Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - August 4, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
“Unfortunately,” began the letter from Keith, a medical student just married a year or so, “I have lost the faith and am agonizing over faith and religion. It scares me. This is why I turn to you. Where should I begin to find the answers I'm looking for? I keep saying I'm too busy to spend much time searching, yet I feel guilty that I'm not taking the time for such an important issue. Kris is firm in her faith. I cannot say that. With a baby on the way, I feel even more pressure to have my priorities set before junior arrives.”
We exchanged some letters and touched on several issues, among them: his upbringing by parents who practiced religion in a rote manner with little understanding and no questioning; the problem that many scientifically trained people have of accepting anything but empirical evidence. He seemed to sense after a while that the intellectual difficulties were not the whole thing; what else was involved was harder to uncover.
Ultimately, the baby was born and he has been going to church with his wife. In a way he was using the scientific method: he had decided to try “practicing faith” and to see what would happen. The intellectual element deserves attention, especially from people who use their minds in other areas as does a medical student. But there are limitations to it: time and the vast number of possible questions make one doubt sometimes whether life is long enough. “Taste and see” enjoins one of the Psalms in Scripture. One might be better off risking the rhythm of worship and prayer.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
