Fourth Pathway – Painstakingly Acquiring Faith –
Part V
A hard analysis of your previous life
determines whether you are living the life you imagined in your youth. Do you redirect your choices, time and
priorities to actualize your heartfelt dreams and goals? If you made a wrong turn on the road of life,
take a detour that leads you back to your chosen path? Deprivation forces a person to reflect. I imagine the loss of power compelled
Churchill to rethink its privilege and purpose.
What would he do with political power were he to regain it? How did he lose it? Does arrogance, fear and tunnel vision
explain his defeat? Is there an
overarching purpose to his service that he uniquely would accomplish were
providence to grace him with another opportunity? These questions and any you formulate may
prove helpful to you as you live through your version of a wilderness
experience.
Shortly after her death and worldwide
state funeral, Time published an
exposé regarding Mother Teresa’s serious and lifelong doubts in her faith. David Van Blema’s article, “Mother Teresa’s
Crisis of Faith,” appeared in the 23 August 1997 edition. To a spiritual confident, she writes, “Jesus
has a special love for you. As for you,
the silence and the emptiness is so great.
I look and do not see; listen and do not hear. The tongue moves in prayer but does not
speak.” Van Blema, perused sixty-six
years of her correspondence with ecclesiastical associates. He characterizes her private spirituality,
“an arid landscape from which the deity had disappeared.” The editor of a collection of her letters
offers “for nearly the last half century of her life she felt no presence of
God whatsoever ‘neither in heart or in the Eucharist.’”
These revelations undoubtedly shock average
people of faith. It is difficult to
believe that a saint in the Church experienced such a lengthy period traversing
“the dark night of the soul.” With an
open mind, we could learn a tremendous amount about authentic faith which
includes hard questions, doubt, irony, mystery and leaven of bewilderment. Mother Teresa’s interesting life teaches
disciples to discard formulaic, simpleminded statements of faith. Disciples are not parrots. The walk of faith often involves
contradictions wherein Almighty God appears silent and indifferent. His failure to intervene feels
humiliating. Spiritual platitudes,
however prevalent and commercially profitable and religious formulas utilizing
assonance and alliteration, do not suffice to empower someone to persevere
through these difficult times.
The Bible allows for Mother Teresa’s
perplexing decades of questioning God’s presence and seeking authentic
communion with Him. Ages before she
lived, Jeremiah’s questions foreshadowed her questions. He offers a fierce complaint and lament
(Jeremiah 20:7-18); in fact, the prophet curses the day that he was born! “Cursed be the day that I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed.” This passage concludes with a pivotal
question for all people of good faith.
“Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to
end my days in shame?” Sequential hurtful experiences compel that question from
anyone who wrestles genuinely for pragmatically significant faith. Notwithstanding her compelling efforts to
enlighten the consciousness of disciples regarding the most vulnerable members
in the human family, Mother Teresa understandably became disillusioned as her
work paled in comparison with illimitable human needs. Jeremiah’s dark questions became hers. Elsewhere Jeremiah asks, “Why is my pain
unending and my wound grievous and incurable?
You are to me like a deceptive brook, like a spring that fails.”
Whether through the lenses of Jeremiah,
Churchill or Mother Teresa, disciples can navigate the treacherous terrain of
emotional and existential wilderness.
Questioning does not negate faith.
Asking hard questions strengthens a disciple’s relationship with God. However painstaking, this process of
wrestling with God is a certain pathway to healing.
Faith can be intensely practical. It is regrettable that so many believers
exaggerate faith in God. I recommend we
demystify faith. Unfortunately, leaders
of the “Gospel of Health and Wealth” movement speciously speak of having “super
faith.” One of these persons once said he had God’s special phone number. With a financial gift, viewers and listeners
of his programs obtain this secret information.
It is more classified than any secrets held by the seventeen
intelligence agencies of the United States government. Nonetheless, in absolute
contrast, Jesus says faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain.
(Matthew 17:20) You essentially need the equivalent of less than a milligram of
weight, drop of water or grain of sand to resolve any dilemma. Simply stated, you need willingness to believe
that things can be different. Are
willing to merely entertain the idea that you can surmount any challenge with
God’s help. Will you affirm, “There is a
solution?” “I will not allow any problem
to define me.” “I am victorious in all
matters.” I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians
4:13) “I am more than a conqueror through Christ who gives me the victory.”
(Romans 8:37) “I sought the Lord who heard my cry and delivered me from all my
fears.” (Psalm 34:4) These affirmations
reflect genuine faith in God’s ability to heal.
Believing that healing is possible is necessary to obtain it. To overcome your childhood and formative
trauma, you must have faith that it is possible. Still, the requisite faith is very practical
and commonsensical. Believing with your
whole heart that continual healing will unfold.
Affirmation is a form of practical
faith. Repeatedly, forthrightly and
specifically stating your wholehearted desires is a means of demonstrating
faith in God’s willingness to intervene favorably in your challenges. Affirmations arise from the oceans of a
person’s heart and psyche. Lingering in
pain motivates a person to seek healing.
Each time a person articulates a desire for healing, he or she
prays. Consistent and daily periods of
affirmation are powerful means of achieving healing from past pain. The opening verses of Genesis reflects the power
of the spoken word. God speaks creation
into existence. His words are the manifestation of His architectural plans for
the Earth. Before He speaks, His ideas
remain silent and dormant within His mind.
Similarly, many of our dreams and hopes remain unformed in our
subconscious. Like undefiled treasure in the ocean, these creative
possibilities live within our inner world until we voice them aloud. Affirming them as your heart’s deepest
desires is an act of faith. Stating
positively your heartfelt intention to accomplish your dreams and goals
fulfills the intention and meaning of Hebrews 11:1. “Faith is the substance of
things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.” Affirmative words exist as substance of our
intentions and evidence of our faith until our desires and dreams manifest
physically. Daily repetition of our intention
to achieve our most heartfelt ambitions declares our faith. These affirmations remove lingering vestiges
of victimhood. They yield
self-determination thereby assuring us that we can make proactive choices in
daily living. This liberty results from
healing which faith makes possible.
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