This week my posts will all be inspired by the fact that it is "Holy Week." I realize that not everyone reading this blog is Christian...maybe you wouldn't even consider yourself religious, but I believe you will still find value in the messages.
FAITH
What is faith? Well, sometimes trying to define it or explain can leave you going around in circles. You really can't contain it that way. At times I get annoyed when someone relentlessly questions why I (or people in general) have faith. "I just do!" However, everyone has the right to inquire and try to figure out just where another person is coming from, especially if it is to help them sort things out for themselves. In the end there are just some areas of our lives that can be questioned to the point of exhaustion without finding one, solid, formulaic answer. I feel that faith falls into that category, because (to put it simply) faith is a gift. It is something planted inside of us, in our soul. Then it is up to us what we do with that gift (hence, free will). This explanation might not jive with some people, but if someone asked me, "Where did you get that necklace?" and I said, "It was a gift," I would find it a little strange if they insisted that wasn't possible or kept asking where it really came from.
When I was meeting with my Priest in preparation for my Confirmation "Faith" was one of the topics we discussed. What I took away from that specific lesson is that we are always on a "faith journey." Throughout our lives our faith goes through different phases. I also learned there are levels that our faith grows within - mind, heart, and soul. Guess what else? Questioning of faith is encouraged (constructively, not destructively), because it helps us to mature in our faith.
Then there is the part that is the hardest at times...faith requires trust. I mean total and complete trust. This is a constant struggle for me. When I am feeling great it is easy...on my hardest days, when I am not sure what is going to happen, I feel I lose a little faith. In tough times you realize how guarded your faith really is. I learned from my Priest that faith involves risk, it is a process, and it involves darkness. That's just not what we want to hear or deal with. Personally I am not a risk taker...the process part I don't mind...darkness, no thanks. Then I realized that one of the benefits I have gained from "darkness" is that I have become closer to God, and my faith has strengthened in ways that would not have been possible otherwise (though I still have a long way to go). I heard a great quote on the radio the other day (I can't remember it word for word) explaining why we can have such difficult times in life if God is such a loving God. This person used the analogy that God is our loving Father and sometimes he has to be like a parent of an addict who won't get help. He knows we have to hit rock bottom before we will make necessary changes in our lives. It really made me think. I could get annoyed by that statement (and I am sure some of you will), but I also see truth in it and it resonates with me. I can feel this way about it, because I KNOW that above all else God is love.
Today I was driving home from running errands with my son, and I received one of the many messages and reminders I am blessed enough to receive daily. We were stopped at a traffic light, and I happened to look off to my right toward a crosswalk. There was a man (probably around 30 years old) crossing the busy street, his white walking cane feeling his way, pulling his preschool-aged child in a wagon behind him. I was blown away. The faith and trust this blind man has to have to care for a dependent child in such a way...going about a day much better than I do at times. Of course I counted my blessings, but more than anything I was beyond moved and inspired by this glimpse of someone else's life challenges, and the grace involved in going about life so beautifully.
In the book "Common Grace," Anthony B. Robinson wrote about faith in a section titled "You Just Have To Believe." He gives many bold and sweet reminders of how we all need to keep working on our faith: "...this faith meant an utter reliance on powers not my own... It required a deeper confidence that we would be held and upheld through all the unknowns and uncertainty that surround us as well as lay ahead of us. It meant a trust beyond words. It meant that 'You've got to believe.'"
I will end with one more quote from "Common Grace." One for you to think about no matter where you are in life, or how you do or do not define yourself as far as religion goes. "There was a time when faith was the easy option and reflected a common consensus in Western society, but that's no longer the case. Believing in God, in something Holy, in grace, in a power is no longer the safe choice, it is the risky choice." I encourage you to take that risk, to think about and work on your faith. It is an effort that pays off in ways that words cannot describe.
Oh...of course as I was just about to post this I noticed Joyce Meyer's recent post on Facebook, "Faith begins when we say, “I trust You, God.” (Psalm 31:14)." AMEN!
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