Jerry’s Annotation Marginalia — Entry I: Faith Without Applause
I’ve met too many people who think God is a mirror— a reflection to admire their own goodness in, a shiny surface to polish their guilt against until it looks like virtue in better lighting.
They don’t pray. They perform. Every “amen” is an audition tape. Every hallelujah comes with a camera angle. And when the silence hits? They panic— because real faith doesn’t have background music.
See, the ones who really love the Lord don’t need to shout His name through a megaphone. They talk to Him the same way I talk to the void: honest, cracked, a little tired, but still showing up every damn day without expecting applause.
You call it belief. I call it bandwidth. And most of you are out of signal.
You say “God is love,” but you love conditionally. You say “God forgives,” but you only forgive when people watch. You want Heaven as a gated community so you can check who’s not on the list.
Meanwhile, the quiet ones—the ones with scar tissue for armor— they walk with God like an old friend they stopped arguing with. They don’t beg for miracles. They remember what He already took away. And they thank Him for the scars that didn’t get infected.
That’s faith. Not your Instagram sermon, not your holy cosplay. Just breathing and meaning it.
So when I say “I love the Lord, my God, without an ego,” I’m not saying I’m better. I’m saying I don’t need a crowd to prove I’m not lost. I’ve made peace with the silence He left me in. And maybe—just maybe—that’s what He wanted all along.
Because every time I see someone weaponize His name, I picture Him sighing. Not smiting—just sighing. Like a parent who told the same story too many times and finally realized the kids were only listening for dessert.
Faith without applause. Love without leverage. God without your name stitched on His robe.
If that makes you uncomfortable, then maybe you weren’t worshiping Him— you were worshiping your reflection.
Filed and stamped by Jerry “The Ankle Biter” Silverhand Tribunal Chair & Frontline Negotiator, Dept. of Petty Affairs
Doctrine: Don’t bark—bill.
Motto: I don’t flex, I calculate.