Finding-Doc

I was having a discussion with one of my friends a few weeks ago and she was talking about how many of the churches in the area where moving away from the conservative to be more cosmopolitan. She said that it was in an effort to not cause their parishioners not to loose their faith. I said that it was in order not to loose members of the church; she thought it was because I can be cynical and jaded but in this case she was only partially right.

I do not believe one can loose ones faith, rather that faith is a part of your being, as much a part of you as your heart or your mind, it is something that you are born with, and you discover over time. Faith is not found in a book, or a moving sermon, a scripture or hymn. This is not to say you can not find a book or books written by someone who shares at least generally your faith.

Human beings for all of our differences are remarkably similar. Did you know that our DNA is 99.9 % identical? That is correct all the differences that we use to define identity, take pride or shame, complement of find fault with is worth a penny. A shinny copper penny is all that separates you and I, be we from the same country or from across the globe. So it is not surprising that we find others who share our faith, in many ways feel exactly the way we do, believe and worship in the same manner though I am certain each of us still retains a few nuisances to how we practice and live our faith.

Humans are also social creatures, we long for others with whom to share our lives; so it follows that we would long to share our faith with others, to share the core of who we are. So it’s understandable that people long for labels for that sense of belonging, to feel part of the larger group, to not feel isolated and alone, as we so often are in our darkest moments.

Time tests us, trials wear us down, tragedies break us, but we continue on, and when we rise again our faith born anew as well. Sometimes it is little changed sometimes it is drastically different but it is never lost. Rather misplaced of obscured, when our lives are out of balance with our actions.

For this reason I don’t believe a church can cause a person to gain or lose their faith. Rather the individual realizes that their path lies along another route, be it alone or in the company of friends.

Michelangelo once said he did not sculpt statues but rather freed them from the stone. Life does much the same thing to us, taking our unformed hearts and with all the pain and pleasure we experience releases our faith from within. Each unique each as beautiful, each our own masterwork.