Sometimes God calls a person to unbelief in order that faith may take new forms.
—Christian Wiman, My Bright Abyss
If the city is a metaphor for certainty and belonging, then the wilderness is for our questions and our truth.
—Sarah Bessey, Field Notes
Author Sarah Bessey writes of an evolving faith as one that can sustain disruptions and thrive in what she calls “the wilderness.”
I have always liked the word “evolving,” as it helps me do what Father Richard Rohr calls “transcend and include” my faith experiences both before that season and since. As my dear friend Rachel Held Evans once said, “An evolving faith is simply faith that has adapted in order to survive.”… [1]
To me, an evolving faith … has proven to be about the questions, the curiosity, and the ongoing reckoning of a robust, honest faith. An evolving faith brings the new ideas and ancient paths together. It’s about rebuilding and reimagining a faith that works not only for ourselves but for the whole messy, wide, beautiful world. For me, this has proven to be deeply centered in the Good News of Jesus. An evolving faith is sacramental, ecumenical, embodied, generous, spirit-filled, truthful, and rooted in the unconditional, never-ending love of God…. An evolving faith is a resilient and stubborn form of faithfulness that is well acquainted with the presence of God in our loneliest places and deepest questions. And an evolving faith has room for all the paths you may navigate….
Anyone who gets to the end of their life with the exact same beliefs and opinions they had at the beginning is doing it wrong. Because if we don’t change and evolve over our lifetime, then I have to wonder if we’re paying attention to the invitation of the Holy Spirit that is your life.
Bessey shares encouragement she received from her father as she moved through ongoing disorder and deconstruction:
In response to my very real and legitimate fears of where this wilderness wandering and questioning would lead me, [my dad] told me something along the lines of this: “I’m not afraid for you. If you’re honestly seeking God, I believe you will find what you’re looking for, even if it looks different than what I have found.”
I still remember the whooshing exhale my relieved soul experienced at his words, like the lifting of a burden that wasn’t mine to carry anyway. It was permission to evolve, and it was love. And so, all these years later, I have adopted that as my own approach to those who are on a winding path of spiritual growth and formation—be not afraid.
I’m not afraid for those who are wondering and wandering. I’m not afraid for them or of them, for you or of you…. You are deeply loved and God is not worried about you. You can rest and abide in that Love even as you throw a few things into the fire.
=======================
| Psalm 107: The Indiscriminate Kindness of God |
 Click Here for AudioIn the gospels, we find numerous accounts of Jesus rebuking people—the religious leaders, unbelieving towns, his own disciples, and even a tree. He was very aware of the motives of those who followed and questioned him. And yet, there is not one story in the gospels of Jesus turning away someone in need. In fact, he often healed everyone who was brought to him. (For example, see Mark 1:32-34.)I’ve always found this detail somewhat strange. Did every one of those people deserve to be healed? Were they all innocent victims of whatever physical or spiritual sickness burdened them? Or were some sick because of their own foolishness or sinful choices? And there’s no indication in the gospels that everyone Jesus healed became his disciple. In fact, there are stories where we are explicitly told people did not follow Jesus after being healed.All of this raises a difficult question. How does God decide who to rescue? What criteria does he use to determine who to heal? Psalm 107 offers some insight and confirms what we see in Jesus’ ministry. The psalm describes four kinds of people facing great peril, and each time “They cried out to YHWH in their trouble” (verses 6, 13, 19, and 28). And each time he saved them from their distress. It’s a song about God’s great mercy and his commitment to redeem us from every danger. However, when we look more closely at the four cries for help in Psalm 107, we discover they belong in two different categories.Two of them describe people in dangerous circumstances they did not cause. There are people lost in the wilderness without food or water (verses 4-5), and people on the sea during a terrible storm (verses 23-27). Throughout the Bible, the wilderness and the sea are recognized as realms of chaos and scarcity. They symbolize the evil forces opposed to the God of Israel. Therefore, in Psalm 107, when the Lord saves people from the wilderness or sea he is rescuing them from evil powers. He is responding to the cries of innocent victims. These scenarios fit with what we expect from a God who frees slaves, heals the sick, and raises the dead. But the other two scenarios in Psalm 107 are very different. Verse 10 describes prisoners suffering in darkness “because they rebelled against God’s commands.” And verse 17 speaks of people with terrible physical suffering who are near death “because of their iniquities.” In these cases, the peril is the person’s own fault. They are not victims of circumstance but of their own sinful choices. To use biblical language, they are reaping what they’ve sown. And yet when they cried out to YHWH in their trouble, he rescued them as well. When we reflect on Psalm 107 and on the indiscriminate kindness of Jesus in the gospels, we discover a remarkable truth about God. He is not merciful because of who we are, but because of who he is. Once again, this psalm challenges our consumeristic tendency to center ourselves in the Bible. We assume that what matters most is our sin, our righteousness, our faithfulness, or our failures. Rather than worrying about whether we are worth or unworthy of God’s care, the psalmist wants us to turn our attention upward “and ponder the loving deed of YHWH” (verse 43). DAILY SCRIPTURE. PSALM 107:1-43 WEEKLY PRAYEROrigen (185 – 254) May the Lord Jesus place his hands on our eyes that we may begin to catch sight of the things that are not seen more than the things that are seen. May he open our eyes that they will alight on the things to come more than on the things of this age. May he unveil the vision of our heart that it may contemplate God in spirit. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom belong glory and power for ever. Amen. |
