Foxfire 40th Anniversary Book Faith, Family, And the Land

I advise you not to be carried away with the ways of the world. The Bible says, "Love God, and love your neighbor." That's the commandment that Jesus gave: Love God and love your neighbor. In order to do that, you've got to study the Bible a whole lot, and you've got to go to church and hear the Gospel preached. You've got to mix and mingle with Christian people, and you've got to worship your Maker. We were put here for a purpose. This world was made for man's enjoymentfor man's use. Man was put in charge of the world and everything that's in it. We don't realize it, but the Spirit of the Lord is present at any time. You can call on It any time. If you call on It in faith, you'll get an answer. Esco Pitts So-called modern folks have faith. We have faith in the sun: When we awaken in the morning, the sun's rays will be warming the earth. We have faith in gravity: We can step with assurance, for we do not believe we will float away into space. We even have faith that the chair over which we are hovering will hold us if we sit in it. Some have faith in the almighty dollar, in other people, in science. Others even have faith in faith. This faith, however, is not the "faith of our fathers, living still." Why do so many people in our crowded, modern, technologically advanced world today feel isolated and alienated, depressed, empty, and afraid? Our world seems full of danger: The "nice" man next door is a child molester, robbers and rapists break into our homes, terrorists attack our homeland. The news media reports random acts of violence; the film industry depicts catastrophic forces threatening the very existence of Earth and its inhabitants: Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, War of the Worlds, and so many others. Nuclear weapons, toxic waste, and global warming threaten our habitat. The future looks bleak. Robert Burns wrote about man's perspective in his poem "To a Mouse": "And forward though I cannot see, I guess and fear." Many are indeed fearful of what tomorrow holds for mankind. In the midst of such seeming chaos, many in society today search for some meaning and purpose for their lives. They wonder if the quest for meaning and purpose is realizable. Viktor Frankl, in his work Man's Search for Meaning, purported a truism applicable to society today: "[P]eople have enough to live by but nothing to live for; they have the means but no meaning" (142). For some, God is a myth. Atheists, for example, do not believe in what they see as an unprovable deity; therefore, Epicurus reigns: "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may die." Some ascribe to Nietzsche's philosophy: God is dead. Perhaps God did exist, but He died. Others espouse existentialism or nihilism: Life is a meaningless accident. Still others believe in the concept of naturalism: Cosmic forces conspire against humanity; environmental and biological determinism ensure our failure, no matter how mightily we struggle. To others God is a laissez-faire deity, some nebulous being somewhere who set the earth spinning and now watches to see how the creatures formed from dust fare. Furthermore, an afterlife is also "unprovable": Heaven is a fantasy; hell hath no fury. Dust to dust, and it's over. In contrast, folks whom we interviewed did not seem to harbor any such philosophies and fears. They are people whose sustaining faith enables them to live with calm assurance, for they believe in the reality of the resurrection. These elders talked to us about beinCheek, Angie is the author of 'Foxfire 40th Anniversary Book Faith, Family, And the Land', published 2006 under ISBN 9780307275516 and ISBN 0307275515.