By Brother Craig Rippens

When asked to host a monthly tele-service for Celebrating Life Ministries, the Holy Spirit immediately provided the theme: Faith – Hope – Presence. My spiritual path has led me to contemplate each of these three elements individually. However, as I pored over the Hebrew and Christian Testaments, I discovered how they are interrelated. There is no particular sequence for these elements. Rather, they are interdependent. Each of these words has a place in our day-to-day conversation, but the conventional definitions needed to be discarded when examining them in the context of our spiritual practice. In this piece, I will focus on the first element: Faith.

My first intimate experience with faith occurred when I was at university in the early 1970s. During my teen years I had a longing for union with the Divine. My Catholic upbringing did more to convince me that God was separate and punishing rather that a benign and approachable deity. When I discovered the teaching of Paramahansa Yogananda, I realized that Divine Communion was possible; however, I did not have a personal sense of that connection. One afternoon, when I saw that the university’s philosophy club was having a used book sale, my attention was drawn to a King James Holy Bible with a ten-cent price tag. In a jocular tone I told the student who was managing the table, “Always wanted to read this book. I suppose I can spare a dime.” We shared a chuckle as I completed the transaction.

Without hesitating I went home and began reading the teachings of Jesus in the Christian Bible. I soon discovered that there was a living force in the scripture. I was falling in love with the Divine without really understanding the process that was initiated. I felt a heart-opening that can only be described as simple but deep attraction. Looking back, I see that faith was beginning to blossom as a sense of relief, love, and gratitude. That night I had an imageless dream of moving through space and arriving at a source of light. This was my spiritual homecoming and Jesus was there to welcome as living, bodiless joy. My heart burst open as I began weeping with my entire being. In the following days I came to realize that my dream was a genuine realization that I was engaged on a spiritual path. I could only call this faith because there was no rational basis for this experience. Over the past fifty years, I have endeavored to maintain this faith through countless lapses, misdirections, and crises. Since becoming involved in CLM, my faith was reinitiated and continues to deepen and mature.

In preparing for the August tele-service, I was surprised and delighted to discover the Creator’s steadfast faithfulness is emphasized in the Hebrew Testament. As stated in Deuteronomy 7:9: “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” In the Hebrew scriptures, mortals earn favor with the Lord by matching Divine faithfulness through the loving observance of his commandments. Psalm 25:10 tells us, “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.” In worship, we express our love and gratitude for the Lord and thereby mature in faith. As our faith grows, we are able to meet God’s faithfulness in a space of awe and love. Psalm 85:8-10 expresses mutual faithfulness as a portal to Divine intimacy:

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.

Surely his salvation is at hand for those who are in awe of him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

I encourage you to join, me, Rev. Kat Katsanis-Semel, and Alexandra Velickovic during the August 12 tele-service. We will share personal reflections, prayer, and scripture on faith, hope, and presence. We hope the discussion will draw you into fresh consideration of how these elements support your spiritual journey. Listen to the tele-service recording here.