05/12/2022
Doubting doesn’t need to be a bad thing.
Can we embrace doubt as a vehicle for deepening our faith? For many who have been raised with doctrinal religious background, “doubt” can be an unsettling term. Former evangelical pastor and CAC faculty member Brian D. McLaren believes that the honesty of our doubts can be the building block of true faith.
“I remember when one of my sons, in first or second grade, summarized the Exodus story with an eyeroll. ‘It sounded far-fetched,’ he said. I laughed because I never heard him say far-fetched before and because of his unvarnished honesty. I know doubt is a shameful secret to many, but what if doubt is actually like medicine, a nourishment that we need and so does our world?”
Brian encourages us to embrace the space of not knowing. “Doubt need not be the death of faith. It can be the birth of a new kind of faith, a faith beyond beliefs, a faith that expresses itself in love, a deepening and expanding faith that can save your life and save the world.”
We invite you to reflect with a brief Lectio Divina practice based on Brian’s grounding in doubt. Latin for "sacred reading,” lectio is a contemplative way of experiencing Scripture or other text. It includes four readings:
▪️First Reading: Open your heart to Diving Love and read the text in the image out loud, if you can, slowly and clearly. Pause for a breath or two.
▪️Second Reading: Notice any word or phrase that stands out.
▪️Third Reading: Reflect on this word or phrase until it engages your body, heart, and awareness of the seen and unseen world. This is Divine Love communicating to you.
▪️Fourth Reading: Respond with a prayer or reflection, inhaling and exhaling deeper into presence. This is your opportunity to respond to Divine Love.
What word or phrase emerged for you? How can that word lead to deeper faith?
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