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* * *
it may take a lot of faith
to lose faith in what was most dear to you - "God" ...
whatever that means - See?
and still
have faith
trees grow up from a seed
and die
and become many other things
and they die
to live as other things
faith is like that
it dies and dies and dies
to remain alive
if it does not die and die and die
it dies: meaning, dead
so, why protect it
why not expose it
to Life, Truth... yes, impermanence, for belief, though mental,
is a form, and all forms undergo change
is that change
resurrection too
not just a death
if so, what we think to be true
transforms into a newness growing out of
what we once thought to be true -
not rejection, but continuity,
the present insight infolding the past
in a more mature, more inclusive whole
so
can you live with the questions long enough
to see they were never given to betray you
but lead you onward to a more fulfilling life
a life that could not be
without the life that was
and is it okay to come to a place, a time
where the questions just are, and faith just is
and the struggle
to believe or not believe
is over
for you lived the questions
to their end
then, doubts might arise,
but leave, quickly
for you no longer live where the questions live
reality being too great, too mysterious
and there you find communion with others not in
what you believe, they believe
what you do not believe, they do not believe
you find communion
in Love
* * *
When I was a prison chaplain in North Florida, I worked with volunteers from different religions who would come on Saturday mornings to offer meetings for inmates. A volunteer came faithfully each Saturday. He was of a group denounced by the confessing Christians of my earlier years. Some would even tell how they would run them off from their homes, when persons from the religion came to speak with them. Beyond this, he was a black man, another group looked down upon by most people in my childhood and youth.
This man, an outcast to evangelical conservative "Christians," was one of the most Christlike beings I had ever met, a gentle, kind being that glowed with love. I greatly respected him, and we shared joyful companionship whenever we met.
If I had held to the beliefs of my younger years, I would have missed truly seeing this man and enjoying harmony of heart with him. I would have missed the gift of meeting with him, beyond what he and I thought was true or untrue. Our differing beliefs could not keep us apart.
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