Paul Tillich once said, “Doubt is not the opposite of
faith; it is one element of faith.“
Anne Lamott built on Tillich’s quote, “The opposite of
faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely.
Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it
be there until some light returns.”
What does this say to us, in terms of faith?
Actually, it creates a mess, if we are honest
I keep thinking about those foolish virgins, who certain
of the bridegroom
Saw no reason to take extra oil for their lamps, and lost
their light (and their place)
Just ugh
We might see them, actually as having faith,
But they are not the role models in the story
The ones who want to be a part of it all,
But with some degree of unknowing take along some extra
oil
Are the ones who are lit up.
Certainty can certainly do a number on us.
I am not a fan of anthropomorphizing either the Sacred
Or the anti-sacred
Although God and Satan (who is really just the voice of
dissent, the tempter)
Make it all easier to talk about
But I think that if that “other voice” does anything,
It makes us certain
Certain of our place, our views, our stance
Certain we are right, and others are wrong
Certain that we have the right to impose our beliefs
(after all, they are correct) on everyone else.
I am reminded how Thomas Merton claimed that the devil
makes most of his true disciples not by his preaching in favor of sin but by
preaching against it hoping those who listen will then spend the rest of their
lives meditating on the intense sinfulness of others
When we are certain we are blind to our own messes
And all too aware of the problems of others.
“There but for the grace of God go I”
One of the huge issues here is that our perceptions are
often off
We are pretty much always just guessing
Doing the best we can
But when we are certain?
Then we get into a weird place
Where
How often are we deceived into thinking the wrong side is
the right side
And the right side is the wrong side
When we are certainly wrong.
Isaiah suggested this is not a good place!
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
There are people I am certain have done this!
Alas
But as certain as I am that “they” have done this,
I am just as certain that I have too
And I am certain that I have to let go of certainty
And, as Merton suggests,
Live in faith, not certainty
Noticing the mess (mine and theirs)
I need to notice the emptiness and discomfort,
Accept my unknowing
Embrace the questions
And keep turning, turning, turning
To the Spirit
until some light returns
resisting what I see as evil, if necessary
but doing so with humility
and the awareness that it is I who might be wrong
Doing it with grace, love, and kindness
Because
Who knows?
Faith is not for the faint of heart.
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