Recently, I have taken up a new pursuit: fur trapping. Knowing this is an emotionally charged topic, I will not to make it a focal point of my post, but I mention it for analogy reasons. You see, as someone new to art, and trust me it is an art, I am starting with basic skills and a very limited understanding.
On my third day, actually out in the woods, I got really frustrated. It was cold, my traps were still empty, and I could tell that I was stumbling around with no idea on how to properly set a trap line.
I convinced myself that this was foolish, and that I was too old to try to pick up a new skill like this. I rationalized that I didn’t have the proper amount of money, time, or resources to make a worthwhile attempt at doing this properly. I had started to convince myself that failure was certain, and that all my good intentions were falling apart. The theoretical was falling apart at the first sing of failure and difficulty. Not only was I failing, but I was beginning to realize that my initial assessment, that it was even feasible for me to trap, was not only wrong but naive. There would be no harm in calling it quits, and just admitting that my desire was just south of being enamored with the novelty of the idea, and not at all the passion or enthralling desire that I had shown just a few days prior.
But that wasn’t like me? What was this doubt and defeat? What did I expect? That I would get a couple of traps, go outside in the woods behind where I live, set those traps, and find them full in a few days? Of course not. If it was that easy, Mink coats would be less expensive than a rubber-rain coat. So what was this all about? And that is when it hit me… as I knelt in frustration in 4°F weather, with 40mph wind gusts – I realized that trapping isn’t an event. Trapping is a process…
…just like our faith.
The Theoretical to the Actual
Recently, I have been noticing a trend on Catholic blogs, especially those written by younger bloggers. They treat the faith, in their posts, as this static thing. Static in the sense that they describe the faith as if exists apart from us as humans and apart from any interaction within the world. Please dont misunderstand me, I am not arguing that faith is relative. What I am saying is that the faith interacts with reality, by being within reality. While we can define concepts, explain intangibles through formulas, and attempt to remove nuance and distinction from our conversations it doesnt make the faith static.
We can’t expect our faith to just come to us in perfect form. We have to work at it, we have to take the broken and offer it to God so that we can be made whole again – made perfect. Is it pure? Yes. Is it true? Yes. Is it distinct, formulaic, and definitive? Yes. Is it immutable? Yes. It is… IS. The faith though, is not static. It cannot be dealt with in a vacuum. Again, dont misunderstand me, I am not arguing that the faith is malleable and changeable. What I am arguing is that when we talk about things of the faith, and once we have explained the theory, theology, and philosophy behind it we need to put it into application. Does that mean that our faith is pragmatic? No. What I mean is that our faith is a process and not an event.
When we talk about the Mass, or Liturgies, those things are constant. They have factual definitions, they have form, and they have a pure paradigm. They just..are. They are something specific and real. But, when we talk about how they exist in application, in our lives… they leave the drawing board and enter the real world. While it is important to talk about and explain the way things should be, we have to have a contingency plan as to what our action should be if we encounter these things if they are not… pure.
“Oh, happy fault…”
I fell into this trap early on as a Catholic blogger. I learned about the Mass, learned the rubrics, the postures, the norms, the theological understanding of the various parts, the development of the Liturgy, etc… Then, as I went to Mass more and more, I noticed problems. At first it was small things, usually whatever I had recently read about, would stick out. Slowly, I started being at Mass, rather than worshiping at Mass.
No longer was I approaching my faith the way I should, instead I was bogged down by the frustrations of my discoveries. The faith I learned, wasn’t the faith I encountered. So I wrote posts, I read more and researched more. Yet, I kept finding mistakes. So I blogged about it, complained, found answers, and even found camaraderie. If only everyone within the faith would just learn the proper way to do things. We could live in Catholic bliss. But the problems kept arising. It wasn’t just the Mass, it was me, it was others, it was the parishes, the bishops, and even the faithful. The faith was so far from the theoretical, I wondered if it was worth it. Why couldn’t we get it right? What was the problem? How do we fix it…?
The long road…the process
But that is what the faith is. It is taking the broken, and fixing it – through the Grace of God. Like my trapping experience, I realized this wasn’t an event. Mass was not a weekly event. Our faith was not a series of events. Instead, it was in and of itself – a process. St. Peter wasn’t born a saint with a golden key in his mouth. Our faith is about conversion, healing, and dying and being reborn. Sanctification is a journey and not an act.
Therefore, when we encounter failure, when we encounter difficulty, realize that it isn’t an end. It is a beginning. Failure gives us an opportunity to ask for help, and receive the love and grace of God. We must understand that faith is a process and not an event. It isn’t about going to Mass and finding the perfect Mass. God made it perfect without us. We shouldnt view our faith life as a compilation of short stories, but as an epic novel. There can be no end, without a beginning.
We can’t expect to write and read brilliant posts about how our Catholic faith should be, and then go out in the world and find that very perfection. That isn’t reality. Instead, we need to take what we learn about what our faith is supposed to be, and then go out and do our very best to make sure it does exist that way. Our lives are journeys, they are the process. Similarly, our faith must be a process, a continual growth and exploration of what it takes to get to heaven. If we are disappointed that the theoretical exists only in the heart of God and the musings of bloggers, we have missed the point entirely. We are broken people, who interact with the perfection of God, in a very haphazard way. We must see to it that our actions are a testament to our belief. What we do as Catholics is just as important, if not more so, than what we say as Catholics. Therefore, let us continue to boldly proclaim the faith with the pounding of keys, but let us more importantly not be dismayed or dissuaded at the troubles we find. Instead, let the failings of man be our guide to striving to correct error and move towards perfection and truth.
Faith is a process, not an event.
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