MY FRIENDS! Hi! How are you? I think of you all often. I
hope you are well.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m going to post about
witnessing faith. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to post so I searched for
some videos and articles but came up empty handed.
I’m working on an organic urban farm close to my house in
Cincinnati. The farm is 200 acres but we do most of the farming on 8. The
“crew” is made up of 4 people- Me, Ellie, Gretchen, and Dan. We do most of the
everyday garden work. We harvest vegetables (dudes- I picked green beans for
like 2 hours today), we plant seeds, we take care of the gardens, we hoe, we
use badass farm equipment, etc. Sometimes we talk to each other and have
conversations and sometimes we don’t. The silence never feels awkward or
cumbersome, but I sure do find myself humming a lot of really bad 90’s rap
songs.
So today, while working—picking beans, actually, I was
thinking about why I was having trouble posting about witnessing faith. And
then I realized that it’s because “witnessing faith” is completely ambiguous,
which shouldn’t have been a shocker, given the whole “embrace ambiguity” motif
during orientation. But with the
ambiguity of faith, comes difficulty of communication. How can we express our
faith to each other and to our communities when it is so interwoven with who we
are and the work we have chosen to do? To talk about faith like it’s something
separate from ourselves, like it’s something tangible might be impossible, for
me, anyway.
I think we can witness our faith in every aspect of who we
are. We can witness faith in the mere work we are about to embark, the people
we are going to meet, this time of waiting and anticipation. I can find faith
in the silence that sits between me, Ellie, Gretchen, and Dan. I can find faith
in the ambiguity of faith itself. I think witnessing faith means opening your
eyes, taking a step back and realizing that where you are, what you see, and
who you’re talking to is in itself an act of trusting God (I’ll try to remember
this tomorrow when I’m yelling at the hose for getting tangled into an
impossible knot for the 40th time).
Faith is literally everywhere. Recognizing it, however,
becomes our responsibility, and our commitment as volunteers.
You have reminded me that just as we are inseparable from our faith, we are also connected to (and also arguably inseparable from) everything around us. For me, interconnectivity--especially with other people, but also with God that is One and the earth that nurtures--has been something I have fallen back on when I didn't know how else to find support through my faith. I am grateful for the simplicity and depth of your post; faith, similarly, can be simple and profound.
ReplyDeleteErin, in your post I found the often forgotten yet profound reminder that perhaps "finding" our faith is in the seemingly simple moments, like the silence that pervades the space between you and your friends on the farm. I related a lot to what you said about "witnessing faith" as this is a theme i've been pondering a lot since orientation. As i reflect back on the last few months, i'm slowly remembering that the times where i've seen my faith shine through, often in the most unexpected of moments: in the singer playing for small change on the platform of the New York Subway, who sang with such passion and zeal, in the homeless man selling newspapers from his wheelchair at the carwash, in the father who poured his heart out to me about the trials and tribulations of his very sick son, in my friend who tells me about unfathomable traumas from her past. A reminder in each of these moments that God's love and mercy is everywhere if we are present enough to witness it in the hub bub of our daily routines.
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