Made Up

There are some who look upon Christians as those who have given up their rational minds in order to believe something that is a legend, unproven, entirely based on emotions. Clearly, they would state, science has told us all we need to know about the life, the universe and everything else, and anything that science cannot fully explain today is simply waiting to be discovered and explained tomorrow. To cling to an old religion is to turn one’s back on those obvious truths and decide to follow fairy tales. 

And yet, regardless of how much science ultimately learns about how things work, it will never be able to fully understand that part of people that makes them act the way they do. The reason I make that statement is that science looks for a biochemical abnormality that might explain why one man hates or kills another, or a behavioral model that gives statistical prediction about it. But raw, “unbiased” science (if such a thing actually exists) cannot explain why one person kills, and why another will give his own life to save another. 

Belief can come out of something that is seen and experienced. I step off the roof, and I will fall. A fact, provable and reproducible. But belief (or “faith”, if you will) can also rise from the degree of trust one places in those sources that teach about that truth. This is especially needed when the truth is something that cannot be observed or reproduced. If the evidence presented about that truth is valid, or those who were first-hand witnesses are trustworthy, then even a truth that cannot be seen with my own eyes can be believed. 

I had to take that stand years ago, when I took my child-like belief in Jesus, and made it an adult decision to live that faith. I found the evidence presented was trustworthy, and the experiences of life since that time have only strengthened that belief. I cannot build a time machine to see and observe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, any more than I can use that machine to know that Alexander the Great existed and conquered half the world, many years ago. The evidence is solid, the eye witnesses are believable. In short, I have made up my mind to believe in a truth I cannot touch with my five senses, but which I know nonetheless to be true.

This song by Morgan Cryar is called Made Up Mind, from his 1984 album Keep No Secrets. As I listen to it, I wish I had the ability to create a video to accompany it. The consistent beat is that of a runner, training for his race to win his prize. He runs with the sound of a coming storm in the background, lightening at times illuminating his path. As he runs, he has the certainty that he has made the right choice, that he has no regrets or doubts. Listen, and run that race yourself!

There is a choice we have to make
It’s like a leap we all must take
We must decide for heaven’s sake
While we still have time

I’m choosing Jesus here and now
And see, my hand is on the plow
No looking back is needed now
I have a made up mind

You take a made up mind
You take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

You take a made up mind
You take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

So gird your mind with all that’s true
Take a stand and see it through
Why not burn a bridge or two
And leave the old behind

So this is faith, the great divide
The final fence we cannot ride
And so I choose the righteous side
I have a made up mind

You take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

Take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

We make up our beds
We make up our face
When we’re late we make up for lost time
We make up a story
While we’re making our case
So i know I can make up my mind

You take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

You take a made up mind
Take a steady hand
Take a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

It takes a made up mind
I have a made up mind
I have a steady hand
I have a sure foundation
Then you take a stand

It takes a made up mind
It takes a made up mind
It takes a made up mind
I have a made up mind!