Letter to my children: On faith

Dearest Beloveds,

I have recently been reminded, thank you again Amma’s Circle of Love Letters, about the myriad faces of faith. I feel like I spent many years thinking that faith and surrender were intellectually weak and hokey. Boy was I wrong. They are difficult to intellectually rationalize and not easily grasped by the thinking mind - but that is not a strike against them (as I thought at one point).

Faith is the first thing to drop away when I have not been watering it - and this is a reminder for me to water as I explain to you the meaning and import of this glorious concept.

A Circle of Love writer reminded me recently of Amma’s words. “Amma says we all have faith. We get up in the morning and take care of work, go places and travel because we have faith we can do it and we will be safe while we do, or we wouldn’t get up in the morning. When I heard this, it really surprised me because I never thought about that, that it takes faith to do everything and everything is really in the hands of the Divine.”

Children, faith is everywhere already, we just need to extend that conviction to God. You both have faith when you know that we will have breakfast every morning, that I will ask you to set the table, that I will remind you to clear the dishes. Your father has confidence that his car will work and the roads won’t be blocked when he leaves 20 minutes before he needs to round on patients. Your mother believes that when I put on my glasses I will be able to read the words on the page (oh, that was a FIVE, whoops.) We all expect water to come out of the faucet when we turn the handle.

That is the daily faith that Ammaji talks about. The key is extending that to the bigger world. To bigger things. To things that rest beyond what we understand.

To have faith that Baba’s death unfolded exactly as it was supposed to unfold. To have faith that my health journey is not going to traumatize and wound you past the point of your ability to manage. To have faith that this time of divisions in our world is leading us to a better place.

To have faith, always, that the hand of the Universe warms the seed, loves the babe, and is in charge. Rest in that knowledge and lay down your worries. As Amma says, “When we think that God is with us, all our burdens will be lessened. Once we have entered a boat or a bus, why should we continue to carry the luggage. Put it down.”

And, because truth is truth is truth is truth here is some MLK to round out the discourse on faith, from his “Why Jesus called a man a fool” sermon, August 27, 1967.

America today, my friends, is also rich in goods.

We have our barns, and every day our rich nation is building new and larger and greater barns. You know, we spend millions of dollars a day to store surplus food.

But I want to say to America, “I know where you can store that food free of charge: in the wrinkled stomachs of the millions of God’s children in Asia and Africa and South America and in our own nation who go to bed hungry tonight.”

There are a lot of fools around. Because they fail to realize their dependence on others.

Finally, this man was a fool because he failed to realize his dependence on God. Do you know that man talked like he regulated the seasons? That man talked like he gave the rain to grapple with the fertility of the soil.

That man talked like he provided the dew. He was a fool because he ended up acting like he was the Creator, instead of a creature.

And this man-centered foolishness is still alive today. You know, a lot of people are forgetting God, people just get involved in other things.

But I tell you this morning, my friends, there’s no way to get rid of him. One day, you’re going to need him.

The problems of life will begin to overwhelm you; disappointments will begin to beat upon the door of your life like a tidal wave. And if you don’t have a deep and patient faith, you aren’t going to be able to make it.

We are all the same my beloveds. Children of God. Have faith there is a greater plan and rest in the knowledge so that you don’t feel the need to be in charge. Being in charge is an exhausting prospect. Just enjoy the ride and have faith the roller coaster is heading in the right direction.

I love you both so so much. Thank you for being my beloveds.