Wednesday December 7, 2005
Anything done in crazy faith attracts pie-in-the-face criticism. That’s not only true in circles of religious faith, so don’t run away thinking I’m preparing for a preachy sermon loaded with fire and brimstone. It takes crazy faith to be an inventor. Starting a business in a garage that becomes a software giant takes cuckoo faith. Let’s not forget the insane faith required to be a pioneer of social change. People from all of these faith circles endured great criticism – that is until the fruit of their labor was in full bloom.
I’m taking the long route to describe a brief conversation I had with a co-worker recently about the Master Cleanse. My co-worker is one of my favorite people and he suffers with neck pain that ranges from a nuisance to an excruciating and debilitating monster. He performs detailed research on the topic and visits many doctors for relief. Yet he suffers, and on some level, I hurt with him.
In our last conversation about the cleanse, he shared his effort to learn more and more about the cleanse for fear there may be long-term consequences. That’s fair enough, because I did the same before I made my leap of faith. But to help him understand that faith is always and the end of knowledge, I told him one simple thing:
“The same faith that you exercise when you put yourself into the hands of another doctor is the same faith required to start the Master Cleanse.”
You can learn as much as you want about a particular topic, but faith is where the rubber hits the road.
If you’re reading this from a chair right now, you’re a faith warrior. Why? Your brain understands how chairs work. You have lots of experience with chairs. But to sit in one without knowing the actual outcome takes faith. Does that sound crazy? Stick with me for a moment…
The Bible defines faith as:
The essence of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
You have no idea if your chair developed a structural problem. You don’t know if somebody tinkered with the chair in your absence. But you punctuate your knowledge with faith every time you plop your weight into the chair – because you can’t see the future and know if you’ll end up piled on the floor. Just like the scripture implies: You have a hope and expectation that the chair will hold you although the outcome is not seen.
Read everything you can get your hands on regarding the Master Cleanse. Speak to others who have traveled the road. And when that’s all done, remember that faith – not knowledge – will pave your way for a successful cleanse.
...Make that crazy faith, because planning to drink lemonade for 10 or more days will certainly draw strong criticism from your personal circle. Yet the outcome will shut every mouth and probably create a few more cleansers!
Rock on.
