Lent Day 20: Faith

We walk by faith, and not by sight.  
~ 2 Corinthians 5:7

Sometimes, these feel like the most encouraging words in scripture.

Sometimes, they feel like the least helpful.

We all know people for whom faith looks easy (from the outside). And we all know people who are open about their struggles with faith. I know that wanting to have faith can help, but not always. I have always been grateful for the words of Barbara Brown Taylor who said something like, "When I can't say certain words of the creed on a Sunday morning, I'm glad that I'm surrounded by others who can." Community can lift and amplify faith; but it can also make us feel isolated when we are struggling.

I don't have any magic answers, except I do love the psalms and find that, the more I am immersed in them, the more grounded I feel. (See my favorite Calvin quote.)  Since we can almost always find a psalm that articulates where we are emotionally, even when we are absolutely desolate of any sense of God (see Psalm 88), they can provide a comfort that is not only grounded in millennia of people struggling to live out an authentic faith in God, but is also vividly authentic.

Here, a few somewhat scattered thoughts on that word, faith.

Some other words for faith:

Belief

Assurance

Fidelity

Trust

Conviction


Some things faith is not:

Certainty

Proof

Math


Some things that may encourage faith:

Music

Community

Connection

Friends

Kindness

Scripture

The behavior of other people of faith


Some things that may erode faith:

Isolation

Observing hypocrisy

Experiencing cruelty

Scripture

The behavior of other people of faith


As the verse says, sight is not faith. Bells and whistles screaming "God is here! God is real!" is almost nobody's experience of faith. Rising again, praying again ("O God, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise," Psalm 51:15) and hoping, again, is as good a plan as any.

Bless you. Grace and peace to you today.