Faith
Linda Rose respects all religions and those pursuing spirituality in their lives; and she is a passionate Christian, trying to live according to God's will in her life. Her faith plays a crucial part and is not without its own struggles.
Linda speaks about what her faith means to her:
'Firstly I deeply respect all faiths based on love and compassion, and I respect people's personal discipline in following beliefs greater than humankind, which is what I believe should give a general humility often missing in western humanist cultures. But my heart is in the message of love in Christianity which I believe Jesus demonstrated by his lifestyle and priorities, as well as making the ultimate sacrifice for us; and I have experienced so much personally which for me proves the mysteries of a supernatural God. I am not in favour of the right wing 'fascist' kind of faith where people feel any religion gives them the right to control or condemn others.
Growing up with strong Christian influences and a good active church meant a lot to me. I have been fortunate to have lively churches who have talked about the vibrancy of God and I don't remember a time when I didn't believe in God and His enduring love for us. Having bi-polar2 from childhood (although I struggled for a diagnosis until I was in my 40's) has meant that the stability of a faith has been an anchor I have held on to in the storms of life.
In Christianity we have a choice - the Old Testament has many unfathomable bloody episodes which challenge and discomfit me; but then I don't worry as 'Jesus came to fulfil the law' and He gave the supreme examples in the New Testament of the law of love which is what I follow. So to people who use the examples in the Old Testament for beating children (which sadly I have heard from experienced Christians) they need to look to the qualities and example of Jesus who used any opportunity he was given not to condemn people, but instead to show restraint, love and forgiveness. The woman by the well, the stoning of the adulteress, the prodigal son and many other passages all show his ethics in Love being the fulfilment of the law.
For me, Jesus is the supreme example to follow; he was the first great social worker. He specialised in healing, the holistic healing of body, mind and spirit and this is what I aspire to.
Christians often focus on Jesus' death and resurrection which we cannot copy; and so we may feel this lets us off the hook; but we should look more carefully at his life, which is the real challenge to us. How much are we willing to sacrifice our privacy, comforts and financial security to serve others and improve the world around us? It is not about 'going to heaven' because we behave in a good way; we are only saved through God's grace and nothing we do. But there are very clear passages in the Bible where Jesus talks of our responsibilities to those around us (and not just our nearest and dearest either) such as the separation of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, which is directly related to what people have done or not done, not for the Great and Good, but 'for the least of these'. But we should do it anyway, help anyone we can - sacrificially share our time and money with others - not hoping to be saved through it, but simply because it is the right thing to do.
I have made many mistakes in my life and my walk has not always been what God would want, but I know that is the wonder of a loving God that if he commands us to forgive more than 70 x 7 instead of the stipulated 7 in the Old Testament, then how much more will God keep forgiving us.
I believe God uses us to be His Hands on earth and where we are lazy, selfish or insular in helping others then God's people suffer, whether they share our faith or not. We need to be stretching ourselves in His service to all around the world. I believe our finances are entrusted to us for His use, and our experiences, knowledge and education are to be used in whatever way benefits most people. Sometimes this is the only way to make sense of our most painful experiences when we use them to support others in similar situations.
Growing up in the relatively wealthy west I feel acutely privileged not to have some of the daily struggles of those born into less fortunate circumstances. I don't deserve this through anything I have done, neither have those in developing countries deserved their poverty or war torn environment; therefore it is my responsibility to support others as much as possible and I urge other resource-rich people to do the same. We take so much for granted - even educational opportunities not available to others, and this needs to be shared to take a step closer to a fairer world.
Additionally, as a Brit I believe we owe more to those countries who we reaped so much from in the years of the empire and this is always what inspires me to give all I can to Sri Lanka, India and other places. It offends me deeply when I hear Brits (especially Christians) saying our money should stay in our country. We took a lot from others in the hundreds of years of British Empire - we owe some of it back!'
No hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which the
Compassion of Christ looks out on this world.
Yours are the feet with which He will walk to do good,
Yours are the hands with which He will bless His people.
Christ has no body now on Earth but yours.