Thursday, June 16, 2011

Faith – Just the Next Step



Even with faith how do we actually find our way through this maze called life?


It’s easy for faith plaudits to exhort the claims of faith — somehow ‘dispelling’ the mysteries of pain — but how does that work in a life where there are endless snares that lie in wait for us to fail anyway?


Faith — is it really the be all and end all?


Faith is More Than ‘Faith’


The reason why faith sounds more like an insensitive cliché when we’re really struggling to comprehend our way is we’ve separated out the individual acts of placing faith each step of the way — the positive act, one after another, in the midst of darkness — from the general, more cliché, issue of having faith over the journey.


The length of the journey hence swamps us!


Our focus has become the outcome, not the process to get us there.


Without the answers, or confidence to raise the answers, whilst we’re on the process of getting to where we need to get to, we’re stumped.


We’ve simplified faith too much. Faith is not just a by-word.


Re-Defining Faith


Journey-defining faith is the very thing to get us through right now, and every succeeding ‘right now’ we’ll have on our way out of the present chaos. Faith is tangible and practical.


We can lay our hands on it.


It’s the positive act when every sinew in us is saying “give up,” and in this way it’s the reticence to feel the darkness. And this driving Light behind it is even ever so dim, yet we feel it better through initiation — through making the move, without basis, without reason; just in the ability to make it.


Faith is goodness in the presence only of darkness.


The journey seems dark right the way through. Little do we know we have to bring the torchlight. God will reveal our faith to have good basis when we initiate without need of hand-holding. Faith would not be faith otherwise. Trust is the torchlight ‘on’ button.


When Blinded, Choose Faith


Faith is blindness that is eventually miraculously healed. Hindsight sees to it that the faith placed was both sensible and logical as we look back.


Getting worried about the actual steps of the journey is looking too far for faith. This faith is simply taking each coming moment on its presented merits and acting in accord. Nothing else.


When we’re blinded by life’s mysteries, and this is common happenstance, disregarding the really significant losses we may have to deal with, we’re left with no choice really other than to have faith just for the next step. Sight as an aid beyond it has been removed.


It’s time to tread warily but just boldly enough to make the next step! That’s faith. It sorts the need for worry. Why worry when it’s just the next step that’s the focus of our view.


This simple view of life — where we’re blinded to unnecessary fear-engendering distraction — is the foundation of working faith.


© 2011 S. J. Wickham.

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