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In this second week of Advent, we will light the candle of FAITH. It is interesting to me to see how Jesus used this word (Greek=Pistis) in the Gospel writings.

For Jesus, having faith was the difference between sickness & sin and health & wellness. Many times we hear Jesus say “go, your Faith has made you well” or “your Faith has saved you.” I think for Jesus faith was part of who a person was, not just a head thing but a whole-body thing, a lived-out thing. And without faith, we humans are a pretty helpless bunch.

The Reformers were taken by the fact that faith was to trust that “God’s got this” to rest in the fact that God is enough, “Faith alone” is one of the building blocks of the reformed tradition.

To be a Faith Community means to be a community built around trust; trust that God’s got this, trust in each other as the image-bearers, trust in ourselves to be the Makarios “blessed” people, the very people God needs and chooses, to be the Presence of God in our neighborhoods. I think faith is to know, and more importantly, to feel, that God is present and invested in the neighborhood that he moved into - in the person of Jesus. The theologians call it Incarnation. The place where Faith meets Faith… and flourishes.

I think we grow-in-faith by letting faith hold us and by us holding faith. I think as Mary held Jesus, Faith was holding her. Faith is knowing, God holds us all. AMEN

(The picture in the newsletter)

I love this pen and ink drawing by the amazing black artist, Charles White. Charles White’s son gave Myrna and me this piece of art. One morning I was sitting in my “reading chair” when the light from the window hit just right, and I looked up just in time to see this amazing image of the art of Charles White and the art of nature combined. An incarnational moment for me.

Faith holding Faith.

Blessings and Love, Karl