Faith is the essential means of attaining salvation. We cannot reach faith by reasoning. It is like an intuition. We can prepare for it by reflection, by longing for it, and by pleading for it. But it can only come as a gift. Once it has been given, life assumes a new direction. A Christian is like someone getting on an elevator. Such a person is not interested in going anywhere horizontally; his desire is to go up.

If we conceptualize the Christian life as an ascent toward God, getting on an elevator for the first time and closing the door is an act of faith. We do not know what will happen. The door may open on the second, third, or fourth floor and, to our amazement, we find a new perspective of the world stretching out before us. After having enjoyed the vista on one floor, we get back on the elevator and enter once again into darkness. We have to make a new act of faith in order to get to the next level; that is, we have to go through the pain of passing through the transition from one level to the next.

Faith is not just the assent of our minds to a series of dogmas. Such a superficial view drains it of its full meaning. Faith is basically the surrender of our will. It is not a matter of understanding with our heads; it is the gift of our entire being to God-to the ultimate reality. It orients us definitively in his direction.

Here is another example. Suppose a neighbor's house starts to burn down. His little boy is trapped on the third floor while all the rest of the family have escaped. The father cannot go back into the house to rescue him. He is standing outside under the window and sees him at the window, silhouetted against the flames. He cries out, "Jump! I'll catch you!" The little boy's eyes are filled with smoke, so he cannot see his father or the ground. He is afraid to jump, even though he desperately wants to be saved. The father cries out again, "Jump! Don't be afraid!"

The little boy cries out: "But Daddy, I can't see you!"

The father calls back: "But I see you! Jump!" So the youngster climbs out onto the window sill and jumps. He lands safely in his father's outstretched arms.

This parable points to what faith is. Of course, most of us have yet to arrive in our Father's arms. We are still in our free fall.

By jumping out of the window, we choose a direction, where we want to go; that is, into the arms of God, whom we firmly believe is waiting to enfold us. The condition is that we trust him. As soon as we begin to want to see and understand, or to depend on concepts or feelings to go to God, we withdraw from faith. Faith calls for the total surrender of our faculties and of all our being to the truth inside and outside ourselves. The Christian tradition calls this reality God.

Christian faith is a leap into the unknown. Experience confirms the wisdom of every act of trust. The alternation of the darkness of faith leading to understanding, and understanding illuminating the darkness of faith is the normal way that leads to the growth of faith. Like everyone else, God wants to be accepted as he is--and he happens to be infinite, incomprehensible, inexpressible. We have to accept him, then, in the darkness of faith. It is only when we can accept God as he is that we can give up the desire for spiritual experiences that we can feel. Faith is mature when we are at ease without particular experiences of God, when his presence is obvious without our having to reflect on it. One who has this faith simply opens his eyes and, wherever he looks, finds God.

Faith is strengthened by reading and meditation on the Word of God, prayer, fidelity to the duties of our state of life, and the acceptance of the circumstances of life. We must try to perceive Christ in the interruption of our plans and in the disappointment of our expectations; in difficulties, contradictions, and trials. No matter what happens, "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him" (Rom. 8:28). The Holy Spirit works on our evolution not only by purifying and enlightening us from within, but also by allowing difficulties, trials, and temptations to assail us from without. This much is certain, that once we make up our minds to seek God, he is already seeking us much more eagerly, and he is not going to let anything happen to prevent his purpose. He will bring people and events into our lives, and whatever we may think about them, they are designed for the evolution of his life in us.

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Excerpted from The Heart of the World by Fr. Thomas Keating

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