Faith and Knowledge

The unifying experience of God and man is a truly universal phenomenon, to which no religion may lay its own exclusive claim. Viewed through the cultural lens of Christianity, it is symbolized, exemplified, and personified in the figure of Jesus Christ, yet, it is present in its most pure expression, in all places and at all times, on the subtlest levels of consciousness; which all of us possess, but, to which not all of us are presently, frequently, nor equally sensitive. "Faith in Christ" is simply the Christian's way of articulating and processing the universal faith in this core reality -- the enlightenment experience of God-in-man-in-God. Faith does not bring us God, for we have Him already. Faith merely brings consciousness to the presence of God, which has been there all alone, and will always be.

Faith, as it manifests in the flowering of religious imagery, is the motive force behind the living dream; the dream that is lived. The dream, the vision, is not separate from our faith in it. Our faith is one with the dream. And faith is only faith when it must rise above something; it is the light which shines in darkness, when all other lights have gone out; it always comes into existence in the face of adversity, and in spite of all else. Faith therefore requires some effort, some assertion on the part of the soul, to rise above whatever threatens to dishearten the spirit. It does not matter, not even in the slightest, that our faith is weak. All that matters is that we strain and bear up in spite of this weakness. The greater the weakness, the more astounding shall be God's grace. "For His strength is made perfect in weakness."

Likewise, His wisdom is made perfect in our foolishness. While cynics may find in such a statement, a fitting occasion to mock, it is nevertheless a profound truth that the light of faith shines brightest in the darkness of ignorance. We are made wise to the degree that we acknowledge our ignorance, relying upon the wisdom of God, as if it were our own; for He has given Himself, and all that He possesses, into our care. How can we not be humbled by such a responsibility, and overwhelmed with gratitude for such a gift?

Faith, then, is two-fold. On the one hand, it corresponds to this basic, universal experience, to which people lend their various interpretations, while, on the other hand, it corresponds to the substance of whatever interpretation a particular individual or group has chosen; in my case, the Christian tradition. It is both of these, as essence and as substance; as spirituality and as religion.

I have come to see religion as a means and spirituality as an end, -- but the one does not lead to the other; rather, they work together, symbiotically and simultaneously, in my soul. Religion cannot adequately reflect the formless simplicity of God, nevertheless, it is still much less complicated, much less entrenched in form, than the world we see before us. Religious symbols and boundaries (which must be understood as guides and guidelines, tentative and permeable) function as middle points between our world and the experience of formlessness. Dogma, which by its rigidity chokes and suffocates the life of the soul, is not so much to be found in the Church, as it is to be found in the mote which clouds our vision of the Church. Those who stand outside its walls, whether laity or nonmembers, and those who stand within, as clerics who attempt to speak on its behalf, are equally prone to distort the divine vision and mission of the Church. In fact, it is only our inability to appreciate the tradition as it was understood and illuminated in the minds of the mystics, which is to blame. Dogma is nothing more than a false interpretation of doctrine which passes for doctrine. But the spiritual minded spiritualize all things.

Truly, it is glory to see an unambiguous manifestation of Christian love, and discover individuals who have lost and found themselves in Christ Consciousness. So many of us, it seems, have attained to and been impressed by higher spiritual realms, where our poor wings could not beat fast enough to preserve us, and we knew not how to rely on the assistance of angels. We touched the hem of His garment and we are forever changed. As Pascal writes: "You would not be seeking God if you had not already found Him." He is the center to which we approach, and He is mysteriously present within the approach.

I cannot judge who He is with, from moment to moment. Into what ear He is now whispering something wise and charged with graceful purpose. Or whom He will quicken when He will. Hawthorne says families are always rising and falling in America, but how much more true is this of souls within the spiritual realms of experience, exalted by humility one moment and abased by pride the next? Yes, falling is somehow a part of rising, for God does not grant us challenges equal to our strength, but mightily surpassing it, so that we may learn to rely more naturally upon a divine, transcendent grace; rooted not in perfect self-reliance, but in the humblest, most faithful submission to the will of God. We must be resigned even to become as dust, undistinguished by any outward sign, if that is His will for us in this life.

The Lord makes good use of us all, whether or not we are abandoned to His will, and He accords us positions of eminence or obscurity, according to His secret purposes. I do not know how often a saint has looked at me through the eyes of one who seemed only a sinner, and perhaps he knew not that he was blessed. Or when I have been impressed by what seemed like a person of noble purpose, whose actions, seeming good in themselves, appeared to be most nobly motivated, -- and who in fact was an agent of a very different character. And then, so often, the most sensitive of us seem most easily carried along by both angels and devils, without a power to distinguish the true sources of our inspiration, whether it is damnable or divine. Time instructs us. Failure, Disgrace, and Contrition are the names of our most taxing professors. Faith declares it to us, and will not allow any evil to be less than another byway unto good.

Praise to the Lord, who raises us even as He casts us down; who fortifies our souls even as He grinds our egos into the finest powder! May we turn forever to His judgement, welcoming our ignorance as a sign of our obedience to His unspoken word. For all our knowledge crumbles at the brink of the unknown. It is a bridge which leads into a fog, and we know not where it takes us, nor how it is upheld there, nor if it is upheld. Yet faith, made perfect in the darkness of unknowing, leads us childlike, extending a hand to the Father we cannot see, into deeper regions of simplicity, until God has become the answer to all questions, and not merely a distant realization towards which our answers vaguely, if eloquently, point.

The answer of our ignorance, and of His wisdom, must be sufficient; and to the extent to that this answer (which appears so insubstantial to the world) is enough for ourselves, so will it testify of our faith, and of the very highest gnosis to which the soul of man may attain.