I know it has happened to you just as it has happened to me. You're rolling along fairly certain of what you believe and why you believe it. You've talked about it some times, and maybe even prayed about it at other times. Faith is a fairly well-known commodity for you. You don't hesitate to check the box marked Christian on the computer form you're filling out. No, we're feeling pretty certain about the whole thing and then...and then something happens. Out of the blue comes the phone call of death or the doctor says cancer or the husband doesn't even say goodbye. It hits like a tornado on a summer night, and you're left standing in the midst of all your damaged goods and wondering whether your faith is in the rubble somewhere, because it doesn't seem to be very certain anymore.

Is this what it means to lose your faith? Is it at these times we discover what we don't believe? Is this when we realize our beliefs were built on sand? I would suggest there is something more here than just either/or. That perhaps these are the times that help to shape our faith in new and even stronger ways.

I have certainly heard my share of stories of such experiences causing people to turn their back on God and the whole idea of faith...

"I used to believe in God but then...but then my husband died...but then she left me for another man...but then my father got Alzheimer's..but then..."

Understandable to be sure but I wonder if the more mature response might be to see such terrible times less as proof of one's faith or not and more a kind of realization of the depth and nuances of faith.

Can it not be that there are times on our journey of faith when the passion for God is strong and the fervor of faith intense...and other times, equally legitimate, when faith is faltering, doubt abounding and questions reign supreme? I reject the notion that such times mean we are less Christian, less aligned with God. I propose that it may be something closer to the opposite. These may be the times when our faith is painfully digging deeper roots, stronger foundations, greater depth and richness.