EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on Nov. 5, 2021.
NOTE: This column appears in its original, unabridged version here. The version that was published in newspapers and websites was edited.
By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks
There is a famous Indian parable called the “blind men and an elephant,” in which a group of blind men encounter an elephant for the first time. The men, who previously couldn’t imagine such a creature, go about exploring what an elephant is by examining various elephant body parts, but each only has access to their part of the elephant.
So let’s update the parable for today’s age: Imagine an inclusive group of many blind people, from different racial backgrounds, cultures, continents, sexes or genders and economic classes, all traveling together and happening upon this elephant.
They each take up a position around the body and by exploring their specific elephant body part, they begin to imagine what kind of creature it is. Now, from their vantage point, they have to convey their perceptions to the others, who are investigating the elephant from a vastly different vantage point.
Setting aside the fact that this must be one heck of a docile elephant, we begin to understand the complexity of discussing faith when we’re all just feeling and experiencing our tiny part of the body of faith and trying to explain it to others who do not see it through the complex filters that have shaped our lives.
I was reminded of the parable of the “blind men and an elephant” when a reader named Bob, who lives in Maine, wrote to me to say: “All this time I have had a problem with a couple of words - faith and worship. It’s my religious background …” And he described a lifelong pursuit of faith, through a very circuitous route. Later, he wrote: “My ‘Eureka I found it’ moment. … When Jesus died. So did I. When Jesus rose again, so did I. I didn’t have to die to be resurrected. I already was. I think. I have a ways to go. I believe I have a start on faith and worship.”
Well, much like Bob, I suspect we all have a ways to go toward defining our faith experience, because we’re all stuck with experiencing our own particular piece of the “elephant.” And so, inspired by Bob’s story, I turned this week to several friends to help me describe their piece of the elephant to help all of us blind adventurers understand a few more pieces of the “elephant” that we call faith. It is not an exhaustive list of possibilities by any means, but a snippet of several beautiful faiths from which I draw inspiration.
For instance Rabbi Jamie Serber, whom I met several years ago when I was completing my clinical pastoral education hours at Sanford Hospital in Fargo, N.D., shared with me: “Faith is part awe, part gratitude, and part holding one's breath in the midst of uncertainty. When I think about faith I'm reminded of the Jewish morning prayer ‘modeh ani.’ In this prayer we thank God for holding our soul for us while we sleep and returning it to us in the morning. Faith is knowing either way we are kept safe in God's hands.”
And if that wasn’t beautiful enough, Rabbi Serber, who now lives in New York, added: “Faith is seeing the God spark in my young son while knowing God is creating new life inside of me. Finally, I see faith as knowing that each one of us has the holy responsibility to bring positive change to our communities through our own personal acts of loving kindness. Faith is knowing that humans are capable of radical love for one another and can build a society based on the love which God has promised us.”
Now, that seems like a pretty beautiful description of Rabbi Serber’s piece of the elephant, and it absolutely makes me want to experience more.
Another friend, Ezat Hayder, who is Yazidi and moved to Moorhead, Minn., after having served the U.S. Army as an interpreter during the war in Iraq, has told me in the past that he and other Yazidi people see as important to their faith the connection they have to each other and to ceremonies such as feasts and commemorations, which both are vital aspects of their faith, or their piece of the “elephant.”
And shared with me this on his thoughts about faith: “Faith is a sentimental relationship and a conscious affiliation of a person with the Universe Ultimate light of God and the reflection of it on our surrounding environment (our daily life). This affection or connection is supported by trust and the hope of achieving our moral and material needs and wishes in that environment."
Ezat has shared with me that because the Yazidi faith is not a congregationally based faith, it can be difficult for Americans to understand what it is like to be a faithful Yazidi on a day-to-day basis. For instance: Yes, the Yazidi pray to God, and in particular, offer praise to the sun each day, but their faith is not centralized on a weekly gathering of fellow believers. Instead, the Yazidi focus their attention on special ceremonies and other rituals, which oftentimes are off the radar for most Americans.
After knowing Ezat for years, and having the opportunity to celebrate his faith with his family on multiple occasions, I’m just now forming a basic understanding of his particular piece of the “elephant.” But now imagine, if Ezat had to try to describe his faith in a modern day seven second sound bite! … No wonder why we struggle so mightily to accept and understand someone else’s piece of the “elephant!”
Finally, my friend Jennifer Ohman-Rodriguez, whom I attended seminary with and who is awaiting her first call into ordained ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America -- my same denomination -- described her piece of the “elephant” as such: “I have both belief and faith in my belief. My belief is in something far bigger than myself. So immense my imagination cannot fathom its greatness. It is almost unknowable, making a mystery of it all.”
A description of which I’m envious, but she went on to write: “In my Lutheran Christian tradition, I name my belief as God, as revealed in (the) Holy Trinity: God, Jesus and Spirit. My faith is in believing that at the very core of every molecule of creation God is and that God is love. My faith believes God as love and love as God live in us while we also live in God. When I sit with my faith in prayer, meditation, writing, scripture and worship, God as love bubbles up within me with delight flowing out into the world.”
Now that is a description of faith, or a piece of the “elephant,” that is so beautiful that it invites all the rest of us in the fictitious group of blind seekers to want to learn more. At least, I think so. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Jennifer is also an author, with a recently published book titled “A Time to Mourn & A Time to Dance: A Love Story of Grief, Trauma, Healing, & Faith” by Chalice Press.
We could go on with more descriptions about how each unique individual experiences their own faith, their own very unique piece of the “elephant.” But that is a conversation that will go on infinitely, as there will be as many experiences of faith as there are blind seekers trying to figure out the elephant.
And so, I wonder, what does your experience of your faith … er, your piece of the “elephant” ... look and feel like? And can you share it with the rest of us -- like Bob in Maine did with me -- who also are trying to figure out our own faith and be able to share it with others?
Devlyn Brooks, who works for Modulist, a Forum Communications Co.-owned company, is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Church of America. He serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He can be reached at devlyn.brooks@forumcomm.com for comments and story ideas.
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