Persistent Faith
Faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen,” says the Letter to the Hebrews (11:1).
Faith is better understood as a verb than as a noun, as a process than as a possession. It is on-again and off-again, rather than once-and-for-all. Faith is not being sure of where you are going, but going anyway, or a journey without maps. Paul Tillich once said that doubt is not the opposite of faith; it an element of faith.
Frederick Buechner put it this way. “I have faith that my friend is my friend. Of course, it is possible that all his motives are ulterior. There is, however, something about the way we can speak with each other without pretense, and be silent with each other without embarrassment that makes me willing to put my life in his hands, as I do each time I call him friend.”
I keep asking myself, “How can I make it through this unsettled time?” It is almost a daily question. It comes upon me at different times through the day and night. How? How can I make it? The answer I receive is persistent faith.
All my doubts and questions notwithstanding – a persistent faith! Faith that consciously fixes its determination on a single goal, whether that objective be hope, peace, stillness or healing. Whatever it confronts, this level of faith is willing to go the distance. It is a deep and interconnected faith. It is a mature faith, an experienced faith. It will hold on, keep going and find its hope no matter what, no matter how long. It is centered in a love that is as sure as granite, a strength upon which you can always build. That is why I pray for you and for me that we be entrusted with a persistent faith that will never let us down.
Let us pray.
Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favor, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works, begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy Holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen .
"The Book of Common Prayer," page 832, No. 57
