Immersed in her Saturday afternoon reading, Aramide hears her doorbell ring. She enjoys her time alone on Saturday afternoons when her husband and kids are at soccer practice. Alone time is hard to come by so this period is all the more precious for the busy mom.
The doorbell rings again. Slightly annoyed, she drops her novel and walks to the door where she meets two well-dressed young men who extend her an invitation to their church. Suppressing her irritation, she politely accepts their card and goes back to her novel.
She picks up her novel… but her thoughts remain with these young men. “Just believe in Christ,” she remembered them saying. She had heard the same from her mother for as long as she could remember but always recoiled upon hearing it. What was it about these words she rejected? She thinks of her young children and wants to bring them up according to the teachings of Christ, but she must first strive to assimilate these teachings in their true sense.
“Just believe?… but can this be right.” Just believing that exercise is good brings no benefit, unless one actually lives accordingly, unless one actually exercises.” Happy to have made this correlation, she is encouraged in her questioning of these words.
The parable of the Good Samaritan emerged before her. Unlike the priest and the Levite, the Samaritan spoke of no beliefs but rather revealed them through his actions. True belief must become deed! This became abundantly clear to Aramide. It must become visible in everything that pertains to one.
He who truly has gold does not seek to persuade others of the worth of his gold. His gold will do the talking. It will shine from his eyes, his warmth, his every movement and in his interactions with all living creatures.