With Faith
by Levi Ben-Shmuel

August 2004
For the last few weeks my son Jacob (who is 2 years and four months old) has been asking us non-stop to play my song With Faith. He’s learned most of the words (in his baby way), but the line that he sings over and over again is “With great faith I trust in You, oh yes I do.” Jacob sings it with enthusiasm and passion, just as I like to sing it myself.

The last couple of days I have not been feeling like a man of great faith. Part of the reason is that I was spending time reading articles on the Web and in the newspaper about the presidential race and various opinions about which direction the country should go. The level of negative rhetoric from both sides was disheartening. Why isn’t the focus more on the important issues of the day that truly affect the daily lives of people in this country and in turn the rest of the world? Are people more interested in character assassination than getting to the truth of who is the best person to lead us now? No matter who wins the election, it seems as if half the country will be far from satisfied. Because of this I wasn’t feeling much hope that we will have a positive future. How will we find unity?

My lack of hope made me angry, frustrated and a bit depressed (and not a lot of fun to be around, too). I took some time to think and meditate on why I had lost hope. What was revealed to me was not surprising: I was angry at and blaming the Creator for the state this country is in.

Once I realized whom I was angry at, I came back to what Jacob has been singing for weeks: With great faith I trust in You, oh yes I do! I had lost that great faith. I dropped the anger and reconnected with my faith in God. When I have faith I trust that what is happening now is exactly what needs to be to move us towards unity. I reconnected with the knowing that any difficult trials put before us are there out of love. They are designed to break what we hold onto so tenaciously that keeps us separate and in fear.

In Psalm 27, King David wrote eloquently about putting his trust in God when times got rough. Verses 13 and 14 say:
	This I believe: I shall see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Put your hope in God, be strong, let your heart be bold, and put your hope in God.

David’s faith did not waver even under the stress of incredibly difficult trials. He knew that no matter how difficult things seemed, the goodness of the Creator would shine forth and illuminate all of life.

When I reconnected with my faith, a measure of peace and joy returned to my consciousness. Even if times get rough, faith is a safe haven that allows one to stay the course without losing hope. If one’s faith is like Kind David’s, it is possible to keep an open heart in the face of tough times. An open heart leads to compassion, which leads to being more open to life instead of shutting down and shutting out what is not pleasant or disagreeable. With that kind of faith it is possible to enter into dialog with those of opposing views and beliefs. Who knows, maybe it would even be possible to find something in common!

Instead of being sick of hearing With Faith ten times a day, now I thank Jacob for giving me the opportunity to hear the song and remember how important it is to have faith and where that leads me. I can joyfully sing again, “With great faith I trust in You, oh yes I do!”