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Matthew 14:22-33 (KJV)
22And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
If i were to pray of a night, that my wife and daughter come home safely from a trip to buy toys from a craiglist ad, would their fate rest upon my faith? Could the same faithlessness that struck Peter on the water, strike me and cause my desire to run afoul? Who can say? Maybe they'll run into trouble in spite of my prayers and Jesus will thrust out his hand to them. Maybe none of us mortals will notice the trouble and continue living life as if nothing strange had happened. Faith is so conveniently mysterious.
I try to think of faith as not being the magic ingredient to making good things happen or one that keeps bad things from happening. I think of it as more of an optimistic anticipation that things will work out properly. It is an expression of knowing the character and nature of God independent of the mystical legacy that is so prevalent in the Christian expression of faith. Also, anticipating that the proper thing will work out conveys a sense of trust in God. When a person is able to attribute the positive to God and not blame him for the painful they are able to show a relational God in a relational way that they are his biggest fan. This is essential to the life of any intimate relationship. What is proper? Well, that is up to God and our part is to optimistically anticipate it and then accept it the best we can.
ReplyDeleteyour optimism is inscrutable. i'm still not sure how it addresses the convenience of faith's mysteriousness.
ReplyDeletedid something good just happen? it must've been God.
did something bad just happen? it must've been God teaching me something.
When both positive and negative results ALWAYS end with a positive outcome, you have to stop and ask yourself... is there a bias?
if God cannot be wrong, then there is a bias. the scientific community says biases are inherently wrong... the spiritual community thrives on a bias. who is right? well... it depends on whose compass you're holding, doesn't it?
What if no one is wrong? What if they are both right? I think that complex concepts that are by nature abstract cannot be easily defined. My personal belief (a few months further into my internal evolution) is that faith and relationship to God, however a person chooses to express or embrace them, are spherical and not a cube. There are no sides, but instead gradient variations of color that blend into one another without one stopping and the other beginning. Simply put, it is for the individual to explore not define.
ReplyDeleteWell... when the likes of Dawkins and Hawking say God is not necessary and the mass of religious people in the world say he is, they cannot both be right. But I think that's somewhat tangential to what you're saying.
ReplyDeleteI like your color-graded sphere analogy. I've spent so much time trying to put life into a box--to understand it so I can master it--that I've lost sight of its purpose. I think you're right in saying that life isn't box-shaped. I've been trying to reduce uncertainties to a manageable size when I ought to have been cultivating myself to manage uncertainties of any size.