Someone once said the sin against the Holy Spirit is to no longer believe He can change the world. And it is sad to believe that anyone couldn’t possibly change me. In truth, I believe God has the power, most of us simply don’t have the will.
There is an important need to return to our source of renewal. We must reinterpret our faith and renew our love, not for only our God, but for our fellow man as well. But in our hurried get it done today world faith is reserved for an hour every seven days. We drop a couple of nickels in a donation cup and head off to our favorite sports game or family outing. Thus, by the end of the year, we’ve deleted any modicum of faith and huddle together during the holiday season while secretly asking what the hell have we done.
I remember back to the days of my youth when upon my Uncle’s farm. The hoe scrapped against the upper midwest dirt, lifting the dirt of my ancestors. This no longer was a simple row of corn or beans, strawberries or rhubarb. Whatever life I have in there herein now was given by those who fell to rest long before me. And as I tilled, I enriched their faith. It’s the same faith which created me.
My ancestors never knew a Buddha would come forth. Nor could any of your descendants have known you would come forth either. Yet it was by faith and love that they believed children and grandchildren would come – that if they worked and believed – life’s wonderment and power would erupt from the bosom of soil. Thus, by faith, they lived for you and I.
Just as our forefathers believed in faith, so should we. The sunset imbibes delight through every pore as I walk along the shore of East Sound, though it is cool as well as cloudy and windy, and I see nothing but a river of faith. As Henry David Thoreau noted, faith:
“… is instantly translated; its literal monument alone remains. The words which express our faith and piety are not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures.”
Why must we lose life changing faith? Why do we allow life to dull our perception and praise only commonality?
When God makes a covenant with us, God says, “I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me.” In our society we don’t speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say, “I will fulfill my part as long as you fulfill yours. When you don’t live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine.” Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms.
God never made a contract. He made a promise. The greatest promise of faith we can give to one another is our love. Through that love we can create an anxiety-free respite, find our faith, encourage one another, build confidence and find the freedom to choose our own way in life.
Real faith was never ‘out there.’ True faith has always resided within.