I sing in a choir that rehearses once a week and after rehearsals, some of us go out to a local pub and have a drink or two and some eats. I haven't been able to go as often as I would like as the person who gives me a ride doesn't always want to go. A few weeks ago, I was able to go and as always, I had a wonderful time. Except for one thing.

Somehow we had gotten on the topic of Lent (probably because I wasn't drinking my usual gin and tonic) and from there, somehow, we got to the topic of original sin. I know, kind of a weird topic for late night happy hour but there you have it. Now, at the table was a very wide variety of people, including a pastor, who apparently does not believe in original sin. Judging from some of his comments he also doesn't believe the Bible to be the inspired word of God or at least, the complete word of God. What bothered me most about this conversation was me. I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I did not agree with a lot of what he said but I didn't have the evidence to back me up. It frustrated me that I could only sit there while others debated and to some extent, dismissed what I believe and I couldn't think of anything to say. It really brought home to me the limitations of my faith. Well, not limitations in what I believe but limitations in explaining and defending what I believe in, and I found myself wishing for the flowchart of my worldview that I had to create for my ethics class senior year of high school.

Faith, to some extent, defies proof. Faith is believing something that can't be proved or seen. But I can still have reasons for my belief, I can show why I believe what I believe. I need to find those again. I don't want to be caught silent again.