as God’s children.  The Scriptures are a living text, and although historically rooted, are viable and applicable to our lives and our particular contexts, guiding and encouraging all of us through stories of God’s relationships with God’s people throughout history. 

We celebrate this living faith and our unity with Christ through the sacrament of communion, through the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup, which binds us to God and to each other.  We celebrate this living faith and our unity with Christ through the sacrament of Baptism, through the Grace given to us that is experienced by the pouring of water and the support of a community. These are visible signs of an inward change, and communal glimpses of a future kingdom here on earth.

We, as the catholic Church, are called to share this presence of a fully relational God with others, through word and deed, baptizing by the power of the Holy Spirit, and working toward the fulfillment of God's kingdom of justice and joy for all, a kingdom which is close at hand. Because of this, we rejoice that nothing can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.