The Bridge of Faith

My last blog about “Hill blocks view” sign where I mentioned the overpasses on the interstates in Illinois called to mind something else about hills.

Many years ago I read a book titled, The Sacred Journey: You and Your Higher Self.  It is authored by a channeled being who goes by “Lazaris.” The man who brings Lazaris’s message through is Jach Pursel. One concept that I have remembered until this day is that of the Bridge of Faith and the Bridge of Belief. (pgs. 95-97 in the first printing that I have.)

The Bridge of Faith, Lazaris says, is long and flat – “like a railroad track in Kansas.” (Or an Interstate in Illinois.) The Bridge of Faith goes on to the end of time or, as the book wryly notes, it actually goes on until it is beyond time (as time and space are illusions of our third-dimensional existence.)  Lazaris says that those who practice Traditional Spirituality are crossing the Bridge of Faith. 

He goes on then to talk about the Bridge of Belief – which I leave for another post.

Lazaris is able to differentiate between Faith and Belief – and, through his “bridge” analogy, it makes sense. However, I just looked up the definitions of both and there is not much variation according to Mr. Webster. In fact, the definition of “faith” uses the word belief:  “A strong belief or trust in someone or something.”  (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith).  The distinction seems to be that “belief” is defined as “A feeling of being sure… that something is true (Italics are mine).” (Website reference not provided as the Webster site I used got blocked by our security system  -- sorry!)

Ahhhh… (as in, now I see…)  So faith involves belief (a thinking thing) and belief involves feeling (an emotional thing)?

Since Webster’s also offers an explanation of the term “on faith” as meaning “without questioning,”  (same source as noted above),  I am going to take that as the clue. Those traveling the Bridge of Faith do so without questioning.

Well, isn’t that really what faith is about? Taking the word of something/someone else that the tenets we follow are true?  Is it even right to question such a thing?

I have recently started reading about Kabbalah, the practice of Jewish mysticism. What has made a big impression on me is just how much is questioned in this tradition! The books of the Zohar illustrate spiritual principles via the experiences and teachings of rabbis who questioned everything from whether a passage in scripture makes any sense, to the meanings of colors, to whether miracles are ordinary or extraordinary. In fact, one of the main practices of Kabbalah is to always question!

One could argue that all this questioning is within the realm of thought – and I agree. Yet, when one finds the answer, is it simply a matter of “faith” (“OK, I’ll take it at that”), or is there perhaps some inner kindling of a spark of recognition? The Ah hah!  Something that takes one from the “I’ll take this on faith”  to the  “I know, deep down, this is true”?

Till next time, I leave you to ponder…
Susan