The Basics of Faith

This morning when I was reading the third chapter of Job, in which this fine man who has lost so much both materially and relationally is cursing the day he was born...but not cursing God. Most certainly could empathize with his emotional state and his deep suffering. As one scholar writes, Job was forced to grapple with "the basics of his faith." Did he fully trust God in all circumstances?

From my perspective, the clouds of negativity and uncertainty floating above the economy and our sense of quality of life are putting many aspects of faith to the test for a whole bunch of us. Faith in long-standing institutions. Faith in the tenets of capitalism itself. Faith in government.

Faith in ourselves, to be resilient, forward-thinking and creative? Faith in God, in whatever way we relate to him?

Many of us might be drilling down to the basics at the moment. What constitutes our hope? Are we tenacious enough to continue to develop professionally, morally, spiritually....or are we resigning ourselves to the prognostications of doom, feeling helplessly dragged along on this uncertain journey that traverses shifting and sometimes collapsing foundations?

This is a time for leadership, not just for those seeking high office and the captains of industry but for each of us. This is a time for discipline, in every category. And it is a time for moral courage, a bravery grounded in a deep-seeded belief in some set of principles--however one defines them--that is larger than circumstances.

May each of us peer deep inside to the basics of such principles, and learn that our faith is still strong even if the world around us seems to be teetering.