Theology for Breakfast: "Faith in God is Never Abstract"

Some mornings, reading meditations on the day's scripture in Forward Day by Day, I mark ideas that I should reflect on again and again. The author of meditations for February 2020 was Mark Bozzuti-Jones, a priest at Trinity Church, NYC. Reviewing what I checked there, I see a theme emerge, coalescing in a single strong statement: "Faith in God is never abstract."

The context for Fr. Mark's statement is Psalm 89.2, "You have set Your faithfulness firmly in the heavens." Fr. Mark reminds us Episcopalians of the baptismal vows that we've renewed many times, actions that we are to take. I'm reminded that the ancients called the sky "firmament" because they envisioned it as a solid globe that revolved around us.

In other writings, Fr. Mark asks us to remember specific acts in the life of Jesus, and specific people in our own lives, that demonstrate grace.

When we remember the gracious acts of others we live more graciously. Recounting the gracious deeds of the Lord also encourages and instructs us about how to behave with grace. Nothing keeps our hearts more full of compassion and love than when we celebrate God's grace in our lives. (February 18).

Back in February, the daily readings were taking us through the stories of Abraham, reminding Fr. Mark that "the Bible is, at its heart, a love story" (February 7). He explains, "Abraham knows what he wants - a family, a place to belong - and finds these things in his relationship to God." God loves Abraham even when the old man errs. Fr. Mark continues,

Abraham and Sarah fall in love with God and each other, over and over. They teach their family to do the same, and in good time Isaac and Rebekah begin to write their own love story to God. Jacob and Leah and Rachel follow soon after, and the children of Israel are firmly established according to God's promises.

One meditation isn't by Fr. Mark, but from the dark days of World War II, Forward Day by Day of November 26, 1944, reprinted now as part of a celebration of Forward's 85th anniversary. That day, the meditator described looking out from windows along the spiral staircases of old watchtowers in Europe. Windows may look in the same direction at the same things, but the perspective is different as you advance up the stairs. In the same way, our perspective on passages in scripture and events in our own lives change with time.

Firmness, remembering specifics, following our vows: these are faith, not in abstract, but in deed.