What Is Faith?

I wish to share with you an article a friend of mine wrote:  

June. I’m currently planning for Family Camp at Sasamat, and already thinking ahead to the next church school year. I say this every year but it’s no less true – I can’t believe we’re at the end of our time together! 

I’d like to remind you that the last service of the year, the Flower Communion, is a multi-generational service. We will be doing a child blessing during this time as well as our usual Flower Communion. The kids have already done one “practice” of the Flower Communion, and we will be doing it again with a little further detail between now and then. I love the liturgical lessons of Spirit Play. For the littlest kids, they give an opportunity to practice, so they have an idea of what’s coming and what’s happening when they join our congregation. For the older kids (and even for me!) they provide some insight into why we do things the way we do, and some of the history.

And I love the story of Norbert Capek and the first Flower Communion. Capek designed the ceremony as a way to tie people from many different backgrounds together, despite their differences. As you know, we all contribute a flower and make a beautiful bouquet together, and we all take one home at the end. I like to think of the taking of a flower as the “different perspective,” for I know that nobody else thinks exactly as I do about their spiritual path. 

And this, is timely. At the moment, there is a complex online battle going on. The problem? A pagan mom was nominated as one of the Top 25 Faith Blogs by Moms. Her blog is excellent. Well-written, funny, and offering a perspective on living in her faith. Unfortunately, I’ve watched this week as one Christian mom wrote a direct attack against this blog, proclaiming that (in short) “different faith is wrong faith,” and the pagan mom has no business writing a “faith” blog. Unfortunately there are others who have jumped on the bandwagon with please to vote the pagan mom out of the contest floating all over social media. It is modern religious persecution, without any doubt. I’m sad to see it in front of me. 

But I am hopeful. Dave Dalley’s work on the “Honouring Diverse Beliefs” documentary has made me hopeful that our kids will grow up in a world where the Top 25 Faith Blogs are comprised of MANY different faiths. I would love to see all the world religions in there.

Our liturgical lessons on the Flower Communion also make me hopeful. We have a small group of kids who are beginning to understand that together, we are amazing. I will have lots to contemplate at this year’s Flower Communion. And I hope that you have a chance this summer to stop... and smell a different sort of flower.

Kate Coghlan, DRE South Fraser Unitarian Congregation

I wish there were more churches filled with more people like this.  The above may not be what most would consider to be status quo for churches, but it most certainly knows how to teach about love and kindness and turning the other cheek.  They've chosen a loving, kind God, rather than an angry, vengeful and yes, even mean God.  Even in the bible, God states "I am known by many names."  Would that not then, in one simple statement, indicate that He did not just choose one small group of people upon this great earth to speak to, while He allows the rest to perish forever simply because the biggest telephone game in the history of man didn't get to them yet?  God, Creator, Allah, El Shaddai, The Alpha and the Omega, Gitche Manitou, Great Spirit.... It is quite possible the list could go on forever.  Why does the difference in language... the different customs used to focus our thoughts and prayers have to be considered to worship different gods?  Just because one person kneels and clasps their hands and another stands tall and uses smudge, or another sits cross legged and uses incense, doesn't mean they are not praying to the same God, and doesn't make any one of them more or less humble than the other.

When I read the article Because Christianity Does Not Own "Faith", I was terribly upset with the arrogance and abusiveness of one who claimed to be Christlike.  I find myself constantly rewriting this post because I find I keep trying to join this woman in her negativity... my words keep floating to my own brand of darkness and then I catch myself, because that's not where I want to be, and that's not where the real story is either.  So I delete sections of text and try again, because while the things that upset us and make us angry are very important to our development as selves and society, it's the bright shining lights that cause the darkness to retreat.  Anger and frustration, outrage and a sense of injustice are healthy and are what tell us to act.  They are merely catalysts and that's why we should not dwell there longer than necessary.  Bright shining lights like the outpouring from people who want to protect the bullied... that's Spirit.  And the voice of a church that teaches it's congregation and more importantly still, it's children to love and respect all peoples of all faith... to truly and meaningfully be teaching them that we are ALL God's children the way the church of the article above does well... that... that my friends, is faith.  Faith shines bright, and chases away the darkness not only in the world, but the darkness that grows in our hearts when we've been wronged once too often.

Yes, it may have taken me a few tries to get this blog right... to stay focussed on what really matters here, but it is because of the shining beacon above that I am finding it much less difficult to catch myself and make the necessary changes. It filled my heart and brought persistent tears to my eyes and has affected me deeply.  Instead of wanting to run away screaming... instead of feeling resentment and the budding seeds of prejudice growing in the wake of such religious cruelty, I found myself wanting to run to this woman and her church, and more shockingly, my children too.  This is the first time since before my children were born that I actually felt they'd be safe visiting and learning in a church.  No dreadful frightening and R rated stories  being taught to the children there, (let's face it, many stories being taught to children in churches would have R ratings for extreme violence if they were made into movies), just love...  only love and spirit and faith and good citizenship with all of God's creation.  This is the story... this is the faith.

 Faith, is the courage to love and to believe.

.