Day: November 18, 2012

I have been thinking alot lately about faith formation…

I think about it in light of my own world and watching my nieces and nephews grow up….

I realize that if my life had no hardships, I would have a very different faith…

I realize that if my nieces and nephews didn’t have struggles, their faith would not be forming…

It often feels out of place during this season of thankfulness to name that I am thankful for the places I have felt the most ache…

It is hard to remember that often where I have felt most alone or most abandoned is also where I have found the comfort of God’s presence, comfort and love in ways I never imagined…

Perhaps it is more socially acceptable to name places of thanksgiving that cause everyone to smile, but there are times  I would like to share more about where I have really seen my faith grow these past months…

Now these are not areas I would put on my blog for all to read tonight for they are personal spaces that are still developing. Perhaps in time I will write about them in some way, but I write tonight to invite you to consider those deep places of personal ache in your own heart. Have they been places where you have felt your faith form? Are they places that you have tested if God is listening or if people around you really care? Are they places that you have given up on God or reconnected with a wounded healer who never stopped loving you?

I hope during this week of thanksgiving you are able to thank God for bringing you to the mountain top and through the valley. I would guess that if you are living honestly there are places of amazing celebration and shattered dreams. I would imagine you may understand what it looks like to cry out in the dark and I hope you also believe that every morning brings new hope…

I have this tattoo on the top of my  foot and it reminds me on good days and bad, in the valley and on the mountain that Jesus died on the cross because He loves me and because of that deep love and forgiveness, I am able to love freely! I am very thankful for this….

I am not sure what you are thankful for this year, but I am thankful for the faith formation in my own life and in the lives of those I hold very dear, even when it is painful!

Tonight I was touched deeply while observing To Be Certain of the Dawn at the Grand Rapids Symphony….

There was power in the symphony instruments that often set the tone,

There was power in the words of the adult voices that sang  “Jews may not attend school, Jews may not dream and Jews may not imagine….”

There was power in the Youth Symphony which has voices of children singing songs of hope…

There was power in the silence….

There was power in the very long applause that honored the work of many….

I was left with words of survivors…

“Why did I survive? the Rabbi said: “God kept you on earth to tell the story.” Henry Oertelit

“I have lived in a world with no children…I would never live in a world of no children again.” Hindu Kibort

“This is the task: in the darkest night to be certain of the dawn, certain of the power to turn a curse into a blessing, agony into song…” Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel