Faith in Many Forms

Mauna Loa began erupting earlier this week spewing hot lava nearly 200 feet (60 meters) into the air. This marks the first activity in thirty-eight years for this volcano. This eruption comes after the active volcano was determined to be in a state of heightened unrest due to a 5.0 earthquake in mid-October. Authorities have declared there is no risk to any neighborhoods or property at this time even though the situation is very dynamic with the location and the advance of lava flow being able to rapidly change. This is one kind of faith, trusting the advice of experts during uncertain circumstances that may prove to be life threatening.

Pele is the Hawiian Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes. She is said to be the creator of the Hawaiin Islands, and some believe Pele lives in the Kilauea volcano. Some also speculate that the recent eruption at Mauna Loa is indicative of Pele’s anger over some issue. This is another kind of faith, similar to mine in some respects but widely different in others. I also believe the Hawaiian Islands were created by a Divine Being, as well as the rest of the earth, but not by a local resident ready to punish anyone for their unacceptable behavior. None the less, faith is faith, neither right nor wrong it is what it is.

Melissa Highsmith, who was stolen from her parents when she was a toddler, was found this month living – unbelievably – still in Fort Worth, where her parents reside. She has been reconnected with the family she never knew she had. They have gathered, hugged and shared stories. Melissa’s parents have been quoted as saying they never gave up hope of finding her. That is faith of a special kind on so many levels.

To illustrate the relationship between faith and hope let me describe them as a metaphor of being opposite sides of the same coin. That is, you cannot have faith without hope, and conversely one cannot have hope without faith. Faith requires trust in the abilities or capabilities of someone or something more powerful than us for the circumstances we are facing. For Melissa’s parents they had to have faith in someone or something that would return their daughter to them, whether it was the police, a good Samaritan, God, or lady luck. That faith gave them hope. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:12) The heart being the seat of existence, that spirit/soul complex that occupies the core of each of us. Without hope that core becomes dysfunctional and faithless. That is why when one gives up hope, communication and relationship in general become weaker until they stop entirely. Faith is usually the first to die of all our relationships when hope is gone.

We all have faith in some form that we exercise every day. Every night when we set our alarm to get up for work the next day, we put our faith in that clock going off so we can get to work on time. Every time we board a plane, we put our faith in that pilot to get us safely to our destination. Every time we submit to surgery, we put our faith in the anesthesiologist that we will go to sleep through the entire procedure and then wake up again. We put our faith in the entire medical team of doctors, nurses and specialists that they will conduct the procedure correctly and restore our health. We willingly exercise our faith in these ways every day as well we should, with great respect to those who serve us. As great and wonderful as that faith experience is, it is not sufficient to get any of us through the entire spectrum of experiences that we will have to face during our lifetimes. Each of us either have already experienced or we will experience circumstances completely out of anyone’s control. It is in those moments we need a faith in someone or something that is bigger than this world and our understanding of it.

“Everything visible, without exception, is the outpouring of God.” (Quote from “The Universal Christ” by Richard Rohr p. 13)

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and the earth.” (Psalm 121:1,2)

I want my faith to reside in someone bigger than the world we live in, my faith is in the Designer of the Universe.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.”(Isaiah 43:2)

I want to put my faith in the Creator of the deep waters, the waters that surround the land and the land that contains the waters. My faith resides in the One larger than all the waters and lands of the earth.

“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Mathew 6:26)

The evidence of God is all around us. We have to actively deny His existence to continue in our unbelief. Many years ago, I heard the testimony of a former atheist. His testimony was something along the lines that he would have to actively work at his unbelief everyday but every night when he went to sleep, he was terrified. I am convinced it is not the design of God for anyone to go to sleep at night terrified of the thought of not waking up in the morning. Trusting in God is so much easier. That is another type of faith, the type that I whole heartedly recommend.