The faith that animates the Christian community is less a matter of believing in the existence of God than a practical trust in his loving care under whatever pressure. The stakes here are enormous, for I have not said in my heart, “God exists,” until I have said, “I trust you.” The first assertion is rational, abstract, a matter perhaps of natural theology, the mind laboring at its logic. The second is “communion, bread on the tongue from an unseen hand.”4 Against insurmountable obstacles and without a clue as to the outcome, the trusting heart says, “Abba, I surrender my will and my life to
...more
