Rev. Melinda Giese,
Minister of Discipleship & Pastoral Care
One of my favorite quotes about faith is attributed to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” As I was researching this quote, I discovered that it doesn’t appear in any of Dr. King’s writings or sermons. Instead, the quote likely originates from a story told by Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund. In a 1991 article in “Mother Jones” magazine, she talked about hearing Dr. King preach when she was a college student. She wrote, “One of the things I liked about [Dr. King] was that he didn’t pretend to be a great powerful know-it-all. I remember him discussing openly his gloom, depression, his fears, admitting that he didn’t know what the next step was. He would then say, ‘Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.’”
In the face of uncertainty, sometimes we feel paralyzed. We’re not sure what the future holds, and it may be frightening to look ahead into the unknown future. In these situations, it helps me to think of faith as the courage to take a first step. We don’t have to know the future or come up with some kind of grand long-term plan. We don’t even have to feel courageous! Living with faith can be as simple as asking ourselves, what is the next step that makes sense? Even when the future remains uncertain, how can I move forward with one action? If we aren’t sure, faith also can mean praying for clarity about our next step, asking for God’s wisdom to guide us.
Another helpful tool for cultivating faith in the midst of uncertainty is to pray the serenity prayer. Many of us are familiar with this prayer that helps us distinguish between the things in our life and the world which we cannot change and the things we can. Letting go of what we cannot change can be incredibly freeing, allowing us to focus our energy and time on the things we can change, namely our own responses and actions.
For myself, a silver lining of the pandemic has been the constant practice of living with uncertainty. After months of this, I’ve finally gotten better at accepting that I can’t know exactly what will happen six months from now or a year from now and have quit trying! I no longer engage in “doomscrolling,” or constantly reading pandemic news, which is another way to try to hold onto control amidst uncertainty. My own daily habits have become healthier, as I recognize what’s really in my control and what isn’t. I can’t control the course of the pandemic, but I can change how much time I spend reading about it.
As you think back over the past year, when have you let go of things you cannot change? Where have you taken a first step in faith, even when it felt uncertain?