What is Faith?

As a young adult, or whenever it was that I actually started listening to sermons, I would hear again and again, "We must have faith."  And then I would begin to wonder, "How do you GET faith?"  Do you somehow brace yourself up and say, "I believe in God!"?  I remember thinking one day, "I just wish someone would tell us how to GET faith!"

At that time of my life, I knew ABOUT God, from attending church all my life, but I had not yet experienced God in person.  Scripture says, "Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you."  And that process is a life-long journey.  Although I had begun the journey at an early age, I had not yet begun to read Scripture, so there was no way to understand or to formulate my understanding about the journey.  It was such a nebulous and undefined experience that I doubted the little I did know on an experiential basis.

I think one glimpse into the substance of faith may be gleaned from the 7th chapter of Isaiah.  In this chapter, Ahaz, the king of Judah, was shaking in his boots.  There was a national crisis under his reign:  the king of Aram and the king of Israel were both waging war against the southern kingdom under Ahaz, and "...the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind."  Those of us who experienced the horror of 9/11 can relate to the feeling.

The prophet Isaiah was sent to Ahaz to say, "Be careful, keep calm, and don't be afraid....it will not take place; it will not happen....if you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."  In fact, Isaiah tells Ahaz to ask for a sign that his words are true.  Ahaz refuses to ask; he will not engage at all with the word of the Lord through Isaiah; he will not "draw close to God."  Isaiah himself gives the sign:  The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us)...and by the time the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste."

If we do not know God's "take" on our situation, we cannot have faith.  Faith is simply our assent to what God has said through His prophets, and especially through His very Son.  Jesus had to come as the Incarnate Word of the Lord, that we might know the truth of the things we believe, in the words of St. Luke.  In other words, if we do not know what God has said, we cannot have faith.  We wonder what He is thinking; we are not sure that we are on the right path.  Where is our confidence?

In chapter 8 of Isaiah, the prophet speaks again:

When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?  Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?  To the law and to the testimony!  If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.  Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

 



Then comes the beautiful chapter 9, where Isaiah gives hope to the world -- the Light that shines in the darkness and shatters the yoke of the oppressed, the One who restores the peace of Jerusalem.

Our faith rests entirely on knowing what God has said, what He has promised to us, and then "drawing close" to the Word, believing that He cannot deceive or be deceived.  If we do not know what He has said, we cannot have faith that He will do it.  When Jesus says, "I am the Light of the world," we have two choices:  we can walk away, saying, "that's poetic speech, but He does not really mean that."  Or we can assent to Him:  "You are the Light of the World; shine in my heart to dispel the darkness therein.  I embrace the Light that You are; I give myself to the Light; I no longer wish to walk in the dark." 

That is the meaning of "faith"  -- to hear what God has said, and to acknowledge its truth for myself and for the world at large.  If we cannot understand what God has said, that is the role of the Holy Spirit -- to teach and to enlighten our understanding.  But we must first "draw close" to Him in order that He is able to open our minds and hearts to comprehend the Word of the Lord to us.

Again and again, God continues to send His word into our lives.  We only need pray that our eyes, our ears, and our hearts are opened to see, hear, and embrace the Word that has the power to set us free.  Once we do see, hear, and embrace the Word, we have the kind of faith that moves mountains.

The Helper

Back in the feminist movement of the 70's, it became fashionable to bristle at the passage from Genesis where God creates for man a suitable "helper," as if in some way the term implied inferiority on the part of woman.  (Actually, from the standpoint of the New Testament, we can see the "type" or pattern of Christ, from whose side was drawn His bride, the church, as He "slept" on the cross.)

But to return to the term "helper."  In Exodus 18:4, we find Moses naming his second son Eliezer, meaning "My God is helper," for Moses said, "My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharoah."  And Psalm 27 says, "Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper" (v. 9).   In both cases, the Hebrew term for God as "Helper" is the same one as the word used for Eve in Genesis. 

When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, He used a term in Greek (or perhaps Aramaic translated into Greek) that has been translated alternatively as "Counselor," "Advocate," or "Helper."  The role of the Holy Spirit is the Presence of God in our daily lives as "Helper," or "Assistant."  There is a famous book written by Catherine Marshall called The Helper.  In it, Marshall records the many and various ways the Holy Spirit is present to us and assisting us in the smallest details of our lives.  Nothing is too "small" for His attention.

A couple of days ago, I cooked a large pot of gumbo.  After we had eaten lunch, I left the remainder in a storage container on the counter to cool off, thinking it too hot to put away.  I rested for about half an hour, and then decided to take my computer into Gulfport for repairs.  As I was walking out the door, I suddenly remembered that I needed to take a card with me in case I stopped at another store along the way.  As I passed through the kitchen, I spotted the gumbo still sitting on the counter.  Had I left the house and not returned for several hours, I would have had to throw it away. Of course, I thanked the Holy Spirit, my "rememberancer."

Day after day, I find the Holy Spirit ordering my life efficiently, saving me time, rescuing me from my own distractions and weaknesses, and revealing things I need to know.  Truly, no better Helper could be found, one that "stays closer than a brother," in the words of Proverbs.  Jesus said to the woman at the well, "If you knew the gift of God, you would ask, and I would give you, water springing up to eternal life" (Jn. 4:10).  One of the gifts of God to us is the HELPER, His own Presence in our lives.

Seeking and Finding Our Best

When do we experience the "best" of who we are -- our best self?  I would venture a guess that our best "self" is activated by love, both the giving and the receiving of love.  Love, though, is not always 'felt' love; sometimes, it is entirely sacrificial and even painful.  The mother or father, for example, who crawls out from under the warm blanket on a cold night to clean up and comfort a sick child, to change the sheets and to rock the child back to sleep is the "best self," though it may feel only painful and unpleasant at the time. 

The question then becomes, "How can we on a daily basis find this 'best self,' the one that is not seeking our own comfort and pleasure, but the good of others?"  If the seeking of the highest good is activated by love, it is found through prayer.  As Evelyn Underhill states, As the social self can only be developed by contact with society, so the spiritual self can only be developed by contact with the spiritual world.*

Prayer, for most people, means asking.  That's an unfortunate perspective.  St. Teresa of Avila maintains that prayer is simply familiar conversation with Someone Who loves us.  When we open to "Someone Who loves us" our impulses, our reveries, our feelings, our most secret inclinations and thoughts, without control, without reserve --- that is the essence of prayer.  It embraces the entire range of human experience and reaction; nothing is held back or reserved. 

In prayer, we take our special needs, aptitude, longings, and moments of life -- and we hold them up to Eternal Truth and Love.  Where do we 'match' the highest values; where do we fall short?  Jesus said that when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will convict the world of sin.  That "conviction" is not blame, nor is it condemnation.  It is conviction.  "Yes," we admit to ourselves and to the Spirit of Truth, "that is not the way it should have been.  That was not 'my best self.'  I really don't want that to be my pattern of response to the world at large.  Show me another way."

And by our submission to the Spirit of Truth, of Righteousness, of Holiness, we begin to change from "the empty way of life handed down to us by our fathers"  -- i.e. "original sin" -- to a different response and pattern of life.  We grow in holiness, goodness, and truth.

In the world of prayer, the soul sometimes wanders as if in green pastures and running waters; sometimes, it sees things the world cannot see and stands breathless and awed at the beauty revealed to it.  Sometimes, we encounter the most difficult truth, and see ourselves as we wish we did not see.  It is a world of darkness and light, but it always changes us. 

In prayer, all the powers of the self are united, looking at the One Goal.  And all the powers of the self are submitted to the Truth of the One and Holy God.  Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, we begin to change in the Light of the Eternal Good.  Only by constant contact with and recourse to the energizing life of Spirit can we find our best selves and be true to the vocation of our daily lives.

This "discipline" or "education" of all of our powers is the function of prayer.  "Discipline" means "discipling." We become disciples of the Holy Spirit, and begin to walk in His ways and not our own.  In doing so, our deepest instincts find and feel the Eternal breaking into our lives all the time.

On the physical plane, we can do nothing of ourselves if we are cut off from our physical sources of power: food to eat, air to breathe.  So too our spiritual lives are dependent upon the heavenly food, eaten daily.  Jesus said, "Without Me, you can do nothing."    So many people want to do good and love their neighbor, so they just go ahead and try to do so without prayer or contact with the spiritual world.  They leave no time for silence, for quiet attention to the spiritual dimension, which is essential for us to develop all of our latent powers and energies.  Otherwise, we are distracted and divided; we respond to the needs and demands of the moment, rather than operating from the center of our "best self."  We are starving that self; it has no energy to meet the demands of life.  Instead, we are always operating on "emergency power," on the generator, and we feel anxious and scattered.

Be still and know that I am God; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.  These are practical, not idealistic, statements.  They tell the truth.  And they are addressed not to saints, but to ordinary men and women.  If this "balanced" life is to be ours, if we are to find our best selves, and the Eternal breaking in at every moment into our lives of time and space, we must give time and place to prayer in our lives.

Give Me Your Son!

To the physical eye, to the natural man, the request/demand of YHWH to Abraham seems senseless, unreal.  Maybe Abraham only imagined that God asked this of him; who can fathom the mind of the Most High? 

But to the person walking in the Spirit, accustomed to prayer and relationship with God, as was Abraham by this point in his life, the request/demand seems "normal."  Which mother or father of faith has not at some point in their lives had to surrender their child into the hands of God, trusting that only He could do for their children what they could not do?

Rather than thinking this was some strange demand from a blood-thirsty and demanding deity, I see this move of God toward a parent as one of consolation and release of anxiety.  We surrender our children in trust, knowing that, no matter what we want, we are not in control of our children's lives.

This morning, I was thinking about 3 women that I know personally, who underwent this agonizing "sacrifice" of surrendering their children into the hands of God.  I am one of the three.  Twice, even three times, have I had to surrender my children to God.  One of my children was very sick often in her young life; at least 3-4 times a year, she would be hospitalized with uncontrollable vomiting.  The doctors were puzzled about the cause---it may have been scarlet fever left over from repeated episodes of strep throat; it may have been appendicitis, it may have been.....who knows?  At one point, six different doctors were trying to find the cause while she was hospitalized--and all six of them were leaving orders to draw blood.  She of course developed a horror of needles. 

One day, during a period of relative calm, when she was healthy for a change, as I was praying during Mass, I had a sense of Jesus approaching me with his arms extended in front of him.  Across his arms lay a child's blanket.  I knew what He wanted: he wanted me to place the child in His arms.  In my mind, I thought that meant she was going to die.  I balked at the request; I did not want to surrender her.  But the love of Jesus for her was so strong that I finally did -- I placed her in His arms.  He turned and walked away with her, and both of them were smiling and laughing, delighted in one another, but leaving me in a heap of tears.  I could hardly breathe, and it was a long time before I could leave church that morning.  But it was done.

Shortly after that experience, the child almost died one night:  "I can't take this anymore," she cried.  The doctor on duty (not familiar with the case) would not allow me to admit her to the hospital, so we had to wait until the office opened in the morning.  Overnight, she had lost 10 pounds, equivalent according to the doctor to an adult losing 30 pounds overnight.  She had been in his office all day the previous day, and we had been sent home, so he knew how much she had lost.

Having surrendered the child to Jesus, as distraught as I was all night, I knew that I was no longer in control.  She was His; He was the one who had to take charge of the situation.  It was out of my hands now. 

Two other friends of mine have experienced similar events.  One of them had a son with a brain tumor.  The other friend's son caused her concern in other areas.  Both of them, after wrestling for awhile with God -- even screaming at Him initially -- eventually surrendered their sons into His hands.  The one with the brain tumor outlived his mother; the other now takes care of his mother. 

"Give Me Your Son!"  Not the demand of an angry God, but the comfort of a God who wants us to know that He  is more able than we are to take care of our children!

Trusting in the Work of the Holy Spirit

So many people have resisted the Scriptures that say that Jesus is the only way to the Father.  They simply cannot believe Jesus when He says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life....No one comes to the Father but by Me."  Basically, we refuse to eat from the Tree of Wisdom when the Tree of "Knowledge" is so accessible to us.  We know what we know, and it is so much easier and more certain to rely on the fruit of the tree that we can see, hear, taste, and touch.

"What about all those who have never heard of Jesus Christ?" they cry.  "Are they to be lost?"

This morning, as I was reading about Cornelius in the Acts of the Apostles, I suddenly saw the answer to that question.  Cornelius was the centurion of the Italian regiment of the Roman occupiers.  Scripture tells us that he and his family were "devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly."   Suddenly, he had a vision; an angel directed him to send for Peter in Joppa.

At the same time, Peter, who was praying also, had a vision instructing him accept everything that God has cleansed.  By the time Cornelius' servants had reached Joppa and found the house where Peter was staying, Peter was beginning to understand the vision, and he went with the men without any hesitation. 

In the meantime, Cornelius had called together his relative and close friends.  As Peter began to speak to them about Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy Spirit descended on the entire company, and they began speaking in tongues and praising God.  They were all baptized that day, and Peter was able to explain to the Jewish believers that God had accepted the Gentiles and had given to them the same Spirit that was poured out on Pentecost on the Jewish assembly.  There were six brothers who had accompanied Peter to Joppa, and they could testify to what had happened to Cornelius and his family and friends. 

Up to that time, the message about Jesus had been preached "only to Jews" in Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch.  However, some of the men from Greece began telling their experience also to Greeks, and the Holy Spirit shed His grace on all who heard and believed.  Finally, Barnabas found Saul in Tarsus and brought him to Antioch, where the two of them remained for a whole year, teaching "great numbers of people."

The conclusion of the early church was summed up in the words of Peter:  I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right (Acts 10:34).

Those who "fear God" will be sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit, and it is His role to bring people to the Truth.  Rather than arguing with the Scriptures from "reason," and from our limited "knowledge" of the world, how much greater would it be for us to acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all who fear God and who do the right thing!

When I look around the world, just as when I see the Roman Empire through the words of Scripture, I see not just "believers" and "non-believers," but rather those who "fear God" and those who do not.  I see those who walk in the Light and those who continue to love and to embrace the darkness.  And I can easily believe that those who walk in the Light will eventually receive the Holy Spirit, who "blows where He will," and whose work is not limited to our human divisions and categories. 

The Holy Spirit will teach us all things and lead us into all Truth.  It is so much easier to trust in His work than to trust in the work of mankind.  Our vision is so limited, but His is infinite and all-inclusive.  God will never reject anyone who comes to Him, no matter how 'foreign' their ways seem to us.  We are told in Ephesians that at one time we were all "separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.....Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household...and in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit" (Eph. 2:11 ff).

If we are followers of Jesus, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, "bringing us near."  If we are not yet believers, but fear God, He will send to us the energy, the power, the grace that overcomes all obstacles, bestowing on us His own Spirit of Truth.  Now how hard is it to believe that?