Advent Series, #2
As I sit in prayer and meditation on this, the second day of Advent, I am led to spend time consciously knowing and feeling my Wholeness, in deep Faith that all is well. I feel this Wholeness well up within me and spill out into my Spiritual Family, then into the greater community, our beautiful city, our blessed Golden State, our diverse and colorful nation, and ultimately to our evolving global community…all completely dependent upon our amazingly abundant Mother Earth. Prayer is powerful…join me if you will, feeling and knowing the Unity and Wholeness that lies at the core of All-That-Is…that is emerging now from the Ground of All Being.
As we move through this first week of the Season of Advent, we are invited to reflect on the part that Faith plays in our lives. Reflecting on the nature of Faith, I am led to make a comparison between faith, hope, and belief. Are they related? And if so, how? These three words are often used interchangeably, but do they hold the same meaning?
Let’s begin by looking at how the Google Online Dictionary defines the three. Beginning with hope, we find that as a verb, it is defined as “wanting something to happen or be the case.” And as a noun, it is defined this way: “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen; (archaic) a feeling of trust.” Looking at the word belief, we find this: “acceptance (of something) as true; feeling sure of the truth of; holding (something) as an opinion; think or suppose.” And finally, faith: “complete trust or confidence in someone or something, sometimes without measurable evidence.” Even in our common usage of these terms, there are differences. To my way of understanding, they seem to form a continuum with hope at one end and faith on the other, belief connecting the two. First, I expect that something will happen; next, I accept, or feel sure that it will; finally, I feel and express complete confidence, even trust, in this situation or condition to unfold. Looking at it in this light, the Faith Continuum reminds me a great deal of Affirmative Prayer. The piece that would need to be added is faith as the Master Teacher Yeshua used it…faith as absolute knowing.
Here is an example. According to the Hebrew-Greek Keyword Study Bible, when in Luke 17:19, Jesus says, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole ,” he is speaking in the indicative mood, which indicates he is stating a fact; in the present imperative, offering a command to do something in the future which involves repeated action; and also the perfect tense, representing an action that was completed in the past but has continuing results. (These tenses and moods have no exact equivalents in English, and come from the Greek.) So it seems that when Jesus called his followers to have faith, he was commanding, rather than suggesting, that from this day forward and forever repeating, we trust and know, that just as deeply as when factual evidence is present, our Wholeness is guaranteed. This is the absolute Truth…that we are already perfect, whole, and complete, now and forever. Any circumstance we are involved in is perfect, whole, and complete. My job is to be still and know…to consciously place my faith in Wholeness and let it go. It is in the letting go that I truly act from faith and demonstrate my inherent Perfection.
As a means of closing for today, let’s take a look at Affirmative Prayer through the lens of our Faith Continuum. Prior to beginning our prayer, I set an intention. What is it that I am hoping to experience, or cause to be? This is where hope comes in. I look within, asking in the silence, “What is my heart’s desire? What is the intention of my prayer today?” Once I have been guided to my intention, I begin my prayer with an acknowledgment, or recognition, that there is one Infinite Intelligence, one Source, Essence, Substance, Process back of all that is. This first step, in and of itself, calls us to the Deep Faith end of the continuum, or at least a willingness to act as if. I use my senses to help me experience the Truth of this statement. Feeling this to be true, then it follows that I am an individual expression, or emanation, of that one Source. Here I can call on my power of logic to help build my faith…if this, then that.
The next step in Affirmative Prayer, sometimes called Declaration or Realization, is where I use the hope present in my intention as a spring board, helping me to release beliefs that no longer serve me, and to ground myself in beliefs that are life-affirming and more closely relate to Wholeness. Through belief, I begin to approach true faith…that state in which I can give thanks for the completeness of my answered prayer, and release any further thought about it, trusting in the Loving and Lawful Presence to carry it to full fruition. I let go of what form it may take…I let go of my own sense of timing, trusting in God’s Perfect Time…and I simply know that all is well. And so it is. Amen!
I invite you to walk the Faith Continuum with me today. You may choose to reflect on what you are hoping for, what you believe in your heart of hearts is possible…for you, and for our world. Where does your true faith lie?
Know that today and always, I am here to support you.
Know that today and always, you are stronger and wiser than you know.
May we all look to the Light…be well…stay in touch…know our unity…and thrive! And…
May we know the Absolute Beauty and Wonder of this Grace-filled, once-in-a lifetime day, as Infinite Intelligence continues to pour Its blessings upon our world.
