Throughout my life, I’ve had periods of cynicism, wondering if my cherished faith is anything more than wishful thinking. Sometimes it comes from the monotony of life, wondering if a God-filled life shouldn’t be more exciting and grandiose. Other times cynicism creeps in as I observe relentless suffering in the world. But recently I was reminded that the Spirit moving, like a gentle voice, easy to miss but profound. We just need to know where to look.
Theologian Rowan Williams reminds us where to find God in daily life: “Don’t look for the leader, the controller, the problem solver. Look for where the light gets in.” Mister Roger’s mother put it this way, “Look for the helpers.”
Etty Hillesum beckons us to go even further. Look not only for the light, but participate in it. A young Jewish woman who died at the Westerbork concentration camp, she wrote, “There must be someone to live through it all and bear witness to the fact that God lived, even in these times. And why should I not be that witness.”
Look for the light. Look for the helpers. Look for the witnesses. And as your faith is strengthened join the chorus as one who also testifies that God lives “even in these times.” Become a light emanating God’s Spirit in this world. Scripture says, “No one has ever seen God, if we love one another, God’s love lives in us” (1 John 4:12). God is made visible through us. We are God’s body—the hands and feet of Christ—as we cooperate with the Spirit.
Rowan Williams writes, “Faith has a lot to do with the simple fact that there are trustworthy lives to be seen, that we can see in some believing people a world we’d like to live in.”1 When we lack faith or struggle with cynicism, we look to trustworthy lives that give us evidence God is active. What might such witnesses of God’s presence look like?
About six months ago, a friend who is a filmmaker sent me a video of a woman he recently interviewed for a project. Her name is Daisey Dowell. She takes my breath away, reminding me that God is alive and well. God is at work in so many places that we don’t realize, places and people that will never make the front page news. Hear from Dr. Dowell yourself at this link or the video below (it’s only 10 minutes). And be encouraged—God is with us. We just need to know where to look.
1. Rowan Williams, Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 21-22. This source is also where Williams introduced me to Etty Hillesum’s quote.