Walking by Faith

Last updated on: December 24, 2014 at 12:51 pm by Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Walking by Faith 2014-12-24T12:51:46-05:00 Fr. Dwight Longenecker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sign me up as Orthodox. Not the Eastern variety, just one who tries to be faithful to the teachings of Holy Church in their fullness. This provides the bedrock for the life of faith. It provides a certain certainty.

However, the walk of faith is full of uncertainty. We walk by faith, not by sight. The biggest contrast in the Church itself are those who say they are people of faith, but do not live by faith. Instead they get it all organized. They lay out their life. They have everything planned. They have their insurance policies in place. They have their retirement plan all organized. They have their career structured and their family all together and everything is just as they want it. Not only is this terrifcally boring, but it is boringly terrifying. It’s dead. It’s the life of the flesh, not the life of the Spirit.

What troubles me therefore about some of my equally Orthodox brethren is that they seem to bring the same approach to their religion as well. So much time is spent defining and defending the doctrines and dogmas. So much time is spent dotting the ‘i’s’ and crossing the ‘t’s’ liturgically. So much effort is spent studying and applying canon law or liturgical rubrics or diocesan guidelines or parish policies.
This is one of the constant problems with religious people. We want certainty. We sincerely want to get it right. We want it all nailed down. We want it neat and tidy and all together. But it sometimes feels a bit, errm, obsessive compulsive doesn’t it? What spooks me is that the more extreme of these folks never seem to have things just as they want. They’re forever making new rules, new policies and coming up with new liturgical fine points. Furthermore, they don’t seem like they’re happy in Jesus. Where’s the joy? Where’s the sense of humor?

We want it all organized and together, but life isn’t like that. Life is messy. Love is messy. If we’re going to walk by faith, not by sight, then we’re going to have times when we’re confused. We’re going to mess up. We’re going to stumble and fall. We’re going to take wrong turnings and get lost in the woods. But this is the great adventure. This is the beautiful struggle.

I remember when I went to England as a penniless student. I didn’t know anyone in the whole country and I was following a dream of becoming an Anglican country parson. I was so poor I would buy one candy bar and cut it in three pieces and make it last all week. I worried about money. I didn’t know if I would ever be ordained. I was leaving the secure faith world of fundamentalism and setting off into the unknown of Anglicanism (and ultimately) Catholicism. I was confused. I made mistakes. I was afraid. I fell into sin. I messed up big time. But I knew I was walking by faith. I was doing the big adventure, and looking back I can see it was all part of the plan.

The beautiful thing about the Catholic faith is that we do have certain certainties, but we must always avoid the temptation to make the Catholic faith into some sort of legalistic, liturgical straightjacket. There’s got to be room to mess up. There’s got to be room to be different. There’s got to be room to grow, there has to be room to engage our wills and take some risks.

It’s not too hard to understand. The dogmas and disciplines, the doctrines and rubrics and rules are not an end in themselves. They’re a means to an end. They’re not the journey, they’re the map. Of course going on a journey without a map is the same thing as being lost. The map needs to be the best and most detailed map possible, but its still only a map.

It’s the journey that matters, and think about the relationship of the journey to the map. The map is two dimensional, flat and printed on paper. The journey is life itself–alive, colorful, dangerous, beautiful, risky and free.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 15, 2010

Three Ways

Next Post

March 16, 2010 The Practical Power of Penitence

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anglican Matters Apologetics Architecture Blobble Study Book Reviews Brideshead Caitlin O'Rourke Catholic Art Catholic Culture Church Politics Chust for Nice Contemporary Culture Duane Mandible Ed Blanch Film Reviews Fr Harvey Nicolaitan Frank Viola Mantilla the Hon More Christianity Mrs Brady Catholic Old Lady Mystery of the Magi Norman Anderson Queen Hillary Saints and Supernatural Spirituality The Inklings The Vicar Theology Todd Unctuous Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz