IN FAITH

Feb 15, 2009 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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By Raphael Trotman,
AFC Leader

On Thursday, February 5th, 2009, I had the honour of attending the 57th National Prayer Breakfast as a guest of the United States Congress, in Washington, D.C. To have been present, and moreover to be able to attend, and be in the presence of many world leaders, foremost amongst whom was the President of the United States, Barack Obama, was a signal privilege and honour for me.

The stated purpose of this annual event is to bring together political, social and business leaders of the world in a single event and to build relationships which might not otherwise be possible. By inviting leaders from around the world, I believe we were meant to witness the strength of unity, and the power of faith. To see a nation’s leaders united across political lines and in prayer was simply monumental.

Attending the breakfast was refreshing and stimulating in that it set me to thinking about the deep divisions that exist in Guyana; not only along political lines but also ethnical, and to a lesser degree, religious. I was compelled to confront my own beliefs, and the faith and strength that these provide me. What is patently clear is that we in Guyana need to spend less time on converting each other to “our way” and to respect, recognize, and strengthen our own faiths, both individually and collectively. Only then can we be truly united as Guyanese.

The two addresses at the Breakfast were given by President Barack Obama and the Right Honourable Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was the strength of these leaders in their faith that enthralled all those present, and their outstanding words are worthy of lengthy repetition- unapologetically, and unabashedly.
By President Obama we were told:

“…far too often, we have seen faith wielded as a tool to divide us from one another – as an excuse for prejudice and intolerance. Wars have been waged. Innocents have been slaughtered. For centuries, entire religions have been persecuted, all in the name of perceived righteousness.

There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same. We read from different texts. We follow different edicts. We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we’re going next – and some subscribe to no faith at all.

But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is in religion whose central tenet is hate. This much we know.”

Most impressive was Tony Blair’s affirmation of his own faith in his God:

“Today, religion is under attack from without and from within. From within, it is corroded by extremists who use their faith as a means of excluding the other. I am what I am in opposition to you. If you do not believe as I believe, you are a lesser human being.

From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.

And yet, faith will not be so easily cast. For billions of people, faith motivates, galvanises, compels and inspires, not to exclude but to embrace; not to provoke conflict but to try to do good. This is faith in action. You can see it in countless local communities where those from churches, mosques, synagogues and temples tend the sick, care for the afflicted, work long hours in bad conditions to bring hope to the despairing and salvation to the lost.

There are a million good deeds done every day by people of faith. These are those for whom, in the parable of the sower, the seed fell on good soil and yielded sixty or a hundredfold. What inspires such people? Ritual or doctrine or the finer points of theology? No.

And in surrendering to God, we become instruments of that love. As the Qur’an states: “if anyone saves a person it will be as if he has saved the whole of humanity”. Faith is not discovered in acting according to ritual but acting according to God’s will and God’s will is love.
We might also talk of the Hindu “Living beyond the reach of I and mine” or the words of the Buddha “after practising enlightenment you must go back to practise compassion” or the Sikh scripture: “God’s bounties are common to all. It is we who have created divisions.”

Each faith has its beliefs. Each is different. Yet at a certain point each is in communion with the other.
But as someone of faith, this is not enough. I believe restoring religious faith to its rightful place, as the guide to our world and its future, is itself of the essence. The 21st Century will be poorer in spirit, meaner in ambition, less disciplined in conscience, if it is not under the guardianship of faith in God.

Neither do I decry the work of humanists who give gladly of themselves for others and who can often shame the avowedly religious. Those who do God’s work are God’s people.

I only say that there are limits to humanism and beyond those limits God and only God can work. The phrase “fear of God” conjures up the vengeful God of parts of the Old Testament. But “fear of God” means really obedience to God; humility before God; acceptance through God that there is something bigger, better and more important than you. It is that humbling of man’s vanity, that stirring of conscience through God’s prompting, that recognition of our limitations, that faith alone can bestow.

We can perform acts of mercy, but only God can lend them dignity. We can forgive, but only God forgives completely in the full knowledge of our sin.

It is to be in our natural state – which is one of nagging doubt, imperfect knowledge, and uncertain prediction – and to be prepared nonetheless to put on the mantle of responsibility and to stand up in full view of the world, to step out when others step back, to assume the loneliness of the final decision-maker, not sure of success but unsure of it. And it is in that “not knowing” that the courage lies. And when in that state, our courage fails, our faith can support it, lift it up, keep it from stumbling.”

As leader of the AFC, I earnestly hope that all of Guyana’s leaders, particularly us, its political leaders, will have the strength of our convictions and the belief in whomever we pay obeisance to as God, to do the right thing for the people of Guyana and thereby shunt aside race, revenge, and retreat from responsibility.

These vices and failings, unless cast aside, will keep us welded to the past like a generational curse: bonded and subjugated. The curse has to be broken and it is from our respective faiths that we must draw the strength and courage to do so. May God bless and guide us all despite our imperfections.

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