WALKING BY FAITH; BETTING ON GOD With Joan Foo Mahony
Smitten By Faith Issue # 0013 October 30th 2021
I count myself as very fortunate to have made so many incredible and enduring friendships when I lived and worked in Tokyo, New York, Boston, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London and Hong Kong. My friends are distinct and diverse in characters and cultures. However, they have in common – kindness and compassion; not to speak of their accomplishments, humour and brilliance! I am very lucky indeed. In August this year, when I decided to launch my first digital weekly newsletter, ‘Smitten By Faith’, I thought how exciting it would be if I embark on this ‘journey’ accompanied by all the friends I have made in the past 50 years! When I asked them (and in some cases, their children and grandchildren too) to share their thoughts with my readers, they all spontaneously said ‘yes’! So, each Saturday, when you receive the email notification from Substack of a new article in ‘Smitten By Faith’, you will know that the guest writers are not strangers - they are my friends with whom I have a deep personal connection. Through the Newsletter, I have been able to reconnect again with them – as if the many intervening years did not just simply slip by. How precious is that!
However, today - as I will do from time to time - I am giving my friends a break as I write solo - on ‘faith’, a subject which I am wildly enthusiastic and keen about!
The title, ‘Walking BY Faith’ is inspired by my favourite theologian, the 4th century St. Augustine of Hippo who never gave up hope in the human being’s unique cognitive capacity. To be in a relationship with God, St. Augustine believed that a Christian person’s life is like a journey which we must walk BY faith. St. Augustine said, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” In emphasizing this, St. Augustine brought us back to the original words of the Apostle, St. Paul, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” ( 2 Corinthians 5:7 ).
Left : St. Paul - the Apostle
Right : St.Augustine of Hippo
This ability of mankind to think; to comprehend - “Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature; but a thinking reed” - is brilliantly articulated by the 17th century French mathematician, philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal who wrote about his now famous ‘Pascal’s Wager’ where he bet on God. He said, “Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager – then - without hesitation, that HE exists.” The outcome of this successful wager would be eternal life and bliss which surely overrides any loss of material comforts ?
BLAISE PASCAL - left - a portrait and right - his stone statue by Francois Lanno at the courtyard of the Louvre Museum – public domain, creative commons (shared by Eutouring)
In my own spiritual journey – I have had many ‘walking by faith’ moments – which some of you may have read in my book ‘Late Have I Loved Thee’. It did not involve playing cards and it took me a long time - 50 years - to find my way. When I did, I did not make a wager with God. There was no need. I was blessed and I had trust. I certainly did not ‘see’ God but I ‘saw’. I was assured; totally convinced that even though I could not see the end of the road or even a road, yet I walked and I continue walking – because I walk by trusting God just as St. Augustine asks us - release our fears; go out of our comfort zone. So, a few years ago, I did just that and I have not looked back since. Faith seems spiritual; a state of mind - but not really. Actually, for the lawyer in me, the concept of faith entails quite a practical commitment. In Greek mythology, ‘pistis’ was the ancient Greek word used to personify ‘good faith, trust and reliability’. In the New Testament, ‘pistis’ means ‘faith’ and in Roman culture, the word ‘fides’ was used. So, here we see a fiduciary model of ‘faith’ as ‘trust’ – surely an active actionable word! Cast out into the deep (‘Duc in Altem’) ! Have trust and walk by faith.
About fear and leaving our comfort zone, I would like to share with you this beautiful Psalm :
“The Lord is my light and salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.”
( Psalm 27 of David )
And, we also have the comforting words of St. John Henry Newman, a wonderful 19th century English theologian, scholar and poet, a former Anglican pastor whose conversion to Catholic priest was not without some controversy. I love what he writes here about those who walk by faith.
Lead kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead thou me on !
The night is dark and I am far from home
Lead thou me on !
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene - one step enough for me .
( St. John Henry Newman )
Left - St. John Henry Newman
Right - Chinese seal with the Chinese characters for ‘Faith, Hope, Love’ created by Fr. Joseph Tham L.C
I suspect that perhaps very soon, the subject of pandemics will be a most boring one so I will take advantage of probably the last remaining opportunity to say anything about it – in the light of how the pandemic has brought out the best in humanity – especially in our young people ! During the almost 2 year-long Pandemic, the entire world came together to help each other. Even better, this dark period has shone a bright light on the resilience of our youth on whom our future would depend. This amazing community of the young has risen up enthusiastically and unreservedly to help feed the hungry, to look after the sick and to give shelter to those out on the streets. It has been totally amazing to see this world-wide phenomenon. They have optimism, sheer grit and such courage. One hundred years after the deadly Spanish flu, our young have shown us that they are inspired and energized and that they can and will build their own robust futures and a better world which will not be about just materialistic gains and superficial pursuits of pleasure.
We can call what inspires and drives them, trust in God or goodness or any name we like but it’s certainly not godlessness. Faith, hope and love – these are the three core values of a good life; of a Christian life. See the seal above with the same words in Chinese characters carved by Fr. Joseph Tham L.C who let me ‘borrow’ his beautiful seal for this article. At the end, we all seek faith, hope and love; these are the same virtues which compel us to care for each other; to love our neighbour and to respect our environment – a love for all humanity that requires us to be more than our individual selves. St. Augustine said that ultimately it comes down to how we construe the world—what we love and how we love it.
When I wrote ‘Millennials Meet Mary; the Extraordinary Life of a Universal Woman’, joining me at the global launch by zoom webinar from the Vatican Museum in May 2020 deep in the heart of lockdown, was the community of 80 incredible Millennials from 42 countries from various walks of life and faiths. They were the children and grandchildren of my many friends and they unreservedly shared with the world their honest reflections as they commented on the 80 pieces of magnificent Renaissance artworks unveiling the historical life of the Virgin Mary; their fresh hearts and minds revealing faith, hope and love.
Above : Some of Mary’s 80 joyful Millennials at the Vatican Museum Zoom Webinar Book launch
One of my guests in the earlier August 28th issue # 0004 of ‘Smitten By Faith’ was a lovely young medical doctor who loves God and drawing. Dr. Melanie Yeoh’s whimsical cartoons on ‘Eight Reasons Why I am a Catholic’ – see Issue # 0004 drew raves and the readership that week, among my younger readers, suddenly spiked. I reproduce here page 1 of her lovely cartoon called, ‘I have Faith in God’ . I think it is most apt as I would like to dedicate today’s article, WALKING BY FAITH to all my young readers and assure them that yes - it’s definitely very cool to ‘walk by faith’.
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Editor’s Note :
Dear Reader, thank you for reading this weekly edition of SMITTEN BY FAITH.
ALL articles in every issue are FREE.
For those of you who upgraded to be a PAID Subscribers for US$ 60.00 a year, thank you so much ! All proceeds go to the Regina Apostolorum Foundation to promote Catholic higher education.
PAID Subscribers will also receive the digital copy of the recent book by Joan Foo Mahony, ‘LATE HAVE I LOVED THEE’ ( see the bitly link available only to Paid Subscribers ) and at the end of 2021, you will receive via Bitly link, VOLUME ONE 2021 of Smitten By Faith, a DIGITAL COMPILATION of each year’s articles. Paid Subscribers will also receive additional exclusive material from time to time.