‘To Have & To Hold’ : FAITH
Our title / theme addresses a foundational Christian paradigm / principle, which might be expressed – in everyday language – as: ‘SECURE BASE’. We (humans) are ‘hapless / helpless / hopeless’: we long to ‘BELONG’ (as per: ‘Blame V Bless’ article). The Bible encapsulates this topic, as follows: “From where comes my help? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven & earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).
We wrestle with the ‘theory & practice’ of FAITH. We seek to get our ‘small (human) grip’ on God’s ‘large (spiritual) grasp’. This complexity was reduced to simplicity in the last paragraph of this website’s Booklet / eBook: The “GLOW” of Happiness / “FIT” for Purpose. It says: “We should recognize and acknowledge in ourselves the God who made us in His own image, for if we do this, we in turn will be recognized and acknowledged by our Maker”.
So: where can we turn? / to whom might we go? Our first task is to ‘see’ ourselves “as we are” (i.e. ‘individualistic / incapable / insecure’). Our person (body / soul / spirit) is constantly challenged in terms of ‘weakness or strength’ / ‘pride or humility’ / ‘war or peace’. The key question becomes: where can we find a ‘role model’ for FAITH “life”?
When this issue arose in the ‘early’ Church the ‘followers’ of Jesus the Christ patterned their daily lives on the “Way”. They lived “life” in conformity with a “transcendent” (inside / outside) HABIT – partaking of formational roles (‘who’) / practicing formational rules (‘how’) – encompassing ‘Attitude Behaviour Character’ (‘ABC’) / centered on the “mystic-mystery” of the Incarnation / Trinity:
- Help (i.e. commiserate ‘with’ compassion)
- Agree (i.e. coordinate ‘with’ cooperation)
- Belong (i.e. collaborate ‘with’ colleagues)
- Incarnation: ‘who’ you are (i.e. an ‘other’ Christ)
- Trinity: ‘how’ to be (i.e. reciprocal / mutual / complementary).
What all the above teaches us, is: Jesus the Christ – ‘Way Truth Life’ – is the “source” of “new birth” / “new life”: He is our ‘REFUGE & STRENGTH’. Thus, the central Christian message is: “Christ enables us to live in Him all that He himself lived, and He lives it in us” (CCC 521). Herewith, the ‘quid pro quo’ (i.e. ‘exchange’) of FAITH.
The “Way” of FAITH calls for ‘total commitment’ (without fear or favour): “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:24). The “Way” of FAITH is the “Way” of ‘apprenticeship’ to Jesus the Christ. He is the ‘role model’: Master / Teacher.
To be ‘followers’ of the “Way” means setting aside all personal (‘self-serving’) ambition in favour of (‘self-giving’) Social & Spiritual ‘relationality / connectivity’: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23) / “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul” (Luke 9:25). See, also, (Matthew 16:24-26) & (Mark 8:34-36).
In summary: In a world of 24/7 distraction we are called: ‘To Have & To Hold’: FAITH. It is ‘key’ to “communion with God”. St Augustine’s insight is relevant: ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, & our hearts are restless until they rest in You’.
Note (1): ‘REST’ – which we all ‘desperately’ need – might be translated as: ‘Refuge Exchange’ (from ‘false’ to ‘true’) ‘Strength Transformed’ (from ‘weak’ to ‘strong’): i.e. the restoration of new life (with ‘true God’) from old life (with ‘false gods’).
Note (2): ‘REST’-ORATION (the Good News of ‘REST’) is a central theme of the Bible: (as per Psalm 85:6): “Will you not restore again our life that your people may rejoice in you?”: (as per the New Testament): The ‘life, death & resurrection’ of Jesus the Christ is “our restoration & our joy”.
Note (3): How to ‘REST‘ in the Lord? (Psalm 37:7): ‘Have’ & ‘Hold’ (“in your heart / on your lips“): ‘Glory and Praise to our God: in You I trust‘ (10 words / 33 letters).