What of Faith?

Photo by Pattie Traynor

Melissa Howden explores the nature of faith and its attraction, hopes and painted prayers

I’ve got a thing for Faith – Faith, as in the word with the Latin root of Fidere meaning “to trust”. And then there is Faith’s friend Belief, which used to mean, “Trust in God”. For the longest time Faith was about a certain kind of loyalty or belief in a person. Somewhere along the line Faith took on the more religious connotation and Belief came to be understood as “mental acceptance of something as true.” Faith/Belief, the two together interest me. Not as a byproduct of organized religion but simply as something I rely on. Ironically I get particularly obsessed with Faith when it seems to be in short supply in my own life.

When I slip into a space of doubt I look to the faith of others. As a natural born traveler, I’ve had the good fortune to witness faith globally. Encountering someone in an act of private devotion always catches me short of breath and makes me cry. During these times I’ve started to recognize the nature of faith as active, action being critical to faith. At its core, faith is a verb, not a noun.

Each morning in Bali people can be seen making offerings of flowers, fruit and incense to the numerous roadside altars to Hindu deities. In Thailand, the same practice exists for Buddha. While the focus here is on a deity/God, the action is individual and private and that is what moves me.

At Taos Pueblo near my home, dances are held throughout the year to petition for rain, abundant crops and more. But perhaps the image that has moved me the most is that of the elders approaching the sacred pole at the end of San Geronimo Day taking the pole in their hands, and leaning their forehead on the pole with eyes closed in a moment of quiet communion. I can’t possibly know what passes between the pole, the elders and their hearts but I can feel it as something profound, an apparent confident belief in transcendent reality.

A recent journey to Guatemala for Semana Santa provided yet another window on faith albeit in the context of the Catholic Church. I have some cultural and historical bias against this church but as I mentioned earlier, organized religion is not my interest. I am captivated by the role of faith and prayer as it shows up for each person—frequently a vulnerability exposed in a moment of deep belief. I am interested in my own faith capricious as it is.

Of all the devotional acts of Semana Santa the creation of the Alfombras (carpets) most captured my imagination. Throughout the streets of Antigua, families, groups of students, co-workers and others, come together to create an Alfombra before a procession comes through. These carpets are ephemeral, an artistic expression of the devotion and faith of those who create them to receive the blessing of the image that is processed through the neighborhood.

Throughout Semana Santa the making of Alfombras can be observed at all hours. In many respects the Alfombras recall the Indian tradition of Rangoli in which colored sand is streamed into elaborate designs on the floor for festivals and auspicious occasions. The Alfombras for Semana Santa are created in two traditions, one with brightly dyed sawdust often augmented with flowers. The other tradition comes from the time before the Spanish arrived, when the Mayans created elaborate carpets for their ceremonies of pine, flowers, feathers, corn, whatever was at hand to be worked into the design. The Alfombras and Rangoli both, are petitions or thanks for a favor or a miracle—in essence painted prayers, which are impermanent.

Perhaps the fleeting nature of things is the point. When my own faith falters I remember that of others and how simply witnessing it has touched me. My friend Donna says she has always simply felt that “things will be OK”. For some reason, given evidence to the contrary, I too still believe in the power of good over evil, and that Love ultimately prevails. Basically I trust that it is all worth it, and letting go of the promise is simply not an option.

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark.
—Rabindranath Tagore

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