The Power of a Simple Faith

My father has a simple faith.

He knows God loves him and has a plan to use him for good.  He’s never shared any thoughts with me on predestination, election, transubstantiation or any other heady theological stuff.  Just a simple faith.

Growing up dad would say The Lord’s Prayer before most meals.   The words of that prayer were deeply  ingrained in my mind.  I was able to repeat it verbatim at a young age.  I was given every opportunity to be involved with church, attending youth groups, camps, etc.  

Eventually my faith became loud and opinionated. 

In my early 20s, I was enthralled by the beliefs spread through the neo-calvinist movement.  I was sucked into the Mars Hill culture from a distance via their videos.  I looked down on my dad and his simple faith.  Serious Christians try to understand how this stuff “really works”.  Dad seemingly didn’t care about any of that.  I felt piously alone and pioneering.

That all changed the evening my aunt’s body was discovered.  The rest of the family met at my grandparents house, waiting to hear from the sheriff's deputy.

After they shared the findings of their initial investigation and left, it was the trigger for the family to start grieving.  That’s when dad stepped in and led the family—his children, siblings and parents—in The Lord’s Prayer.

The comfort of those words, though rote and simple, brought peace.

At the funeral procession dad carried the cross to the front of the sanctuary.  He grieved his grief, but stood as an anchor for his family.  That’s when I stopped seeing him as simply my dad, but as a patriarch of our family.  And a patriarch of my faith.

To be a spiritual leader in your family, you don’t need to have the answers to all the complicated problems of living a life of faith.

Your simple trust, hope and knowledge of God’s love — put on display for your kids to see — is more than enough.