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Faith - Not For the Faint of Heart 8/20/2008 4:19:53 AM
Faith is not for the faint-hearted. We usually hear the word "faith" and conjure up warm and fuzzy emotions, heralding the notion and highly praised meaning. But do we really understand what faith is and what it is for?
We hold tightly to our bosom that faith is what carries us through difficulties, explains the unexplainable, gives hope when there appears to be none. But the context in which we are to have faith often escapes us.
When times are good, life going our way, the path looking like what we had envisioned for ourselves, we do not often think of faith. We believe we are living the reward for our faith, receiving what is due to us, the fruit of our labor.
But when things go a different way, when suddenly a tree has fallen across our once clear pathway, or storms emerge bringing with them catastrophic floods washing away roads, bridges, and homes, we quickly cry out, "Why?"
When we ask God, or the universe, or whatever you choose to pray to, to direct our lives, do we realize what we are really doing? We must realize that we asking for a wind to blow our ship towards the unknown, and in doing so we are making a commitment of faith in going and accepting wherever and whatever results from our request. To then ask "why" is nothing more than our passing the buck when we don't receive what we thought, or rather expected, we would. We don't ask in faith. We often ask with expectation. Our questions are loaded.
When we come across the why's in our lives, that is when we should grab onto faith. It gives us courage to go into the unknown, to keep moving forward when we are most unsure, when we must take the path less traveled or a detour we have never taken before.
There have been many times in my life when I have thought I had figured out what my life path was, and I would boldly go forward towards that perceived destination. Then a life altering event occurs, and I am sent off to another destination, bouncing off the edge like pinball. Or I am sent in a direction I had not considered before, nothing better or worse, just different, and I want to go "why" and then I must stop and ask myself, "So where is my faith?"
While going along thinking that I know where I am going, I proudly wave the banner I call faith. But is that really faith or just security? Too often I discover it's security in "knowing" where I'm going because if it was true faith, I wouldn't feel panicked or, in some raw truth, pitch a baby fit at having to "switch gears again." Perhaps then, it is more a matter of having my boat rocked.
We all say we want smooth sailing, to know our destination by some cosmic map, and simply arrive without incident or interference. And then we will dare to complain about how boring our lives are ... What do we really want?
Change is a fact. At every second of the day, change is happening around, and to, us. How we handle change, or not, is what life is about, and in accepting this, we must grab onto the one thing that keeps us afloat and moving forward - faith.
Faith is not a banner. Faith is a shield. Sometimes you hide behind it to protect yourself. You can use it to help you float. It's a seat and a sled. It's shelter from the unmerciful rays of the sun. And while you carry your shield, you keep moving forward. A shield is nothing more than a buffer while you keep going along.
Think of it like this - What would your driving experience be like without a windshield? The elements would surely make mincemeat out of you. And what would become of that beautiful smile you've been working so hard on? Bugs and grit do not a pretty smile make.
Faith does not guarantee a happy life. Faith does not bring a life without challenge or change. It does provide protection and the ability to keep on truckin' through all kinds of weather.
