A Faith like Charlie Brown's

We all remember that round-headed kid with the zig-zag shirt who everyone said was “the charlie-browniest” person in the world. Well, those people never met me. I still maintain that I am charlie-brownier than even old Chuck himself.

Granted, I may have a little more athletic ability and I may be a little better at school, but we do have many similarities. We both enjoy the simple things. We are both a little shy. We both tend to fly under the radar of society. We both often face feelings of depression. We both have a thing for redheads. And we both spend a great amount of time staring into space and pondering the questions of life.

I was reminded of my bond with this lovable cartoon character just recently when I stumbled upon a quote from the comic. In it, Charlie Brown said, “In the book of life, the answers are not in the back.” This struck me as very profound. In life you can’t just flip to the last page and find out what will happen. You can’t even check in the back to see if your calculations are even close. You just have to take it one page at a time.

This is often frightening to some people, including myself. And it reminds me of the time Linus said, “I believe that there is no problem so big or so overwhelming that I cannot run away from it.” That would be the attitude of many of us, but Charlie Brown had a different viewpoint. It didn’t matter to him how many times the football got pulled away; he was still determined to kick it clear to the moon. And it didn’t matter how many of his kites crashed to the ground or got murdered by the kite-eating tree, he was determined that one would fly. He took it all one page at a time.

The Bible reminds us of this as well. Proverbs 17:24 says, “Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” The answer to life is not on the back page or in some distant place or even at a 5 cent psychiatrist’s stand; it is right in front of your eyes. God doesn’t send us on wild goose chases to find His will. He is right next to us, guiding our every step; and He never pulls the football away. I just hope I can have the faith to follow, even if I fall flat on my back and kill myself.