I have been pondering what it means to have faith. To cultivate a life where I listen with the ear of the heart and act with the conviction that my life is meant to bear witness to Love. But not just me and my life, you and yours too, each of us born to be a unique expression of divine goodness, beauty, and truth and to join in God’s work of shalom for peace and wholeness. A tall order. No wonder the disciples in the gospel this Sunday say to Jesus, “Increase our faith!”*
This has been my cry many times as I face the enormity of challenges in my backyard and the world. I am aware of my very real human limitations and fallibility, mixed emotions, and contradictory behaviors. But I know that to practice good faith I must move aside the doubt and feelings of not-enoughness. I must cultivate a way of seeing deeper and longer than ordinary sight and thinking. I must lean into my spiritual heart and do what I can to be faithful, trusting that in the big picture God’s got this. Remarkably, being honest about my limitations opens me to my greatest potential in God.
Our friend Kayla McClurg said it well: “Jesus reminds us that we are not the masters of God’s purposes, but the servants. We have enough faith to do what is ours to do, to serve what matters. What part of our world’s pain touches the depths of our own brokenness? Where does creation’s struggles for life and meaning touch our own longing? We show our faith in God, in all creation, each time we step toward this place. The journey to the really Real—to our salvation—depends on it.”
-Trish Stefanik, Overlook Retreat House at Dayspring
For reflection:
- What helps you have faith?
- How might you be called to step out in faith in a new way?
- What is it about the people who inspire your faith?
