Continuing from Bruce C. Hafen: ‘Faith is Not Blind. or Deaf. or Dumb’.
So, as with Bushman’s writing about Joseph Smith, my part of this book has turned out to be autobiographical. I’ve found myself trying to describe here my personal quest for more “knowing” faith—the questions I encountered and the vocabulary I learned in seeking answers to them, a step at a time.
For instance, about “knowing,” Elder Harold B. Lee of the Twelve bore a powerful witness of the Savior when he visited our mission. He quoted Doctrine and Covenants 46:13-14: “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. . . . to others it is given to believe on their words.” As I listened, suddenly I knew that he knew, and I believed on his words.” That was only a step, but it was real. Belief or knowledge? Some of each. Later on, I gradually came to know for myself.
Just after my mission a close friend asked what was the most important thing I had learned there. With the same honesty that had restrained my language at my farewell, I found myself saying that somehow I now actually knew that God was real, that He knew me and that I had a personal relationship with Him—a reality that has grown and has anchored my soul ever since. I later heard someone call that acute and poignant sense of relationship with God “the closeness.” When I heard her words, I knew what she meant and why it raised her level of trust in Him.
As time went on, I found that “belief” and “doubt’ are not the only alternatives. Nor is it enough for one to decide if one is a “Mormon conservative” or a Mormon liberal,” as discussed later in this book. Such polarizing dichotomies not only don’t help us, they often interfere with genuine spiritual growth. They can also keep parents and children, of leaders and Church members, from listening to and understanding each other. Too often, young people and other members ask sincere but too-skeptical questions—while their parents and leaders give them sincere but too-rigid answers. That’s what was happening in my brief exchange with that returned missionary. It would be far better if we could each get out or our “gap” and really communicate.
As I began my mission, my problem was not faith, but finding the words to express my faith.” With that memory, our purpose here is to offer words, stories, and concepts that, we hope, describe a faith process that leads to confidence and trust in the Lord and His Church.
Our heart goes out to those whose faith becomes unsettled by information or people or experiences that seem to cast doubt on their previous beliefs. Encountering surprises and uncertainties is actually part of faith’s natural growth process. We have been through many such surprises; our language just reflects our experience. Working through such opposition is the only way to develop authentic, well-tested spiritual maturity. That is why John Milton couldn’t “prize a cloistered virtue”, or deaf or dumb. Rather, true faith sees, and overcomes her adversary. ~Bruce C. Hafen & Marie K. Hafen, Faith is Not Blind (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book), 2018
