Faith
“Faith—what does it mean? You don’t see Christ or even feel
him very much, but you carry on anyway, you still go forward. Is that faith? Or
you notice that something is terribly wrong with the world and with your own
life. But you go on anyway, even though something is wrong. Is that faith? I
like the clear and objective definition of faith from my theological training,
which takes St. Paul’s expression ‘the obedience of faith’ (Rom. 16:26) and
explains it then as a submission of the intellect and will to God who reveals
himself. This is an elegant proposal if given half a chance. It proposes a risk
in unpopular words, especially in the word submission.
Yet it remains my choice to submit or not, and it is a choice to conform my
mind and heart to something bigger. That’s not a bad risk, not a stupid one.
But how do I know what it is that God is revealing? Well, I find it in the
witnesses, those who tell the story; and I put my trust in this. I put my trust
in what the Bible tells. I try it out to see if it fits the world I experience.
The content of the revelation is amazing. It is too good, and I am too small. I
cannot come up to it. So, in the end my faith is the uttering of a question
that is also the invocation of a name. Under my mood—God? Beneath my heart—God?
After the reach of my eyes—God? Before or after the stars—God?”
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