Belief and Faith

Sister Maxine and Sister Julie are on the road and are blessed to have another talented write fill in for us on the blog. Thank you, Kbart, for this reflection on today’s scripture story about the woman healed by Jesus ….

Full disclosure – I have never finished reading the bible. Every time I start reading I get stuck on something, and I stop to try and figure it out. This of course means that I stop reading…for years, and then I pick the bible up and start reading again, only from a different place from before. The bad news is that I haven’t read the whole bible. The good news (no pun intended) is that when I do read a passage from the bible it stays with me.

A few days ago knowing that I was writing blog for today, Sister Julie sent me an email with the reading for today: Matthew 9:18-26. She also said “don’t have to use it, just an FYI in case you need an idea.” My internal voice kept saying: ‘you don’t have to use it; you don’t have to use it; you don’t have to use it.” But the thing about internal voices is that the button for volume control often goes missing. So of course I went to the darn bible, looked the reading up; read it; closed the book and immediately asked myself “what the heck am I going to do with this?”

The next morning at breakfast I told Marguerite about the email, the reading, and my struggle to “get it.” We talked about it and Marguerite, a gifted teacher, has a way of helping me interpret things in a way I can understand. But as with all good teachers, she leaves me off at the door with questions. And then it’s up to me whether or not I want to open the door to explore further. In this case my questions stemmed from the woman who followed Jesus to touch his cloak. What was it that made her do that: knowledge, belief, or faith?

I spent an hour going through three dictionaries (I am a librarian) checking the differences in the definitions of those three words and the synonyms of the same. And while knowledge is still on the paper – it is the other two that I am stuck with: belief and faith. That woman sought Jesus out in the crowd believing that Jesus would heal her. And when Jesus turned around and saw her he said “Courage, daughter. Your faith has healed you.” Matthew goes on to say “that very moment the woman was healed.”

I think about my own life and wonder if my own patchwork faith is as strong as that woman’s. Would the strength of my faith carry me into a crowd with the belief that just one touch would heal me? I respond by saying that each day “something” carries me into the day and helps me get through. That same “something” is with me when the moments are long and I can’t get out of my own way. “Something” is in the face of a little baby nephew when he smiles. And I believe for me that “something” is my faith in God. And even though I haven’t read the whole bible….”something” keeps me going back to start again. Maybe “something” isn’t about finishing, but adding to, and continuing as I move through my life with belief and faith.

Has your faith carried you into a crowd with the belief that you would be healed? Where did your faith come from? How do you keep your faith fresh, growing and strong?

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Tagged as: guest blogger, kbart, matthew, scripture