“Faith is a habit of the mind whereby eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to what is non-apparent.” (Saint Thomas Aquinas).
I have been thinking about faith.
We are told that God gives us the “gift” of faith. It is not something that we really earn. It is not something that we receive as a reward – or at least as a reward that it is easy to understand in human terms. It is instead a thing that seems to be completely beyond our human control and a thing that absolutely seems so essential to us at critical times and yet so unattainable at those times too.
I feel that I am qualified to speak on this because I have received the gift of faith.
And I know that I have received this gift because I have great faith.
What does that faith look like in my life? How does it present in the world?
Well, to put it simply, faith presents as optimism and positivism.
Faith is the constant reaffirming of the goodness of God. And once this is understood, it becomes very clear and easy to understand and quite easy to develop in faith. You see, faith is the choice to see that every single thing that has happened or would happen or could happen will only happen if God Himself – King of the Universe and Creator of all things – decided to allow that thing to happen.
And what that choice really means is that I am acknowledging that God has a plan and that His plan is greater than my mind could ever fathom and no matter how it looks to me right now – no matter how dreadful or terrible the thing that is happening seems to be – God Himself allowed it to be so and God Himself makes no mistakes.
And that takes a certain level of commitment on my part as a person of faith.
When my little baby died before he was even born some years ago, I had no faith at all. I hated God for torturing me. I was angry and miserable at Him. I was hurt that He gave me that soul and allowed me to love that child so deeply and then allowed that child to die.
I was inconsolable.
And then… through Grace and no merit of my own – through the intercession of the countless prayers that were prayed for me while I was not even aware – the Holy Spirit came into my heart and enlightened me.
And right there and then – right in the middle of my prayers for my little niece who was so sick at that time – I suddenly stopped mopping my floor right there in my living room, and realised – with tears of joy in my eyes – that my child was in Heaven and I have in fact lost nothing, but rather that I had gained a Saint…
And I have been thinking about hat today, because I read a little phrase attributed to Saint Thomas Aquinas, who said, “Faith is a habit of the mind whereby eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to what is non-apparent.”
And I have to say, that I really do agree with that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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