“Faith is the only key to the universe. The final meaning of human existence, and the answers to the questions on which all our happenings depends cannot be found in any other way.” (Thomas Merton)
Faith will turn any course, light any path, relieve any distress, brings joy out of sorrows, peace out of strife, friendship out of enmity, heaven out of hell. Faith throws a new light on everything, manifests god’s design for man’s total vocation, and thus directs the mind to solutions which are fully human. Every believer is God’s miracle. Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.
Calamities struck the life of Monisha one after the other: death of her dad, illness of her mom, irresponsible life of her brother, these shattered her. She could not concentrate on her studies. Every time she opened her book, these scenes came one after the other as in a film. Monisha, ever active and vibrant became dull and depressed. She stopped going to church and saying prayers.
One day she was brought to my office. She sat in my room, sad and downcast. I was very attentive to every gesture she made and every word she uttered. Slowly, I helped her to pour out her heart. One another day she shouted why at all God created me? Why God took my dad away? I had no readymade answer but I was very much with her in her pain and loss but I could helped her to express all the good things she enjoyed and experienced. All on sudden her attention turned to a scenery in my room with the caption, ‘Faith in God can move the mountains.’ “Sister, what does it mean?” She asked. I told her that life is a mixture of joys and sorrows, ups and downs. The God who created you and me and the whole of the universe is in control of everything and we just have to surrender our lives to him and everything will be fine. Often human love is conditional even our parental love but God’s love is unconditional. He is your beloved Daddy always. Her face brightened up and she said, “I believe in that loving Daddy.”
Holding on to the hand of God is a bold act of faith. Faith in God makes a person undaunted, unafraid, undivided and unflappable. As the psalmist exhorts: “Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” (Psalm - 37:7)
