Faith is …
János Pilinszky, one of the most important Hungarian poets of the 20th century, defined faith as “intensely refined vision”. It’s what Bach had, he said, that enabled him to produce such brilliant music. What Bach imagined inwardly, he realised physically in notes on the page and sounds in the air. Faith is about developing an inner life that has to do with how one lives in the world. Bach’s music demonstrates this. It is what many of us strive for, whether religious or not. In this sense, faith as a word and concept is too richly textured to be relegated solely to the purview of the religious.
These are images of faith that came to me one day while riding the train to work:
Faith is your gaze of wonder
At a black sky bursting with stars.
Faith is your awareness of gratitude
For an unexpected kindness.
Faith is scenting a human fragrance
Not explained by perfume.
Faith is your exuberance at noonday
As sun warms on your face.
Faith is holding light inside you
As you walk through a dark place.
Faith is what your grandmother had
When she could only imagine you.
Faith is the faltering steps of a baby
On the way to adult strides.
Faith is the music you hear in your head
Before notes exists on paper.
Faith is the taste in your mouth
When you behold beauty.
Faith is stories inside stories
Retold again and again.
Faith is attention to your inner life
Worked out in minute actions.
Faith is what lives when belief dies,
Or struggles to catch up.
Faith is, just is
Simple: one in origin and destination.
© Robert, June 2019
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I love the way your poem expands our use of the word faith in the directions of those experiences where it is undeniably present, even if it remains unnamed.
Such beautifully expressed thoughts and feelings! And, yes! Bach’s music does shout this “intensely refined vision”, declaring an inner life of faith that moves far beyond any typical religious parameters. Thank you!
I’m back again! I keep thinking about this poem, Bob, and asking how one cultivates this intensely refined vision. It seems from your poetic words that being alert to what is around you now, in the moment, is one key…being alert to feelings and thoughts and listening with the heart. It seems essential to take the time to ponder and reflect, not easy in a fast paced world. This poem has reminded me of Mary Oliver’s exhortation: “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”