Guardrails and frames

I was listening to a podcast the other day where the person was talking about apologetics, the ability to defend what you believe. I found myself very uncomfortable listening to it, my suspicion of any formula aproach to faith. However, without some definition to my faith it is like a body without a skeleton, a structureless blob.

Guardrails are the metaphor that come to mind as I think back on my faith journey. They held me in place and wouldn't let me deviate too far off the path. My view of God had to conform to the narrow parameters of the faith I grew up with. I kept attempting to break them down, to be able to break free of them. They kept springing up, restricting my thought about who God was and my place in His universe.
I have found a new metaphor for defining my faith. A friend of mine thinks about spirituality as being a frame, something to put around concepts and give it some definition. I like that. There is structure, but there is freedom as well when my concept of God changes or God redefines Himself for me. A frame can be moved to better outline another part of the picture, if it needs to be.

In my finite mind I work best when there are limits that are not limiting.