Fifty years ago I read...
Illustration
Object:
Fifty years ago I read a story titled, “Clothes Make the Man.” One thief dressed up as a policeman to help other thieves get away with their crime. However, the man dressed as a policeman was simple minded and soon started to act like a policeman. At the end of the story the “policeman” helps apprehend his “friends” the criminals. The story shows that we can act ourselves into a different way of life. Social psychologists note that we as often act ourselves into a way of believing as believe ourselves into a way of acting. Jesus in John 6 tells his inquirers to “work” for the food that endures for eternal life. They must work to believe in Jesus. No human mind is truly simple, but each mind is part of a body. When Christian tenets (like the nature of communion) are difficult to believe, we can literally work at it, live within the Christian community, and do what is required of a Christian. We may find that in surprising ways our faith develops as a result.
