Radical Faith...
I have been reading the book The Grief Club: The Secret to Getting Through All Kinds of Change by Melody Beattie. If you have been reading my blog over time as well as know me, you know I have read plenty of self-help books to get through our journey. The following paragraph hit home with me...I have struggled over the years with why this happens, faith, what I believe in...well I can now say, radical faith it is....
Radical faith is different from the simple faith many of us had, the faith that says, If I do good things, then only good things will happen to me. If I'm a good person, people I love won't die. G-d will protect and take care of me and the people I love. Radical faith is bold. It's not squeamish, fundamentalist, judgemental, or blaming. It's courageous. It says, I can be a good, loving, decent human being and still be vulnerable to tragedy. My world can be shattered in a moment. Life can be viciously cruel, but it's still worth caring about. Disasters happen to other people and they can happen to me, and it's nobody's fault. When we surrender our defenses, our innocence becomes restored. Faith then becomes a matter of will, something we declare. I will have faith in life, we say. We laugh again. Our hearts are stronger then we think.
It's not easy to have faith when we're burning in the fire. We're not all going to get our miracles. More times than not, the miracle we get is life as-is and no guarantees. Plain faith, the kind most of us have been schooled in, applies to tomorrow. It says, Things are going to be okay-if and when we get our happy ending. When we talk to someone who has been where we are, we get the courage to have radical faith-the extraordinary kind. It's powerful when somebody looks us in the eye and tells us we can do it and we are okay, because he or she has been where we're at. Our bodies respond right down to our cells. There's enough disaster and pain in our world. Make a contribution. Give people some hope.
Radical faith is different from the simple faith many of us had, the faith that says, If I do good things, then only good things will happen to me. If I'm a good person, people I love won't die. G-d will protect and take care of me and the people I love. Radical faith is bold. It's not squeamish, fundamentalist, judgemental, or blaming. It's courageous. It says, I can be a good, loving, decent human being and still be vulnerable to tragedy. My world can be shattered in a moment. Life can be viciously cruel, but it's still worth caring about. Disasters happen to other people and they can happen to me, and it's nobody's fault. When we surrender our defenses, our innocence becomes restored. Faith then becomes a matter of will, something we declare. I will have faith in life, we say. We laugh again. Our hearts are stronger then we think.
It's not easy to have faith when we're burning in the fire. We're not all going to get our miracles. More times than not, the miracle we get is life as-is and no guarantees. Plain faith, the kind most of us have been schooled in, applies to tomorrow. It says, Things are going to be okay-if and when we get our happy ending. When we talk to someone who has been where we are, we get the courage to have radical faith-the extraordinary kind. It's powerful when somebody looks us in the eye and tells us we can do it and we are okay, because he or she has been where we're at. Our bodies respond right down to our cells. There's enough disaster and pain in our world. Make a contribution. Give people some hope.
Linda Butler I need to read that book, thank you. You are clearly the strongest person I know.
ReplyDeleteMarci Weinberg Scher Linda Butler, books will be yours to borrow when I'm done. Or check the library.... Been good so far.
Karen Schmidt McClelland
Karen Schmidt McClelland well said, as always.
Vivian Chait Radical faith it is!!!!!!
Jill Pelovitz This was very interesting. I have known people who are angry and blame God for their great challenges and obstacles in life. I have always felt that God called me to do this. For whatever reason Nadiya was given to me to teach me about patience and hope and to inspire me to teach others. It is definitely a different kind of faith; I get it.
Kelli Maples Bethel I love Melody's writing I use her books in my teaching