Monday, April 5, 2010

My dear God,

You have shown me that life is viewed through a different lens when seen through the eyes of faith. The colors of the rainbow are brighter, more brilliant; there is a radiant glow that defies perfect understanding. There is a respect, a beauty, a magnificence that lifts all living to a higher plain. Light is distinguished in the midst of deep darkness. Hope extinguishes despair. Peace is possible in chaos and truth liberates.

As I reflect back, I witness the countless many ways faith has kept me alive. When I walked through the valley of the shadow, I learned to trust you. That trust worked like a safety net beneath me. It provided me with a way to look up, to look out, to see the phenomenal workings of your spirit. Courage was produced, joy entered, strength was found.

Faith may at times act like a crutch but it is more, much more. Faith births love and reverence into the world. More is discovered in the human spirit as faith-filled individuals yearn to love their neighbor, care for the hurt, enable the downtrodden. Faith makes the impossible possible. It opens new doors to transform one's own self and those around them. Faith produces a kind of excitement that eases suffering, forges new direction and gives energy for life's journey. Faith gives credit to greater powers that seem to come to life on their own.

Faith sees the world not as hostile, an environment to be conquered but rather as one to be embraced. There is a place on this planet for all persons, each and every one carefully shaped. And even though we often seek to fill our own empty vessels with the flesh of others, faith reveals that even a hard, selfish, evil heart can be changed, softened, remade with a love from on high. We don't always take our cue to rid ourselves of fear and grab hold of faith that creates artistic splendor within ourselves. It's like imagining our own being, our own marble square in the hands of a Michelangelo. There is something far more than an exquisite vision of loveliness. What is revealed is indeed a glimpse into the divine, into your own self.

As I consider my daily trek through life, I get up each morning praying not just for myself, my own and what I want; rather, I feel the connection of people in Haiti, Chili, Africa, the inner cities. I know I am connected to them by faith; otherwise, why would I think of them at all, people so far away, so different from myself? It is because faith endears us to one another. It gives us caring, empathetic hearts so that we can become compassionate human beings meting out kindness, tenderness, grace and love. Even the desire to embody this through faith comes from you. It is all about you.

Great God
of Heaven and Earth,
the Cosmos
and the Outer Edges
of Creation,
you are
the source
of goodness,
beauty,
and godly love.
You show us
what is possible.
Daily you
give us opportunities
to partner
in creation.
With gifts given
by you,
we begin
each new day
with a
paint brush,
a palette
of color
and a
blank canvas
and then
you challenge us
to paint you
into the world.
Paint faith
into all
of us,
dear God,
that we
may paint
eternal joy,
I pray.

Love, Andrea