I created this page 20 years ago, as a place to share my personal spiritual beliefs with others. As I look at these little pieces now, I see how time has both affirmed my beliefs and brought about deeply probing questions as it wasn't until about 2003 when I began learning about Buddhism. Some of these were used as scripts for a radio show called By The Way, read by Paul Devantier of the Luthern Church, Missouri Synod. The writings went as follows:
I am not any type of authority or "trained professional" in a religious group. I write these meditations for my own therapeutic value and to mankind in general. It is not at all my intention to offend anyone with my concepts of the Higher Power. I do not place anyone's religious preference or disbelief ahead of, or behind anyone else’s. There is no perfect way of spiritual belief.
This page is dedicated to my dear Mother, Anne, whom I was with as she passed away March 22, 1997. She has now joined my Father Charlie (passed away in 1986) and our Father in Heaven.
All of my love and God's Blessings,
Charlie Faege
1997
Note: These writings are all (c) 1994-1997 by Charlie Faege. You are welcome to use any of these meditations in your church newsletter or whatever you like with one stipulation: that you simply email me at alwayston@yahoo.com beforehand indicating where you wish to use it and I will give you permission. It’s really that simple.
Thank you!
A Picture Of Our Lives
It's funny, in the ironic sense, how we take things for granted. We put pictures of our families in frames and hang them on the wall or place them on a table. We become accustomed to their presence without really paying attention, as we're quite used to them. However, if we were to remove them from the wall or the table, we would immediately notice their absence. They must have some value to our lives or they wouldn't have been put there, I imagine.
The same can be said of a marriage. We can go through years of living with our spouses and as in the case of the family photos, begin to ignore them and simply take them for granted. Just as the pictures will need some tending to, like cleaning the glass and dusting off the frames occasionally; so do our relationships. If we take our relationship with our spouse for granted; or our relationship with God, things can seem static and dull. These are things that require some maintenance. If we assume that "all is as it was yesterday, so it shall be tomorrow"; we often find to our surprise that it may not be. Our relationship with our wife or husband can be kept refreshed; accomplished by doing small things for our life mates. No one minds surprises... as long as they are pleasant ones.
Whether it's helping with the laundry or dinner dishes, doing the unexpected can add new dimensions to the general attitude of all concerned. By reading the bible and learning more about Jesus Christ, we can also build on this relationship, which can be equally as beneficial to our well being; and we'll be able to recognize His gifts and feel His Spirit inside of us even more than when we took everything for granted. It doesn't have to be that way just because we may say "that's just the way it is". Let's take another look at those pictures in the frames and see if they need any attention.
Charlie Faege
October 25, 1994
SECURITY
Security has become a great concern as the world society evolves. There are still places left in America where the people don't feel they have to lock their car doors when they are just making a quick trip to the supermarket, but they are getting fewer. It is unfortunate that most of us have to lock the doors and windows to our homes for fear of someone breaking in and committing a
violent act or stealing from us when we are gone. We pass through metal detectors in airports so the authorities at the airport can be certain we are not carrying guns or bombs in our luggage. Many workplaces have added sensor cards as a measure of security, and once we get inside of the workplace we have passwords in our computers to prevent someone from invading our databases.
This is the reality of the times. As I said, it is unfortunate, yet most of these security measures are for our own protection. I'm saddened to say that many of us have become afraid to help out a stranded motorist for fear of our lives and safety. As our security measures become tighter, I sense a growing general distrust among and between people. Children shouldn't leave their parents' sight without them knowing exactly where they are and if the parents feel they will be safe.
Though we must be aware of the dangerous elements that are all around us we can still take comfort in the greatest security measure of all - in Jesus Christ. With Him protecting us, our souls will not fall prey to harm.
CJF
21-Mar-97
2001: A False Prophecy
As we rapidly approach the oncoming millennium many of us look at it as the future becoming the present. Some preach the end of the world, the rapture, may be at exactly 12:00, 1999; but won't indicate if that is Central, Pacific or Eastern Time. I have heard those who claim to have a direct connection to our Higher Power, regardless of anyone else's beliefs, they will behave as though only they can communicate with God. Some will ask for "donations for God" on television and radio, and it is up to you to see if the money is going to the right places, such as to aid the homeless. God does not commission these people and they are no closer than you or I to Him.
If God were intending for the end of the world, as we know it, do you think He would be concerned about what time a clock says it is? Would God need to pay any mind to mankind's concept of time? People who make these types of claims are giving other people the wrong ideas about faith and often give religion a bad name. The best advice is to read the Bible and put your faith and trust only in our Lord and His Son, Jesus Christ. You will not be forsaken.
CJF
10- Mar - 97
Faith and Logic
I used to live my life believing that I believed in "God". My reason told me that the Scriptures could never be proven to be fact; therefore I had no real faith in Jesus Christ. Conversely, just a few generations after the fall of Adolph Hitler, many young people admit that they doubt any of the genocidal atrocities even happened. That was only half a century ago, so it may seem "reasonable" to assume that there was no Jesus of Nazareth, especially because we have no photographs or films to prove it. We do have filmed documentation as well as testimonial evidence from survivors of the holocaust; yet even these things go unnoticed. So what does this prove to me? It proves that history has an elusive way of being forgotten or disbelieved, regardless of the evidence to support it.
Knowledge isn't incorporated into the genes. We must have faith in history as it was recorded, so that we may learn and benefit from it in the present and apply it to our future.
Getting back to my past "disbelief's due to reasoning"; I used to think that by setting My Own standards of right and wrong, making My Own Commandments and by being generally a good person, I would surely be taken into Heaven ("just in case there was one"), based on my performance on Earth. Not so.
Without faith and belief in the Son of God, who died for ALL of us to assure salvation and forgiveness we cannot be saved and taken into His Holy Kingdom. Belief isn't always parallel to reason; and this is where faith fits in as the catalyst. Reason is limited to the boundaries of our intelligence, yet faith goes far beyond those boundaries.
Have faith in and acknowledge Jesus as your personal savior, and ask for forgiveness for your sins in prayer to God and He will deliver you. It is never too early; but do keep in mind that many never expect it to be too late ... until an unexpected period is placed in the middle of a sentence.
Charlie Faege
November 8, 1994
SHOULD EACH DAY BE PERFEKT?
It seems that no matter what is going on in my life, some days I wake up and spend the day in a bad mood. No one has done anything to provoke it, nothing to cause this depression, yet there it is. I may feel like something is wrong, though I cannot put my finger on it or come up with a plausible reason - should I blame it on Monday? Sometimes when I ask someone at work how they are doing they say, "Oh, fine for a Monday, I suppose..." I always wonder what they mean. Would they rather eliminate Mondays altogether? And if we were able to do that, wouldn't we just shift the blame for a "bad day" to Tuesday? I think that God had in mind for each day to be different. If it weren't for the rainy days, how could we appreciate the sunny ones? We would never realize the difference between the two. Of course, without rain, we would experience droughts and famine.
Jesus Christ was susceptible to the human feelings of depression and self-doubt; and to feel those feelings at times is quite natural. Have faith in Jesus Christ and be comforted in knowing that tomorrow certainly will be a different day.
CF
25-Feb-97
The Friend Ship Sets Sail
What is the best kind of ship? Friendship. There are those who say they wish they had friends, that nobody seems to care. Have they themselves done everything they could do to keep in touch with their friends, or made real attempts at making new friends?
We all find ourselves "too busy" at times to call a friend or write a letter, with our jobs, families and our various responsibilities to tend to. We may find ourselves saying, "I called him last, four months ago, and it's his turn to call me." Then we may find that perhaps a year or more has gone by and still he hasn't called. Every time that we think about this friend and wonder what is going on in his or her life is also a good time to get in touch with them. If we remain stubborn about who called who last, we may indeed try to convince ourselves that we have no friends, when the truth is that our friends may be having the same thoughts about us.
If you ever feel like you're all alone on a deserted island, try to forget about your pride and look again at the beach. At last you see the ship has been there waiting for you - - - the friendship. There are truly many fish in the sea and each of us are the fishermen to decide which to keep - and which are best to let go.
CJF
12- Mar- 97
THE BACKBURNER
(Do You Smell Something Burning?)
Many of us feel that when there is something to be accomplished, it can always be done later on. We believe there is simply not enough time or it is too big of a task to take on "right now". These things get put "on the back burner", as they say, until the necessary task can be met with the required attention and concentration - which is fine, unless it must be attended to immediately due to a long term build up. Now the situation is overwhelming.
All of us have our back burners - those dreadful deeds that must be done before they begin to control our lives. One of my particular items is mowing the lawn. I don't know why, but I really dread that job. When the day comes that I finally do the job, I look around the yard, proudly wiping that hard earned sweat from my forehead. It wasn't so bad after all, I think to myself. As a matter of fact it seems to give me a great sense of energy and accomplishment.
People also put some very big things on the back burner; their lifelong goals, relationships with spouses, families, friends; even putting off relations and communication with God.
Is it fear, laziness or fear of change; or is it that it is simply "too much trouble?" Christians who acknowledge Jesus Christ and pray through Him for forgiveness for human errors may also sense a feeling of accomplishment and greater energy; knowing they shall be forgiven for their sins and be Heavenbound after death. Guaranteed. It is that simple.
Belief in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is the most powerful motivation known to mankind. To let Jesus Christ into our heart provides the greatest strength to the soul, the greatest healer of all of life's pains and sadness that we may find ourselves confronted with. To put our lives in the hands of Jesus Christ gives us the power to get things off of the backburner, to live in the present. Couldn't we all use some help in the kitchen occasionally?
Charlie Faege
October 31, 1994
Guaranteed to Get the Dirt Out
Have you ever met someone who seems to have nothing but bad, negative things to say, a person who seems to thrive on talking about other people's faults and problems? It is as though they have no particular lives of their own - yet you know they must exist beyond the gossip and the cynicism that they spread about others.
I cannot change the attitudes of any person like this, so I do the next best thing, I will listen and tell them that I really wish to have no part in discussing other people's faults, when I have so many of my own. I could also tell them that it is enough work cleaning my own house, much less looking under the carpets of others.
Tolerance, respect and dignity in the treatment of these people who do not offer it so freely themselves is a good start at showing them that there are alternative ways of dealing with friends, relatives, clients and coworkers. As I said, I cannot change their attitudes or ways of thinking but I can show them that there are other methods of human interaction that move to a more peaceful personal, universal and spiritual direction.
God's Blessings,
CJF
March1997
GETTING AWAY & GETTING THE WAY
Recently a 5 year old boy asked his Grandmother about the crucifixion when she picked him up from Sunday School. "I don't understand," he said. "why did they have to put Jesus on a cross with nails? Why didn't they just shoot him?"
This is a sign of our times; and I can certainly understand how a young child could come up with those questions. After some thought, the Grandmother said, "Because God loves us so much He gave up His only Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for all of our sins. There were no guns at the time, they weren't invented yet." Uncertain of what else to say, the awkward Grandmother moved to a different topic for discussion.
Since each of us has a small part in the direction our contemporary world is heading; do you think it would be good if times were more like the times we grew up in? Each generation seems to complain about the "kids today"; how they could never have "gotten away with the things kids today get away with". What do we mean when we say "getting away with?" Is it as though they are taking something and leaving with it; or more like they are having their way? Instead of getting away, should they be getting to know The Way? Gods' Word, as found in the Bible, is a great place to start. We cannot expect every generation to be like the one before because technology makes many sociological and psychological changes as it evolves. This does not mean that it should be accompanied by violence and the rise in crime rate we read about everyday. What can we do? We could learn about the one who died for our sins. Nurture our children by showing them the good values found in the Bible. It has the answers and values that so many of us, like the awkward Grandmother, are searching for.
Charlie Faege
God's Department Store
Many people of faith tend to believe that theirs is the best religion. And, for each person that is true. The myriad of beliefs in our society, if imagined to be like a large department store with many departments, all combined into the same store. Some of the shoppers have a lot of sins to pay for, some are in the Lost & Found department, some find themselves stuck on the elevator to the top floor, while others are in the Returns. Many arrive with prepaid Gift Certificates and others never even find a parking space.
If we believe that ours is the perfect and only way to communicate with God, we may find ourselves stuck on that elevator, or walking up a very long broken-down escalator. There are as many ways to worship God as there are different tastes in clothing or food; and none should be believed to be the wrong way. Go to the Book Dept or books on tape department and read the Bible while you're there, it's an education for your soul. This will also help to cut down on the traffic in the Returns Department and you will find your parking space when you need it.
CF
28-Feb-97
Imagination and Knowledge
Einstein once said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge". If our creative abilities were stifled, how could we progress? Our businesses, homes, society and culture would not have developed without the use of imagination. No books, movies or music could be created and I'd hate to think of mankind without it. Of course, I am only imagining mankind without it, which makes for an interesting paradox in itself. If we perceive everything by its outward appearance only, we may miss the subtle details that hide inside. In nature, a cocoon may look like a spider web to some, but it may be the temporary shelter of a beautiful butterfly. If we had never seen a cocoon before and used our knowledge, we may believe that all that we see is a spider web, yet instead of destroying it with a stick, our imagination may tell us there could be more than meets the eye, and we withdraw the stick. Which is more important to the butterfly, imagination or knowledge? Imagination, I'd have to say.
CJF
03/12/97
Why?
A friend told me about a person she knew who had a liver transplant. The operation went well and the person had a successful recovery. A few months later, on his way to a hardware store to get some things for his lawn, his car had stalled on some railroad tracks and he was killed by a train. My friend wondered why God had spared him from the tricky business of an organ transplant, only to be run over by a train, when everything seemed to be going so well in his life.
Things like this may not seem to make much sense to us, at first. We must remember that life is our gift from God and our death and entrance to His holy Kingdom of Heaven is also a gift from Him. His timing is always perfect; and whether or not we have finished whatever we are doing when death comes does not matter, as long as we acknowledge faith in Jesus Christ as our personal savior while we are living, we have already communicated to God that we put our lives and deaths completely in His hands. To try and understand "why" is futile, it is easier to have belief and faith in the one who put each one of us here and to live each day with gratitude to God.
CF
25-Feb-97
Forgiveness Is Divinity
We all make mistakes. Even with the most careful attention to any given situation we can, as they say, blow it. Perhaps we received a bill in error ... maybe our spouse said something that "didn't come out quite right" and hurt our feelings ... or yesterday your teenage son backed into your new car and when he pulled away from the car, he knocked over the mailbox.
We've all heard "to err is human, to forgive is divine," but often do not think about this when faced with a particular problem that someone else has caused for us. One thing we could think of in this situation is how we would feel if we were the other person. Perhaps you would go so far as to forgive without having to hear he or she to say, "I'm sorry".
Whatever situation forgiveness would apply to - if someone asked you for forgiveness, what would you do?
Remember that God forgives. He will save the sinners who ask for forgiveness and accept the son of God, Jesus Christ as their savior. When we forgive, we are following His divine example.
Feel the awesome power of divinity God has given to each of us, forgiveness is a beautiful gift to give.
CJF
April 1, 1997
There Will Be Sadness There Will Be Comfort
Which is "better", to lose someone suddenly; or due to a long term illness? When a loved one has a terminal disease you will certainly have the time to say your good-byes, but you will also be there to watch the slow process of the human body succumbing to the illness. It is heartbreaking to watch them get a little worse each day. Toward the end you may be there to see their body systems shut down bit by bit. You find yourself praying to God to take them out of their suffering. You may wonder if they can hear you when you speak to them when they are "out of it" on morphine or in a comatose state.
When a loved one dies suddenly, as in a massive heart attack, you probably won't have the time for good-byes, but you won't have to watch them slowly suffer, either. There is no "better" way to lose a loved one. No amount of "pre-grieving" one can do while the person is still living, that will take any strain off after they have gone. The end result is the same in both cases. Someone you loved dearly has gone and the sadness of this loss experienced by those left behind is imminent.
i lost my Mother eleven days ago, after a long battle that she finally lost to cancer. When I think back, circumstances were even worse when my Father died ten years ago. I was laid off from my job, had my first throat surgery and my wife had left me - all as I was making regular hospital visits to see him. Regardless of any other minimal circumstance of life, I take death much more seriously, I cherish and take to heart any bit of knowledge and feeling my parents have given to me. And I will always love and miss them terribly. I take comfort in knowing they are with our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, the greatest comfort of all.
CF
April 3, 1997
