4th December 2012

Certain instincts inherited across generations are characteristic of all living matter and make both survival and growth possible. Among these are the impulse to reproduce, to defend against danger and learn to adapt to changing conditions, to the point where physique and behaviour modify themselves over generations to optimise survival potential. From the origins of time and space itself matter has evolved to the point where planet Earth (and presumably others like it) produced rare conditions in which organic forms of matter have all the characteristics we call life. The evolution of the human species, with its particular form of self awareness and ability to understand and organise its own environment, is the most recent chapter of a long evolutionary history.

Faith refuses the notion that this entire process 'just happened' and started itself for no discernable reason. Faith speaks of God as 'uncreated creator', the Mind whose infinite intelligence is expressed in the rich complexity of the creative process. Exactly how all things came into being, where and when the seemingly unending chain of cause and effect began is subject to detailed human enquiry now that we have evolved the technical means to do so.

Even the question of whether or not God was the Prime Mover in the creative process is not ultimately accessible to enquiry or reasoning. Whatever we think we know of God, so much more remains unknown, a complete mystery. How all things were originated by God is beyond our comprehension. Our longing to understand the reason for our existence however, leads us to take it on trust that, no matter how it was achieved, God is creator and source of all that is.

Reaching out from the natural pre-occuption with survival and all it entails, human beings have a capacity for curiosity, awe and wonder which takes them out of themselves. Having a useful knowledge of our environment is a part of what it takes to adapt to changing circumstance and survive.  Longing to know more about the universe and God has evolved as part of our self-consciousness. It is so much more than hunger for useful information. It is longing for relationship a mutual relatedness not only with creation but the Creator. In trust we reach out and hope that God is also reaching out towards us, to engage with us. "O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down!" as Isaiah said. It's a sentence at the heart of the Advent seasonal liturgy.

We have evolved possessing this higher longing as part of self consciousness. The heart of faith interprets and voices this candidly in the words of St Augustine: "O Lord thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee."

3rd December 2012

In the search for meaning in life, belief in God presupposes assent to facts impossible to verify empirically. The content of belief is a working hypothesis relied upon to guide our attitude and relation to God. It's always subject to critical review and amendment. What cannot be shown to be false when experience is tested, we choose to rely on and trust in. This is the core of what believers call faith.

The prophet Isaiah was a prime advocate for trust in God as a foundation for hope that the fortunes of his people would be restored. He confidently used poetic and anthropomorphic imagery speaking of divine activity and relations between creatures and Creator. Yet, he could declare candidly the unknowability of the One he reached out to in trust: "Truly, thou art a God that hidest thyself." He prayed longingly for a manifestation of God: "O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down!"

He was no stranger to visions and exalted experiences: "Woe I am undone for mine eyes have seen the Lord of hosts!" However, more important to him than individual experiences were unfolding events that revealed divine providence in action, changing peoples' plight by ending slavery and suffering. This vindicated the personal faith he placed in God.

Like other prophets he struggled and suffered striving to know God. He turned inwards only to refresh himself to keep turning outwards, looking for God and the divine will made known in his time: "Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength."

Personal survival beyond death hardly featured in the thinking of Isaiah's day, although the dead had their proper place, where they were confined to the background, outside time in shadowy nothingness, disconnected from the community of the living. Their idea of annihilation was being erased from the community's memory. 

Mediums might conjure up departed spirits (though how scripture doesn't say), but the ensuing interaction is reported to be of advantage neither to the living nor the dead. The dead lived on in stories told by the community descending from them. This made having offspring to inherit one's story as well as one's wealth was vital for every generation.

Isaiah and the prophets waited upon God in hope to restore their peoples' collective fortunes. They appealed to God above all to remember them. In this was the key to giving life meaning - being part of something greater than themselves.

Today's culture emphasises individuality and self-awareness. Our identities may be shaped by belonging to more than one community. Few of the billions who've ever lived can be famous, universally remembered, and not everyone's self awareness is fully developed. Yet, the longing to 'be forever', secure from being lost and forgotten amidst the 'changes and chances of this passing world' haunts us all in different ways.

For the heart of faith, only One who is author of our being can make this so.