Faith Without Hope

Dr. Richard Moss in his book The Mandala of Being uses this phrase "faith without hope" and I like it. I have been struggling a little this last week with events in our life,(some days struggling a lot) and it has become clear to me that when our faith is about hoping that things are going to get better, it's not really faith at all. Instead we are just thinking about the future lost in out own daydream. I believe that our faith in the Divine in all of us is tested and thus strengthened through difficulty and even doubt. Faith is a trusting in the Truth which is only available right now in our own quiet. Everything else is just personal mental babble. In difficult times we have to embrace what we are experiencing as part of life and God's plan for us. Do we really expect life to be fun and easy just because we believe in a Divine Vein running through us all. When I'm feeling good, it feels as though my faith is expanding, branching out in new directions. But when I'm frustrated or scared it requires that I pull completely out of my worries, actually all of my thoughts, and just sit in the NOW with exactly what I'm feeling, exactly what life is giving me at this moment. Then my faith that has expanded gets a chance to be tested and strengthened, which is different that just strengthening my wishes. All of my personal hopes and dreams just aren't as potent or creative as the energy that comes through me when I can embrace where I am without judgments or expectations. But it isn't easy. When life hurts, it is only normal to want the pain to stop, and I was forced to take some of my own medicine this last week about sitting quietly with pain. Because, at the time, I could feel my ego trying to fool itself into making things better by not expecting them to get better. What a little trickster.

Be as patient and forgiving as you can with yourself when you must work through emotional pain, and let your faith be a warm blanket around the whole experience.