I’m in Sunday school and the topic of discussion is faith. The teacher has already dredged up most of the standard clichés. An earnest gentleman in his eighties in the back has just delivered a lengthy exegesis that started with Hebrew 11:1, meandered through D&C 63:10, took a detour into the dangers of sign-seeking, and then ended up in Alma 32:21, where he concluded that true faith was, by definition, an imperfect knowledge of something that’s true.
I imagine a distant future. Armageddon is over and the Earth is smoldering in the background. Billions of us are gathered together. We’re talking excitedly, because we’ve just been informed that God will be taking the stage shortly to tell us which religion was right. Because faith is only faith if it’s anchored by truth, all the folks in the wrong religions didn’t really have faith-they just thought they had faith. In my imagination, the atmosphere is like a game show; we’re about to see what’s behind curtain #3. We’re about to see who wins the faith lottery.
Someone in the front of the class is talking about Ether 12:6: “Dispute not, because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” “We have to earn our miracles,” the woman in front is saying. “Miracles don’t lead to faith,” she continues. “It’s the other way around-faith leads to miracles.”
In the Bible, miracles were used like cost leaders. They seemed designed to get people into the store. It’s different now, though. People aren’t possessed by the devil any more-they just need the right meds. People still have their sight restored, but it’s not divine intervention-it’s cataract surgery. So why no more miracles? Well, according to Ether 12:6, it’s because we don’t have enough faith. We haven’t earned them, so it’s our fault. That sounds like an excuse to me.
That’s when I get an epiphany. I’ve got it all wrong. Faith may be linked to miracles, but not in the way people think. Faith doesn’t affect anything. It doesn’t cause anything. Faith is a commitment to see the world in a particular way. It’s about choosing to look through the kaleidoscope. It’s about staring at the picture of the old hag and the young woman until you see the image you want to see.
Take priesthood blessings, for example. Hold them up to the light, and good Mormons will see miracles. But what if we take those blessings and incorporate them into a large scale medical study of patient outcomes that examines the effects of different religious interventions. Will Mormons experience more unexplained positive outcomes than those of other faiths? Do more faithful Mormons-those with temple recommends-respond more readily to blessings? Does the worthiness of the individuals giving the blessings matter? How many Baptist prayers does it take to equal one Mormon priesthood blessing?
Similar studies have been done. Is it a surprise that God doesn’t seem to favor one religion over another? Or the devout over the agnostic? God, apparently, is no respecter of persons when it comes to mortality rates.
There are at least two interesting things about Rorschach tests: 1) There are no right answers, and 2) What you see says more about you than the image itself.
When it comes to priesthood blessings, or anything else others see as miraculous, what do you see, and what does that say about you?
“When it comes to priesthood blessings, or anything else others see as miraculous, what do you see, and what does that say about you?”
I thought about this Brent and I didn’t like what I saw. Thanks for getting me thinking…sometimes the view from the cheap seats makes my eyes water…thanks for this series.
“Faith is a commitment to see the world in a particular way. It’s about choosing to look through the kaleidoscope. It’s about staring at the picture of the old hag and the young woman until you see the image you want to see.”
I read this early this morning and thought about it as I sat in Sacrament meeting with my daughter and her family. In their almost 15 years of marriage, they have dealt with some really harsh things–life-threatening cancer, two dead babies, a handicapped son, multiple job losses–and through it all they have maintained the kind of faith you describe above, the kind that is a choice. No one has prayed more earnestly than have they, few have worked as hard to live on so little and make do with what they have, and no one I know has worked harder to sustain their family. There have been no great miracles from on high, but their faith and its accompanying hope have kept them going. Just two days ago, my son-in-law accepted a job offer, after 15 months of unemployment. That job offer came, not as a miracle, but because of his hard work and determination. I look at this family and see that faith itself is indeed the miracle.
I too am enjoying this series. Thank you.
Faith may be linked to miracles, but not in the way people think.
Faith is a commitment to see the world in a particular way.
Perhaps, then, faith is linked to miracles *precisely* in “the way people think”.
failed at quoting…oh well.
Loved this post! Perspective really does change everything. As an example, a friend of mine recently went to his bishop because he was having some serious doubts. In an attempt to persuade my friend that miracles happen and God answers prayers, the bishop told him about a family vacation they went on a few years ago. They were well into a road trip when his daughter pointed out that they hadn’t prayed yet. They pulled off to the side of the road, said a quick prayer, and resumed driving. A few minutes later, they hit a deer. The deer died, but no one in the car was injured and the only damage to the car was a busted headlight. The bishop’s take on the incident: If they hadn’t prayed, something much worse probably would have happened. Prayer works. How do we see this story if faith is taken out of the equation? If they hadn’t prayed, the deer probably would have crossed the road after they had already passed. Prayer killed a deer.