“I am no longer an atomist. The things of faith do not stand alone nor do they stand still. The Fathers of the church have taken me back into a dynamic worldview, an understanding of the interrelationship of all things. The faith, which once looked like an alphabet with everything standing independently and in a row, now looks like a majestic tapestry.” (Robert Webber)
There was a time in my life that I searched for answers. My faith needed answers. Answers that were fixed and absolute were the foundation of my faith. The last few days has reminded me that my faith is anchored more by “questions” than “answers.” I needed to have the answers. I needed to be “certain” of what I believed in order to feel secure. However, when the answers proved to be inadequate, my faith was shattered. In the midst of “shattered-faith” I discovered a Jesus who was NOT asking me to solve the mystery, but leading me rather, to “celebrate the mystery.”
To live in the “unknown” and yet know that “all is well” has somehow renewed the passion of my faith. It was Webber who opened my heart to the possibility that faith is not individual nor is it fixed. In my journey I have come to realize that a static view of faith must be replaced with a more dynamic view. My faith has led me away from the old debates that once divided Christians. Instead of debates where we are unified around “answers,” I long for dialog where unity is found in the “mystery” of the question.
It is in the mystery of the unknown that I have discovered family. In the Presence of the “One” that cannot be fully understood, I am at peace with those who stand by faith in His Grace. It is here where my faith is full.
I want to celebrate the mystery of Christ who leads me, lives with me and who I can trust with answers that are too great for me to know. I want to invite all who stand in awe of the “mystery of Christ” to join me in singing:
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
I have no answers for those of you who ask me how it is that I know that God is with me, but I know that he is …. not only with me, but also with those who ask the question!
