Faith + Prayer = Hope
Faith
When I think of the word “faith” I’m inevitably drawn to this quote:
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things unseen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
I can think of many examples in my life, I bet you can too where that constant straining for the unseen seems relentless and almost unbearable. Faith requires waiting and persevering. There is the necessity to let go and rest into something much greater than you that cannot be seen or known but eventually causes a resolution. resting in something much greater than you that cannot be seen or known but eventually affects a resolution.
It’s thw unanticipated answer unique and often surprising. Something that takes you to a place beyond your limited vision and configures a completely different scenario.
When my professional performing career came to an abrupt end due accumulated leg injuries, not only was the physical pain filled with suffering, anger, and hatred but the long recuperation time (over a year) seemed like a lifetime.
The process of maintaining faith eventually led to a teaching career which I still enjoy. Besides the therapeutic healing which is a staple in my health regime, the transformation that me with my inner spirit was a journey all in itself.
No doubt prayer was a pivotal factor in the process.
Prayer
The many kinds of prayer could fill several posts. For today I’ll focus on prayer as thanksgiving. I begin my day by starting at the end, by giving thanks for being alive and just waking up to see another day. I know that sounds absurd since I have no idea how my day might proceed. For sure some days, as my mind starts racing ahead through the hours I’m forced to resist the temptation to snooze a little longer but after my morning wake-up ritual which takes less than 5 minutes, I’m ready to face the world. Here’s what I say:
“This the day the Lord Jehovah has made; come, we will leap for joy and rejoice in him.” (Psalm 118:24)
You can imagine as a dancer I would find this Aramaic translation particularly uplifting. Anyway, it speaks to the participatory nature of prayer being active, alive, and filled with a vibrancy that runs deep and is meaningful. It also speaks to the relationship between the divine and ourselves. Living in this time in history we can choose to fully engage in the changes necessary for transformation. I can’t think of a more honorable mission than taking that unknown substance of faith combining it with prayer and energetically leaping into each day.
Hope
And that brings me the final portion of my formula, hope. Something wonderful is bound to happen with that kind of mindset. Humans and creatures have had billions of years to mature and here we are now in the 21st century bringing life, wisdom, and breath to the world.
Hope is the eternal flame that keeps burning no matter what. Burning away the old and making way for the new. Several years ago, I visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Walking through the life-size images, pausing to listen to historical presentations, and standing in the two-story reconstructed slave pen had its own emotional and heart-wrenching impact. It was a surreal experience.
The closure to the tour deposited my group outside to gaze into the eternal flame a reminder that there is still much work to do. My mind kept drifting back to a floor-to-ceiling mural covering an entire wall with the artwork of Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson (1940-2015). Standing before her art, I remembered the many conversations we had when I was living in Columbus, Ohio. My weary legs and heavy heart sensed a glimmer of hope as I knew she would live on in the hearts of every visitor to the museum. Not seeking fame or fortune, Aminah was an artist speaking truth and sharing her deepest fears and desires for change. She lived her mission.
A video tour of the Columbus Museum of Art's 2020-2021 Special Exhibition Raggin' On: The Art of Aminah ...YouTube · columbusmuseum · Jun 9, 2021
That’s all any of us can do is make our contribution for the good of all — one that is meaningful, significant, and invaluable. As each day progresses and you contemplate what is yours to do, to me this resembles what is referenced in scripture as praying unceasingly. We may not have at our fingertips the how but we will come to envision a just, free, and equitable society. A place that generations later will be grateful that we had faith and prayer to invoke a transformation.