Reflections for 10/22/10

"It's not all bad. It's just not enough. As many have said, 'Faith is caught much more than it is taught."(R.Rohr "Radical Grace" p.347)

When I reflect on my faith journey, I realize that it really was something that was caught first. Actually more born into. I haven't known a period of time where faith was not a part of me. My journey has been one much more guided by experience than intellectual assent.

That is not to say that I dumb down my faith, or will not ask questions of it. I do not dismiss scientific discovery, nor do I find questions from folks who do not share my belief as a threat.

I have found that as I've grown older, I've wanted to know more. I like to read the Bible over and over again, finding something new each time even in very familiar words. I also love to read theology both classical and modern. All of that more mind oriented journeying does not create my faith, it enhances it.

What strengthens my faith and refuels it, is the daily interaction with other pilgrims, and this wonderfully created world that we inhabit.

It was easier to hold onto that which I caught, perhaps because I never felt that I was being forced into it. There's was always room for questions, doubts etc. Maybe I've just been fortunate. I know there are others who did not have as open an experience to faith as I did.

I really should thank God, for the women and men who helped me catch and catch again, the faith that kept coming at me.

Blessings,
Ed