A Personal Creed

At age four score and five I began to sort papers, deciding which to keep and which to throw. Here is a keeper, written in 1981. If you’ve not written your own statement, do it.

I believe in God, the Creator,

Who created all things to be good.

I believe that God loves all the children of creation equally,

and intends for the abundance of the creation

to be used for the joy and welfare of all the family.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Way and Life,

I believe that in obth His preaching and His ministry

He has clearly laid out the challenge

of being faithful stewards of that portion

of the world’s wealth for which we are responsible.

I believe that much is expected from those to whom much is given.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

and that it quickens the trained and compassionate Christian conscience,

I believe that the activity of the Holy Spirit

is exemplified in the life of Jesus Christ

who consistently cast His lot with the needs of the poor and the powerless.

I believe in the Church of Jesus Christ,

and that it is given the happy opportunity of bringing together

the human needs that exists in God’s world

and the resources God has provided to meet those needs.

I believe in men and women, created in the image of God,

and capable of establishing God’s Kingdom on Earth.

I believe that women and men can,

by yielding to the guidance of God,

create on Earth a social order which shall allow all persons

to live out their God-given gifts

and to share in the abundant life God has promised in Jesus.

I believe that those persons

who are responsible stewards of their material blessings,

and share generously as they recive,

know the joy of being full partners with God here on earth,

and prepare themselves for the judgments of eternity.