Coming home from Haiti, I've started reading After the Locusts: Letters from the Landscape of Faith by Denise Ackermann, a South African theologian. I originally ordered the book because I saw it has become part of the required reading for the Human Needs and Global Resources (HNGR) program at my undergrad. I sill consider, Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, one of the required readings from my HNGR season a decade ago as one of the books that most shaped and continues to reshape my worldview/theology.
After a season of ups and downs in Haiti that tested my understanding of what faith is supposed to look like and at various moments fostered a deep sense of discouragement, Rev. Ackermann's description of faith resonates deeply.
Faith is validated by the faithfulness of the God in whom we trust. It lives in a triangle of longing, hope and reality..... Hope is not religious optimism. It is tough minded perserverance in dire times because we believe in God's promises and we know that faith without hope is simply not possible. Reality focuses our hope. Clear-sightedly we see the hunger, pain and suffering around us. We also note the courage and care and dare to hope that the hungry will be filled with "good things." Being involed with theology means drawing on our faith, our imagination, our experience and our longing to know more about God and translating this into words and actions.
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