Dear Caldwell,
My dad is always just out beyond where the waves break.
When my family can escape to the beach, as we have this week, I can always “find” my dad out there, “battling” the waves. I am a boy again and we are riding the relentless charge of the sea, with my father using his “pirate voice” to call out Ahab and challenge the sea to do its worst.
Most waves we would ride over the top. Sometimes we would misjudge one and go for a tumble. But I was never really at risk – because I was a decent enough swimmer and because my father wouldn’t really let anything happen to me. I had faith in him, faith in my own ability, faith in something that was beyond me that allowed my to push my limits just a bit.
As we travel from Sunday to Sunday this week, the lectionary (weekly suggested scripture readings) takes us into a three-week season in Hebrews that begins with Hebrews 11:1, which tells us “faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Hebrews goes on to plumb the question of what faith is in ways that well deserve our attention for a few Sundays.
I’d love to hear how you would finish the sentence “Faith is ….” Try to keep your response to six words or less (following the model of Hebrews 11:1).
As I “spend time” this week with my dad, out just beyond the breakers, I am thankful for the faith he and my mother taught me, each in their own way, which surely included a faith in humanity, which I have had to draw on more than usual this summer.
What is faith to you? Let my know by responding to this blog entry or in an email to pastor@caldwellpresby.org .
In Christ,
John