The Nature of Faith – a sermon by The Rev. Polly Leland-Mayer

UU Society of Martha’s Vineyard – 11/1/09

I have given this sermon – in other places – and in other incarnations over the years of my ministry – not word for word, but the core has remained the same.

I wanted to check out my relationship to the thoughts of that sermon today, so I picked up the recent Sam Harris’ book, The End of Faith. I anticipated a lively conversation and perhaps an argument in my head.

What I discovered was, that Sam Harris seems to conjoin “faith” and “religious belief” as it is practiced in major religions today. He and I use the word “faith” differently. Sam Harris describes what he sees as the dangers of organized religion – with their systems of belief about the nature of God and God’s requirements for relationship. His book addresses the fruits of religious beliefs as we have seen them manifested both historically in movements such as the Crusades and today in the upheaval in the Middle East.

For me, too, faith is an awareness of being in relationship – but not in relationship with a God as defined by many religions, but in relationship with the mystery of existence, within us, around us and of which we are a part. Humans have experienced this awareness since long before “faiths” were codified – codified by fellow human beings.

Faith is a profound reality for some – and an inexplicable concept to others. For me, faith is both a noun – and a verb. It is something, I believe, that most Unitarian Universalists experience – yet is not often spoken.

Pause

A changing – constant - faith has been at the core of my life as long as I can remember, but its origins remain a mystery. I was taken to a Unitarian church regularly as a child, but an articulated faith was not part of my parents’ conversations.

Today, science is beginning to examine this phenomenon. At the macro level, the co-relation between faith and health is being widely studied. At the micro level, other research is exploring where and how faith affects the brain itself. The non-religious world is looking into how a sense of purpose and meaning – or the practice of prayer or meditation may stimulate the immune system or help one survive.

Medical schools are now urging physicians to attend to the spiritual histories of their patients as well as their medical histories – a far cry from medical training of the past.

So – what IS faith? What is its nature? What are its fruits? What is the connection between faith and religion? How does it develop? How is it nurtured? How does it sustain us in the extremities of life? In the next few minutes, I’ll touch on these questions.

PAUSE

In answer to the WHAT of faith, many years ago I jotted down my own definition. I’ll start with that and then bring more learned insights to bear on the WHAT of faith. This is what I wrote:

“Faith is an experience of connectedness with the larger reality, the life force, the cosmic soul, which is mysterious, but evident, upon which, when all else fails, one can still depend. For me, the concept/metaphor many call God is a working one – but for many people, no such concept/metaphor works for them. Yet, I would not say they are without faith. Their faith may be inarticulate, yet they possess courage to face adversity, live caring lives, and ethical in their dealings with others.”

That definition still works for me, but today I would add that faith is a sense of trust in the ultimate meaning of life, and a source of hope in the midst of despair. For me, my faith is not in a personal God upon whom one calls for intercession – but a strength upon which I can call for courage, patience and forbearance when things are tough – something to which I can whisper or shout out my deepest grief or profoundest joy.

PAUSE

What have others said about faith? Paul Tillich speaks of faith as the “state of being ultimately concerned”. He describes it as having a cognitive content – and as an act of the will. He sees humans driven toward faith by their awareness of the infinite to which they belong. For Tillich, “the unconditional concern which is faith is the concern about the unconditional. The infinite passion is the passion for the infinite”.

In 1902, William James did not speak directly about “faith”, but his use of the word “religion” speaks to the phenomenon I call faith. He says, “Religion is nothing – if it be not the vital act by which the entire mind seeks to save itself by clinging to the principle from which it draws its life”. I repeat, using the word faith – faith is nothing, if it be not the vital act by which the entire mind seeks to save itself by clinging to the principle from which it draws its life.

In the 80’s, James Fowler, in his work on Faith Development, explored faith not only through his own experience, the works of James and Tillich, but through his own research. He drew heavily on the contributions of Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg. He combined the philosophical legacy from the past with modern research techniques to reach his conclusions.

As to the nature of faith, Fowler believes that faith is a human universal, that we are endowed at birth with nascent capacities for faith. But to further develop it requires community, language, ritual and nurture. He draws on H. Richard Niebuhr and W. Cantwell Smith, a wise and wonderful Harvard professor of World Religions with whom I was privileged to study.

Fowler concludes that faith is an orientation of the personality to oneself, to one’s neighbor, to the universe. It is a total response; a way of seeing whatever one sees and of handling whatever one handles; a capacity to live at more than a mundane level; to see – to feel, to act - in terms of a transcendent dimension.

Those are some of the WHAT of faith for others and for myself. Do any of these definitions resonate with your experience? Perhaps sometime this week, you might jot down what “faith” is – or is not – for YOU – and there might be a further on going conversation.

Next, I want to look a bit further at the “fruits of faith”. Viktor Frankl in his very moving account of his prison experience during World War II, quotes Nietzsche, – “He who has a WHY to live for, can bear with almost any How”.

For Tillich, “The ultimate concern gives depth, direction and unity to all other concerns and, with them, to the whole personality.”

James Fowler speaks powerfully and poetically to what faith can bring to or lives. He says, “For most of us, most of the time, faith functions so as to screen off the abyss of mystery that surrounds. We all, at certain times, call upon faith to provide nerve – to stand in the presence of the abyss – naked, stripped of life supports, trusting only in the being, the mercy and power of the other in the darkness ---- at a deeper level, he says, faith undergirds us when our own life space collapses”.

Cantwell Smith adds, “At its best, faith takes the form of serenity and courage, loyalty and service; a quiet confidence and joy which enable us to feel at home in the universe – and to find meaning in the world and in one’s own life – a meaning that is profound and ultimate, that remains stable, no matter what may happen.”

Cantwell Smith and Jim Fowler both seem to confirm the concise words of Nietzsche, “one who has a WHY to live for can bear with almost any HOW.” From personal experience and observation, I echo the truth in each of these expressions of the “fruits of faith”.

PAUSE

So, what IS the distinction between faith and religion – how are they connected? I mentioned this earlier, in my opening reference to Sam Harris’ book. But I want to add another thought. Cantwell Smith clarified the issue for me in a way that has informed both my faith AND my religion, when I studied with him so long ago. He pointed out that humans throughout time have demonstrated “faith” and that their accumulated traditions surrounding their faith have be come “religion”. It is not a distinction universally made, but one that can provide meaning for our understanding of religions matters and for strengthening or our Unitarial Universalist “religion”.

PAUSE

This brings us to our last question. How does faith begin and how is it nurtured? H. Richard Niebuhr sees faith taking form in our earliest relationships with those who provide care for us in infancy. He sees faith growing through our experience of trust and fidelity with those closest to us. Fowler sees these first experiences of faith and faithfulness as crucial to the development of later stages of faith in our lives.

In my studies in religious education, I was inspired by John Westeroff. His book, “Will Our Children Have Faith?” was a guiding force in my work with children and youth. Westerhoff writes:

“You can teach about religion, but cannot teach people faith. No one can determine another’s faith and no one can give another faith, but we can be faithful and share our life and our faith with another. Through this sharing, we each sustain, transmit and expand our faith. Experienced faith, therefore, results from our interactions with other faithing selves. To put our words into deeds and our deeds into words, to share life with another, to be Open To influence – as well as TO influence, is to provide the necessary environment for expressed faith.”

Westerhoff sees the gathered community – articulating – practicing – and modeling its faith – as the necessary next step beyond the infant trust experiences. Here is where we all come in, you and me.

As Unitarian Universalists, we have always been pretty good about modeling our faith – and practicing it in our daily lives. But for several decades, we were less skillful - perhaps less willing, to articulate it.

But today I’ll try to articulate my own personal faith – so far developed:

There is some force/energy, upon which I can rely – from which I draw strength – courage – patience and understanding. What IS this force? I do not know.

Recently, I listened to Stephen Hawkings, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING. In it he talks about quantum physics, black holes and the forces affecting the universe. Certainly I do not claim to have understood a great deal of it, but I got enough to know that the processes of the evolvement of our universe are not the basis of my faith.

My faith is not rational – it is beyond reason. Does its strength and energy arise from the collective unconscious of human beings? Or is it the life force itself?

At this moment in time, I lean toward the collective psychic energy of all sentient beings. Whatever its source – it can’t be proved.

But my experience witnesses to:

The power of love for growth and change.

The courage of human persons to face incredible hardship, and – against all odds – to persevere.

The capacity of the human mind to create things of beauty and to find solutions to the scourges of disease and environmental degradation.

The existence of something within us that is universal and mysterious – that connects us to not only each other – but to the profound mystery of which we are a part.

Amen

I close with words of my colleague, Robbie Walsh:

O Mystery

O mystery beyond my understanding

Voice in my heart answering to the eatth,

And light of distant stars!

O wonder of the spring, leading the seasons on:

Whisper to me of secrets I would know.

O Power that flows through me and all that is,

Light of stars, pulsating in the atoms in my heart,

Whether you are mind and spirit

Or energy transcending human thought

I cannot know, and yet I feel

That out of pain and sorrow and the toil

Through which creation springs from human hands –

A force works toward the victory of life, even through the stars.

The stars still shine, the sun rises again,

New buds burst forth, and life presses on.

O mystery!

I lift my eyes in wonder and in awe!