Faith and Crisis

Faith. It's a tricky thing.

Not to be confused with blind faith, or faith in something one has no way of discerning the truth of, Oxford describes faith as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something”. Many people confuse this with religion itself, or else trusting that even though you have no reason to think things will be better, they will. But faith itself is not as specific. Faith only requires that you entrust your belief into that which you feel is worthy.

To have faith, true faith, one must have something to believe in, and a reason to believe in that something. One must be led to a point where their rational mind and their heart together accept the validity of some truth. One then gains faith in that truth. One Believes. One dares to think that such a thing is possible, and we then say they have faith.

Not everyone has faith in the same things. Some people have faith in a particular person. Some have faith in a greater Being, a Fashioner of the rules of creation. Others have faith in their own abilities. Regardless of the object of faith, they indeed put their confidence, their trust, and more often than not, their love into their faith. Their faith sustains them when nothing else will. They trust in not only this object, but they come to trust the faith itself; it becomes a quality almost tangible to the person who has it.

Closely linked with faith are two core character qualities, steadfastness, and patience. Without them, it is very easy to loose faith, and many often do. A crisis of faith occurs when one begins to question either their faith in the object in which they have decided to enshrine their trust, or in the motives, abilities, or nature of the object itself. One begins to question whether they have put their faith in this object wisely. Sometimes they question whether the person they have put their faith in truly has their best interests at heart. Others question their own motives, or their ability to get something done. For those who have put their faith in a greater Being, this may pose a unique challenge, as the very nature of such a Being would put it outside the understanding or ability of study of any human, and the person may loose faith in either the will of that Being caring about them, or else in It’s power to impact the persons life, often leading to questioning the very nature of that Being.

As there is so often a love that comes with faith, so often too is there a pain that comes with a crisis in that faith. To suddenly (or even gradually) become unsure of what was once a solid foundation for the world in which one lives is more than unsettling, it can disrupt the entire course of a person’s life. A person will question themselves if they question their faith, they may wonder if it means they are not trusting, or if they are not a good person. They may not like the answers they come up with, frustrating them all the more. Sometimes, a person will embark on a personal journey to find answers to their questions. Often a person will become afraid to find answers to their questions, for fear of what they might find. Many times, the courage of a person can be measured in how they handle their crisis.

This is why steadfastness and patience are so closely linked to faith. If one has the strength, they will seek out the answers to their questions. For those who have faith in another, they sometimes learn that if they are patient with that person, their faith is rewarded. For those who lack faith in themselves, they may find something deep within themselves they never knew was there. There is often a process of give and take in both of these. Give patience, or determination, or discipline, and find that your faith is strengthened by these things.

For those who have faith in a greater Being, again, the challenge can be unique, but so can the rewards. The person who questions their faith and decides to pray about it may find their lack of faith was caused by a lack in prayer, and so they discover their faith has ways built into it to strengthen itself, if one is willing to take on the discipline. This discipline in turn becomes its own reward, something the person might never have gained otherwise. And so we find that strength of character breeds a steadfastness, if one is willing to be patient.

There are times when, upon examination of their crisis of faith, a person determines they were simply too impatient. They were asking for something, but not waiting for the results, or perhaps they were unwilling to take the necessary steps to help them succeed in their request. There are times when a person will decide they have acted like a petulant child, and become embarrassed at their actions, and determined to be more open minded or patient in the future. There are other times when a person is not able or willing to find the solution before them, and they will become frustrated. Without the patience to find this answer or the steadfastness to believe the answer may indeed be there, they will let go of their faith. Sometimes this process is quiet, at other times, it is an event that makes national headlines.

It would be impossible to count the number of people in this world that have faith in something, but the human psyche seems to have a natural tendency towards seeking out something to put one’s faith into. It is not hard to imagine that almost every person, at some point in their lives, goes through at least one massive crisis of faith. If this is a loved one, you may not know it, as faith is such a personal thing. But often times this person will need an open ear, someone to help them speak aloud their frustrations, or else help investigate their questions. Sometimes they will just need someone to hold them as they cry. Love, and faith in loved ones, is a salve sought by many. When we find that someone close to us can be trusted with our fears, faith can be renewed, whether in finding faith in the one who is there for you, or in being lent the strength and the patience to solve a personal crisis of faith, or both.

Perhaps then three things are closely interwoven with faith. Patience, steadfastness, and true friendship. If one is going to have “complete trust or confidence in someone or something”, and so many people seek just such a thing to have faith in, the ties of friendship may be strengthened by finding one with whom they can share your faith. These ties help strengthen one’s faith in others, in themselves, and possibly even in faith itself. To loose faith is unnerving, to find it again is a relief. To trust in one’s self, to trust in a greater Being, to trust in others, is not something easily done. Perhaps that is why we seek out faith. With so many things that have the ability to betray our trust, to have something we can put our faith wholeheartedly into is not merely a comfort and a relief, it is a means of testing and refining our own characters. And what is life but a process of continual growth?

Faith can sustain us, if we sustain faith. If we abandon ourselves, we abandon our faith as well, for our faith is a part of us. If one has faith in something, they find it gives them what they feel is a clear path of right action and a better way to live. If one has faith in a greater Being, they may try to heed the will of that Being. If one has faith in themselves, they may find the best way of life is to better themselves. Neglecting these actions have consequences, and of course, so do forging the discipline to continue them.

When a person who is the object of one’s faith has proven themselves unworthy of that faith, the difficulty of reconciliation is dependent on how closely one is tied to that person. In a friendship, friends sometimes feel it is best to move on, or at least see less of each other. In a relationship or a marriage, however, this becomes exceedingly difficult, especially if there are children. Sometimes a person will be driven to fight harder to save their faith in that person’s qualities, to the point of helping that person find faith within themselves. Other times it is discovered the couple does not have faith in the same things, or that one has no faith at all, or that one is unwilling to change and take on the discipline necessary for growth. Sometimes an impassible rift is formed, other times, people unhappily try to work and live around their situation. In both cases of shattered faith, it is not so easily sought again.

But human tendency towards faith is strong. To humans, faith is an attractive quality. Confidence springs out of faith. And one who lacks confidence often feels it’s lack, and is drawn towards one with faith. In this way are people tossed together in the chaos of the world, even as the atoms of a star in the nuclear furnace of it’s core are sometimes ripped apart, only to be fused again.

A crisis in faith can turn turn a life upside-down. It can be the process of destruction that leads to the process of creation, or if mastered, it can lead to plentiful rewards in one’s relationship with the object of their faith. But in such a chaotic universe, where the least likely scenario would seem to be a bond of any kind, let alone a bond of faith, our attraction towards the tendencies of faith will not be denied for long.

And so, even as the bonds of the world forge stardust into planets, our faith attracts us. Even as rock is forged into diamonds in the pressures of the earth, our tests of faith strengthen and perfect us. And we become the better for it. For in the end, when we put our faith in something, we do not do it for the object of our faith, we do it for ourselves. We do it because we have a need to put our faith in something we can believe in. We have a need to constantly better ourselves. If we ignore that need, it does not stay silent. It gnaws at us, questions us, gets us off our couches and away from our distractions and makes us question ourselves until we arrive at a conclusion.

It is not easy to have faith. Although most people have faith in someone or something, there are indeed times when that faith is lost. In these times, how a person handles their crisis of faith determines who they are, what they are, and what they have faith in. Sometimes they surprise themselves with the answer.