Good Morning, Good afternoon, Good evening, and Good night!
If you are receiving this email then you are important to me!
Additionally, you are a significant part of my spiritual formation.
Some of you started praying for me when I was a little boy running around 1185 Farmington Ave and some of you have only known me as a dad with two kids and a mortgage. One of you gave birth to me. Thanks Mom!
I am very grateful for all of you.
Winter Faith Weekly will be a short note of encouragement, audio recording, or theological reflection that will be sent directly to your inbox each week.
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This week I have a short essay that I wrote for the Roadstead Project, which is an awesome organization created by my friend Kara.
WINTER
I like seeing my breath in the frigid air. It makes me feel alive. I grew up in Wisconsin. I am used to cold, dark nights with gray skies. Ironically, the coldest winter days in Wisconsin are often sunny because clouds bring protection from sub-zero temperatures.
Seasons come and go. Seasons change. Winter is cold. Spring brings warmth. Each season has pros and cons, but I have always liked Winter. It reminds me of home.
Seasons of faith come and go. Likewise seasons of doubt come and go. Too many people don’t teach that. When spiritual leaders and churches ignore this simple truth people are filled with guilt and same for simply traveling a normal spiritual journey. Faith is not linear. Faith is like a wave in the sea. It goes up and down all the time. It has a rhythm. The seasons provide change, life, death, growth, and rebirth.
Faith changes, grows, dies, and rebirths. Faith is not about staying in one season but being able to experience all of it. Doubt is always a part of true faith. Without darkness we couldn’t tell what light is therefore God made both the light and the dark. Therefore I believe faith and doubt are opposite sides of the same coin known as authentic spirituality.
Winter Faith is the feeling of doubt and hopelessness. Winter Faith is when you feel distant from God. This distance from God is confusing and hard and frustrates the soul. Yet this winter faith teaches that deep doubt is a necessary part of authentic faith.
I stay in season of Winter Faith all year long. Not all believers do. Yet, all believers must endure Winter Faith at some point in their journey. Maybe it’s a brief moment like one year in college that life just seemed off. For others, Winter Faith may be a year or two after the death of a child or a divorce. All believers must wrestle with Winter Faith if they want to be a mature believer. Maturity comes through hardships. Winter Faith often is a lonely and difficult walk. In this season God feels distant from you. It feels like God doesn’t care about your pain or the world’s pain and suffering. It feels like death. It feels like neglect. It is cold and dark like Winter.
I wrestle daily with the darkness I see in the world. I am used to being discouraged. I don't find peace in the chaos but I am home when I acknowledge my doubt. I see severe famine, global poverty, growing homelessness, racism, spiritual poverty, economic inequality, and unnecessary death. I visit these subjects often and my soul wrestles with God daily in these matters.
Why is life unfair? What do some eat and others starve? Why did God set up the cosmos this way? Is God for me or against me? These questions pain me to write but they are real.
May you join me on this journey and bring your whole self; the pain, the grief, and hopefully the joy from living into your authentic faith.
