The past few weeks my Bible study class has been winding down, focusing on the New Testament and a "where do we go from here" mentality. While there are still several more weeks in the class, one of our "assignments" for the class was to prepare an individual statement of faith. Such statement would be incorporated with others to make a composite, or group, statement of faith for the class.
It was interesting to hear my classmate's statements, and in particular, how similar they were. I imagine this is a good thing; all are members of the same church, have been for awhile, and it make sense to have a similarity or a consistency among them. Their statements of faith dealt with belief, i.e., this is what I believe. Most statements were fairly similar to the beginning of the Nicene Creed. As I was listening to the statements, I was also struck how different mine was from the rest. In many ways this is not surprising, I tend to be unconventional when it comes to matters of faith, religion, and spirituality. Much of our discussions in the past few weeks have centered on the concept of "faith alone" versus "faith and works," a central point of contention between Catholics and Protestants, at least during the Reformation period. I was not taking either view really, but rather contending that any sense of "faith" must be present in actions and deed, not thought or speech. The simple version being that talk is cheap, deeds matter.
I struggle at times conveying what I mean in this regard, but I was never positing that deeds "earned" anything, which I think is a hanging point for many people of Christian backgrounds when discussing this issue. For Christianity, salvation is not earned in any sense, it is given and has to be accepted. While I think there are semantics muddying the issue a bit (when don't I?), this wasn't really the end sought for the positions I discussed. Rather, (again, some semantics here), to me, faith is not belief, it is action. Thus, for me, when asked to have an individual statement of faith, I am not thinking about what I believe, but what I should do. Which is why the statement of faith I presented to the class had no nouns.
"Be Mindful. Be Compassionate. Be Humble. Seek Justice. Seek Truth. Seek Peace."
I started reading your post last night, got distracted, and then finished it this morning. Then this afternoon I read a daily reflection that I usually read and today's made me think of you and your post. It's by "Elisabeth Lesuer (died 1914), a French married laywoman whose cause for canonization is underway":
ReplyDeleteTo sense God near, to meditate, to pray, to gather our thoughts so as to reflect on them more deeply, that is to live the inner life, and this interior life is the greatest joy. Such inspiring thoughts and ardent desires and generous resolutions, however, should be translated into action, for we are in the midst of life and a great task awaits us. This is the time for painful effort. We must tear ourselves apart, give up thought for reality, face action, know that we will either not be understood at all or completely misunderstood, and that we will perhaps suffer at human hands for having willed the good of humanity. We must already have drawn from God an incomparable strength, and armed our hearts with patience and love, in order to undertake day by day and hour by hour the work that belongs to all Christians: the moral and material salvation of our brothers and sisters.
The task that the world at present offers us, the moral renewal, the transformation and education of souls, is so immense that it may well confound us. What can be done in the face of evil and indifference by someone as obscure as I? Nothing of myself, no doubt, but all through and with God. I believe that in the good there is a great expansive force; I believe that no humble, unknown act or thought, seen by God alone, is lost, and that all, in fact, contribute to the good of others. I believe, according to the saying... that "when we do good we know not how much good we do." What we have to do is to work on ourselves, to accomplish our own inner transformation, to fulfill our obligations and do all the good that we can, each day and each hour. Above all, we must ask God to fill us with an intense charity. Charity is the love of God that renews and transforms us and our lives, and becomes the hidden source of our actions, our love of all creatures, our powerful and vital love of souls, our love of all who suffer and grieve. Such love can save the world. Why complain when we can act? Why hate, since hate destroys, when that divine love enlivens and transforms our hearts?
That's a nice reflection...and I can see the "similarity" so to speak, at least to the extent of putting things into action. I particularly liked the second paragraph...I interpreted parts of it similar to the "Anyway" poem we used for faith group during college; about doing things that we deem/feel are right and compassionate regardless of how it seems to affect the world around us. Act and live based on certain principles or precepts, and let whatever results come, and understand what we can control, and what is out of our control.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.