Crisis of Faith

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.

As time goes by we seem to wonder, more deeply, about life, our fallibility and our mortality. This occurs more and more as we begin to feel more vulnerable. When we were younger we would laugh at older people talking about their ills and now we are the ones who have taken their place.

Some of us do go through questions about our understanding of our connection to God. Some of us do think that some of the customs and rituals associated with our faith are just mumbo-jumbo – a collection of words and rituals that hold no significance to our lives today. We repeat them because we have done so for so long. And there are some of us who realize that we are not alone on this planet; that we need to get along for survival, if nothing else.

I was amused at the commotion made a while ago about the revelation that Mother Teresa, through her writings, expressed serious doubts about her faith and relationship with God. Darkness seemed to be everywhere and when she cried out to her savior to answer her prayers, there seemed to be nobody there.

Crisis of faith-Sometimes in our zeal to find solutions to problems, we become frustrated because the solutions seem remote. I would suggest that our expectations are unrealistic.

Crisis of faith-There are certain givens – poverty will always exist. Our job is not to eliminate, but relieve.

Crisis of faith-Illness is part of the journey of life and our wishes for complete health may not be within the realm of possibility. So our responsibility lies in trying to cope.

Crisis of faith-Evil is part of the equation that relates to existence and co-existence, therefore our hope is not to eradicate evil because it will upset the balance. Our emphasis should be to endeavor to minimize it so that life can have a decent quality to it.

Mother Teresa was no exception when she decided to question our very being and the ability to make a difference. Those who work in the vineyard of care and concern will always go through doubts because there is so much despair and gloom. We question the very existence of God as we witness so much agony. It is not surprising that she felt the pangs of doubt.

Perhaps she was overwhelmed after awhile and, instead of remembering all the good she accomplished, she thought of all that is yet to be done. Sometimes when I visit the sick or dying, I too question but then realize that my function is not to cure but to console – not eliminate the misery but to comfort those who are experiencing the nightmare of everyday living or the expectation of dying. I believe, in her zeal to accomplish the impossible, she lost sight of the true meaning of faith: The ability to transfer the pain, to express sorrow and regret, to afford each one of us the opportunity to pray for that is the essence of the comfort that God gives us in times of turbulence

Even the mumbo-jumbo, as some call it, the prayers and rituals are designed to give us the added ability to connect and give voice to our frustrations. And most of us know that we need to connect, more than religiously, in the framework of humanities survival. We need to study the liturgy and look for the significance that can make a difference.

We should think. We should question. We can even doubt. If answers were simple we would still be prancing around in the Garden of Eden without a care in the world. But God did not create us to wander aimlessly – but rather with a purpose that includes rituals and connections and even crises of faith. As we continue on this journey of life, we should understand that we have a lot to be grateful for and also a lot to repent for.

We thank God for all sorts of things – for breath – for sight – for smell – for touch, not that we can create miracles by beseeching God to undo that which is done ( the loss of any of these) but rather to give us the insight into finding cures.

And then we ask God to hear our prayers – listen to us as we endeavor to create an atmosphere of communication. And, as Mother Teresa was noted to say – we may not always hear the answer but that doesn’t relieve us of the obligation to continue to dialogue or search for the answer or embark on that journey – the journey that will increase our faith – not diminish it.

To some it may be mumbo-jumbo and to others an expression of contrition – an offering of ourselves to find the relevance and significance so that our lives do have meaning.