Dear reader,
First of all, thank you for being willing to read this letter. I hope you will find that it responds to your needs.
The materials available under the address www.thefaithkit.org are spiritual in nature.
If you are interested in spiritual materials because of some problem, the easiest thing you can do is to go the main page at www.thefaithkit.org, click on Spiritual Diagnostics and follow the directions.
If you would like to make even better use of the faithkit materials, read on.
If you are struggling because of a relationship, especially one that has failed or is failing, or are wondering why (once again!) you have gotten yourself into a bad relationship, or find yourself suffering because someone has been bad to you, surely you can understand that what you need is to build up, or rebuild, your idea of yourself.
This is also true of anyone who suffers almost any sort of anger.
Here is your chance to do the best thing a person can do for him or herself, learn to believe in yourself for the right reason: because God has made you who you are. Go to Panorama, click on Mini-Books, download "Loving Yourself for the Right Reason," and read it. (For a shorter, slightly more straightforward approach to the problem, click on "Believing in Yourself for the Right Reason.") In order to have handy visual reminders of the truth, go to The Faith Kit itself and download "My Real ID Card," "No2C's," "Whence," and "The Chip Not on My Shoulder." While you're in the faith kit, please download and read "A Letter from God to You." If you would like to read a story that makes the point, go back to Panorama, go to Kirk, and click on "Good Counsel." If you would like to read another story that makes the point, go to Seasons Suite and download "Spring Training." Then go back and get "A Winter Storm." (Or, for a family style explanation of faith, read the Seasons Suite stories in order, starting with “Fall Spectacular.”)
If you feel that you have never been loved in your life, go to A Panorama of Plays and click on "Break In."
If you are struggling with a relationship, and you are wondering how to find it in yourself to forgive, go to the Letters to Theophilus, and read number VIII.
If you don't feel that you have enough faith in the right things to believe in yourself for the right reason, go back to the main page at www.thefaithkit.org and click on either "Read about the Basics" or "Read about the Fullness of Faith as Christians See It" and then, one by one, click on the articles of faith in front of you. Then, at the bottom of the page you will find, "receive The Gifts of Faith." Please do read about and receive them! This, surely, will give you incentive to "follow The Five Steps to Faith" or "see The Eight Images" which are also offered at the bottom of the page you started from. If you would prefer to study these pieces on paper, go back to Panorama and back to the Mini-Books menu and download either or both. If you have questions, go back to either "Read about the Basics" or "Read about the Fullness of Faith as Christians See It" and at the bottom of the page you will find "FAQ."
If you would like even more help to have faith, go the Mini-Books menu and download "Faith Is Easy." Do what it asks! "Faith Is Easy" is a very directed, one week course in faith. It will then point you in the direction of further steps. (Actually, these steps comprise the Explorer program available right from the main page!) From the Mini-Books menu you might also consider “Short Steps: a spiritual journey."
If you would be interested in a spiritual novel that is also a journey towards faith, and one that is almost sure to address your most serious questions, go back to Kirk and read the first four stories. You will really enjoy them. (If you have been wondering why love hurts, pay special attention to the second story, "The Four Phases of Falling.") For more help with the most basic issues of belief, go back to the Mini-Books menu and download "Dialogs with Disbelief." Then go to More Short Stories and look at "Scholasticus."
For an actual "tour" of faith-no I'm not kidding-stay with Panorama and Visit a Museum for God.
If somehow, still, you haven't seen enough, go back to the Letters to Theophilus and read them all (one of them must apply to you) or go to More Short Stories and look at "Red Eye." Then read “Leroy.”
If you need to keep it simple, go back to The Faith Kit and download "A Little Book of Faith" and "Dear God." Read the former once a day. (This takes about three minutes!) From the latter, find the prayer that fits your needs and say it once a day.
If you need help putting something in God's hands, go to The Faith Kit and look at "One, Two, Three."
Perhaps you are secure in your faith, and, indeed, so secure that you know that nothing matters more than to grow in faith. What, then, should you do? First of all, go to the The Faith Kit and download "Sunrise Through the Cross" and put it where you will often see it. I also suggest that, after reading it, you do the same with "The Church's Prayer for You." Next, go back to Panorama and back to the Mini-Books menu and download "Rules of Life." There are many. Study these rules and pick out some that you feel might work for you. (Please pay special attention to "Love the Year.") For help with prayer, take a look at "A Weekly Prayer," "Climbing the Stairway to Heaven," "The Rosary," or one or more of the three Ways of the Cross. You will have great fun with A Day in the Life. If you have already clicked on it, you already know that it is another interactive piece just like this one. It will help you to make the faith kit part of your life, and, in so doing, keep your faith in front of you. Notice that "A Day in the Life" ends with the implied recommendation that you check out Panorama for spiritual reading. Most recommended is The Fifth Gospel. The letter to you which opens The Fifth Gospel will explain why.
www.thefaithkit.org has several pieces that deal with death. Go first to Spiritual Diagnostics and click on Sadness. Keep clicking. Eventually you will be prompted to check out, from The Faith Kit , "A Letter from Heaven to You" and "Death in 3-D." Then, in Panorama, in More Short Stories, download and look at "It Didn't Happen." Then read “They Didn’t Know.”
If aging is the issue, go to More Short Stories and read “Dorian.”
If the issue is some sort of abuse, go to Kirk and download "Heart to Heart."
www.thefaithkit.org has several pieces that deal with depression. Once again, go first to Spiritual Diagnostics. From there you will be prompted to check out, from The Faith Kit , "A Mood Indicator." Then, in Panorama, under the Kirk menu, download, read, and, in so doing, get your very own "Seven O'clock Appointment."
There are a number of pieces directed especially to youth. The Faith Kit offers "D.O.R.K." and "The Map of Life." Then go to the Mini-Books and look at "Believing in Yourself for the Right Reason" and "A Young Person's Guide to Sexual Honesty." Then go to More Short Stories and take a look at "Billy and Willy,“ Hector the Hacker,” and “Tommy: defends his faith in the cafeteria.” If you like how I write to young people, read the whole H Series.
Finally, if you are person in ministry looking to help yourself be more effective with your congregation, please consider presenting and giving out anything and everything from among the Mini-Books, doing A Panorama of Plays (they are designed to be done by non-actors in church), or using the songs in From Search to Church!
And thank you, again, for reading this letter.