To counterbalance my post the other day about how a Christian shouldn’t be…here’s a better one about how they should be. Thanks to Steve for a reminder of how I’d like to be. I fall short, but that doesn’t mean I should ever stop trying.

There are many times that I really wonder if I am a Christian. Seriously, last night, I watched a bit of a TLC documentary about Noah and the geologic/archeologic evidence that proves/disproves what might have happened 6,000 years ago. Two things:

• I kept hearing my sister-in-law in my head. During a recent visit, I forget the exact context, but she was talking about something related to sharks and dinosaurs, and how someone had said that sharks were probably one of the most ancient of creatures. I agreed that actually made a lot of sense to me. “Well, not if you BELIEVE THE BIBLE…” she started. I quickly remembered with whom I was talking and changed the subject. My SIL is a brilliant woman. Seriously, she’s mensa-material. She also takes the Bible quite literally and looks down on anyone who does otherwise. (Actually, neighborlady reminds me of what my SIL would have been like had she not married my bro.) For the record, I see no problem with believing that God created the Earth AND believing what science says. God could have created the earth however he (she?) wanted…it’s still an amazing miracle that we have this planet to sustain us. Couldn’t the same God who gave us brains to think and research have created a system that evolves?
• I realized (again) that I don’t really care too much about the history involved in Christianity beyond my own curiosity about history (and sociology) in general. Watching out for the bolt of lightning now, but I don’t really care what happened 2000 years ago. I do care about leading a life that’s inspiring — filled with kindness, an example to my daughter, simply beautiful in its own way. Funny how I just can’t bring myself to say that I don’t care if Jesus is the son of God — that seems pretty blasphemous — but in essence, I really am more interested learning to do the right thing just because it’s the right thing. Admissions like this disturb me sometimes.

If you care, the TLC show concluded that there was a catastrphic flood, but a local one in the Mesopotamian valley. I liked that it made SENSE to me.