Gimme faith.
People have told me that I have a lot of faith. I usually thank them and I feel pretty good about myself for a moment and enjoy that somebody sees something in me that I value. It is esteem-able. I like to think that I have something to do with it, and that by exercising my faith I have built up spiritual muscles of some sort. I am just kidding myself.
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, "Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. (Luke 17:5-6)
Faith is a gift. It is a sign of grace working in our lives. It is the very presence of God’s love at work in us. What faith is not, is a commodity we can have more or less of as if it were money or pork-belly futures.
Let me explain…
I often hear people refer to faith in a way that sounds a lot like belief. Belief is belief. Faith is faith. I like to think of faith as what I do because of what I believe. This is not a rigorous theological position, it is just a way I have of thinking about how to live in faith.
My faith involves praying even when I’m not feeling it. It involves receiving the sacraments even when it all seems a silly parody. It involves giving even when I feel like taking. I can only do these things by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because on my own power, I can be a selfish prick more often than I would like.
This brings us to the presence of God’s love again. The Holy Spirit- the third person of the Trinity who seems to get short shrift in a lot of spiritual/theological discussion. The Holy Spirit is God’s intimate presence in out lives. It is the spirit of faith which causes the mulberry tree to obey. Does the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives always result in magic tricks and arboreal relocations? No, because faith wouldn’t spend time attempting to impress with tricks and shows. Faith would command the wealthy to care for the poor. Faith would be busy looking after the widows and orphans, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked.
Much has been made of Mother Theresa’s journals which show in her a tremendous doubt and a persistent experience of the absence of God. The atheists would laugh and point out, “See even this woman who was such an example of faith didn’t experience the presence of your God!”
Ah! But she did what she did because of what she believed, even in the absence of consolation and reward. What great faith she had indeed. Faith the size of a mustard seed.
I pray for faith the size of a mustard seed. Do you?
