This morning I realized something profound: I don’t have faith anymore, I have freedom.
Here’s what I mean. Faith is belief in a doctrine or a religion or a god. That’s not really my focus these days. I don’t put my faith in a systematic set of beliefs or doctrines and I’m not certain about who or what God might be, although I’m convinced God exists within the endlessly obscure layers of mystery that surround them.
So, I wouldn’t say I have faith anymore. But what I do have is knowing and being.
When I say I have “knowing” I don’t mean certainty, however. Certainty is something that no one who embraces mystery can ever afford to cling to again. So, I don’t mean “knowing” in that sense at all. I mean I have “knowing” in an ongoing sense of active immersion in the endless process of knowing myself and the Divine as one unified reality. Knowing in this context isn’t about having all the information or having answers to every question. On the contrary, the kind of knowing I experience now is about not needing the answers at all. It’s about resting in the simple truth that God is One with everything and that I am One with God, and everyone around me.
I am in the process of knowing that God is all and in all. I am resting in the knowing that I am filled with the fullness of God who fills everything in every way.
This knowing never reaches an end. It continues eternally, forever, as consciousness expands and awareness dawns.
The other thing I have is “being” and that is almost the same as “knowing” but it’s slightly different. More like what I am experiencing within myself in terms of resting in my own existence. I am learning not to worry about the future or to dwell on the past. Those things – past and future – do not exist. All of reality is now and so my sense of self and identity is firmly rooted in this moment; in the now.
So, “being” is about remaining aware and conscious in this eternal now reality. By staying present in this moment, I practice “being” and “knowing” in an intentional way.
This is much better than “faith”, by the way. Faith is about waiting for God to show up, or waiting for the end of the world, or waiting for the Kingdom to come or waiting for Jesus to come and fix everything. Waiting is not productive. It doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t heal anyone. It doesn’t make the world or our lives any better.
Keep in mind that there have been a few hundred – maybe a few thousand – generations of people who all waited for those things to happen in faith. All of them died without ever experiencing any of that. Waiting is a waste of human potential. Waiting is a denial of God’s presence within. Waiting keeps everything in a continual holding pattern where the status quo thrives and the human race merely exists.
I think it’s time we stopped waiting.
I think it’s time for us to learn how to practice “knowing” that we are already united with the Divine which permeates all things and is the One in whom we all live and move and have our “being.”
Knowing and Being are better than waiting. Almost everything is better than waiting for something that isn’t coming.
The world will change when we change.
Transformation is only a breath away.
I’m so happy to have lost my faith in order to embrace being and knowing.
So excited to announce that my friend Jim Palmer is one of the many amazing keynote speakers at AWAKEN: Nashville, June 9-10, 2023 at Spero Dei Church.
Other speakers include:
Dr. Jennifer Bird, Heather Hamilton, Karen Shock, EveWasFramed, Laci Bean, Desimber Rose, Dan Henderson, Nat Turney and David Moses Perez.
PLUS: Special Music Guest – Jennifer Knapp!
This is a safe place for anyone questioning their faith or those looking for hope, healing and community with others who are deconstructing their Christianity.
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Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.” His latest book, SOLA MYSTERIUM: Celebrating the Beautiful Uncertainty of Everything is available now on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.
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