What is faith?
And what is it like to have
A living and active faith?

Terry Tempest defines faith as
“…the belief in our capacity
To create meaningful lives”;
And a living, active faith as
“…a faith of verbs”.

Here’s how she puts it:
“This is my living faith, an active faith,
A faith of verbs:
To question, explore, experiment, experience,
Walk, run, dance, play,
Eat, love, learn, dare,
Taste, touch, smell,
Listen, speak,
Write, read, draw,
Provoke, emote, scream,
Sin, repent,
Cry, kneel, pray, bow,
Rise, stand, look, laugh,
Cajole, create, confront, confound,
Walk back, walk forward, circle,
Hide, and seek…”

What does it mean to you
To have a living, active faith?

Mostly, our faith stops at ‘belief’ –
A resigned, ‘waiting-for-something’, kind of faith.
Benign, stagnant, and passive.
But faith gains its power
When it’s accompanied by action.
There is power, liveliness and agency
When we change from ‘observers’ to ‘participants’.
And hence, for us to have and live meaningful lives,
We need a faith that is daring and assertive –
An active, take-charge, ‘its-my-ship’, kind of faith.
A faith rooted in verbs.

Which verbs resonate with you most strongly?
Can you name one verb
That you want to animate your life, this year?
Why?
What do you see yourself creating with it?
What system have you put in place,
To keep you focused and consistent?