I was reminded again today about how much religion can get in the way of authentic faith. Now you may say, "You better remember where your bread is buttered....You get paid by the church after all."
The truth is that it is because of that "work" that puts me in the place to see the damage that religion can do to a struggling soul. So many people I work with have been "teethed" on a religion of guilt and shame. To not "be sure" is to be "wrong" or not be on the path or whatever phrase you want to use to illicit guilt.
One of my joys as a pastor is to be with and to help people who are asking questions and who are not so sure of all that they have been told is essential to being a "true Christian." Alan Jones, one of my mentors, said it well when he said, "The opposite of faith is not doubt it is certainty." If you are so certain then you do not need faith.
Real faith is between the "yes" and the "no." A butterflies wings will never be strong unless it is allowed to struggle to be free from its cocoon.
There are many places in the Bible where people of faith struggle, doubt, scream at God, offer angry thoughts at God, and demand to know just "where the heck God is hiding." Yes, that's in the Bible because its supposed to be. The God I believe in does not demand faith but longs for us to be faithful in the willingness to journey.
I love Thomas Merton's prayer which deals with this. Merton was an icon of faith but it was him who prayed:
"My Lord God I have no idea where I am going, nor do I see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. (and here's the part I share with so many people) But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone."
A great prayer of faith and doubt at the same time. It is part of the journey. The God of "real" faith is always with us no matter if we are feeling that "blessed assurance" or that deep sense of wonder and doubt. God is bigger than some of our small religious concepts.
So be it...
Bless you,
jody jseymour@davidsonumc.org
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Jody, I was introduced to that prayer by Debbie who found it in her learning and practice about centering prayer. As soon as I read it I knew it spoke directly to me because of feelings that I have that mirror Thomas Merton's words. I have adopted it as my own and introduced it to others many times and use it frequently in my own periods of "listening". It is powerful and worthy to be "spread around"...Thanks for highlighting it again...shalom...homer
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