I’m a runner. And, like any physical activity, the best way to be conditioned for a run is to run.
The same is true for any sport, or really any kind of activity. An opera singer must practice in order to perform well. Sports stars must train in order to compete well. And brilliant technicians use their minds every day to help keep the systems that connect us working.
We can also see applications of practice-proficiency at the other end of the spectrum. I myself am not an opera singer, a sports star, nor a brilliant technician; because those are not muscles that I dedicate to exercising often. That’s not to say that I could not dedicate time to those activities and become more proficient in them; however, at this time I have exercised those skills that I apply every day.
My question for us all to consider as we continue in this new year is, “Do we think our faith is any different?”
If a person considers his/her faith as only something done about an hour, or perhaps a single morning, per week we fail to truly exercise or live into that part of our lives. In which case, it’s easy to consider the critics of religious beliefs in understanding faith as illogical and on the decline.
In the book of Deuteronomy as the people of Israel are about to enter the promised land, God reminds these people of the covenant that was established a generation earlier at Mount Sinai.
The Lord encourages them to “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.
“Recite (these commandments) to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
“Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your foreheads, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deut 6:6-9) God was saying to make this thing of “living your faith in relationship with me and others” something that surrounds and happens all around you. Later, Paul picks this idea up in his letters. We read in Colossians 3, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Col 3:17a)
Faith is not something that we take off the shelf once a week, or action we do every so often. Faith is a way of living in relationship with the Divine, others, and ourselves. Faith is reality that surrounds us in how we love, express concern, and hope for a more just and grace-filled world than we experienced yesterday. Faith is a way of life that can be difficult to re-integrate into our lives; however, a more holistic understanding of our lives is experienced every day we live into it. Amen.
