Flame of Faith

One of the joys of family gatherings is the recollection of old memories of growing together, sharing intimacy, learning new experiences, enduring hardships, and reliving our achievements. These occasions are important for families to meet and to honor one another, and their customs and traditions. From outdoor barbeques to indoor banquets, birthday parties to graduations, baptisms to marriages, we enjoy food, wine, games, music, and dance as we celebrate. The strangest thing is that this is how people have celebrated special occasions from time immemorial. This is what brings about continuity in family and values. Is it possible to continue these customs and celebrations in today’s world of nuclear families? Is it possible to integrate the light of our faith with these celebrations of life’s experiences in an era that seems to function less and less on faith? Wise parents plan for the future of their families’ spiritual nurturing and remember that it is God who leads us all the way.

 Abraham took his faith in God very seriously. When Sarah died he realized that it was time to arrange the marriage of his son, Isaac. Abraham was convinced that he did not want his son to marry a local Canaanite girl. He entrusted the task, of finding a suitable wife from his homeland in Mesopotamia, to his most reliable and the oldest man in charge of his household, Eliezer. Do you have a friend who will stay closer to you than your own kith and kin? Eliezer had lived his entire life with Abraham and had seen his blessed relationship with Sarah through its peaks and valleys. He was one of Abraham’s most faithful and trustworthy servants. 

 Abraham wanted Isaac to have a married life similar to the one he and Sarah had enjoyed for more than a hundred years. He wanted to ensure that his son would preserve the same faith and traditions that he and Sarah had lived by all their lives. He was sure that a woman from his native land would ensure that Isaac lived according to the faith of his forefathers. It is no surprise that when Moses instructed the Israelites on living a devout life, one crucial instruction was the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). This was later ratified by Jesus who said that to love God and one’s fellow beings are the two greatest commandments (Mathew 22:37-39). 

 Abraham was confident that the same God who had blessed him with a child would provide a wife for his son. “Jehovah Jireh - God will provide “ was the name that Abraham gave to the mountain that he had taken Isaac to be sacrificed. Abraham was absolutely sure that with God as his guide, Eliezer would accomplish the search for a bride. Eliezer’s prayer to God was, “Help me accomplish the purpose of my journey. (Genesis 24:12)” Have you ever prayed a prayer that went like that? Where better to look for a wife than near the watering well, where the herds of animals come to quench their thirst? Isaac being the wealthy owner of many cattle would certainly need a wife who could manage and understand cattle rearing. 

What Eliezer was searching for was not external beauty, but an inner beauty that would tide Isaac through his valleys. Eliezer subjected the young woman to a test on hospitality and prayed that God would lead him to the right woman (Proverbs 31:30). Scarcely had he finished praying than a very beautiful girl offered to draw water for him and all his camels to drink. Unable to believe that his search was coming quickly to its end, he asked her who her father was. When he realized Rebekah was an unmarried granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, he knew that she was the one. His first response was to thank and praise God for answering his prayer. Do you remember to thank God when He answers your prayers? Later, when Eliezer asked her if she would go with him immediately, she showed the same faith that Abraham did when God called him to move away from his native place, and willingly agreed saying, “Yes, I will go.” Eliezer’s journey ended well with Isaac falling in love with Rebekah and finding comfort in her after his mother’s death. 

Spiritual leadership in a family always plays a key role. Often strong traditional families have matriarchs and patriarchs who hold them together. They are the ones who bring stability and structure to the families. Over time, sometimes tragically, the relationships of the family changes, with death, disease, dissent, distinction, distrust, disapproval, disgust, divorce, division of will, disinheritance, disaster, displacement, or debilitation. These are times when younger generations or others in the family should step in and try to bring order back into the family. When Sarah died, Abraham was too old to travel to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac. Eliezer stepped up to set out on the mission. 

When old traditions are not learned and remembered they are lost over time. Families stay together when there are clear lines of communication between the members. When spiritual leaders and parents speak to children often of the need to pray together and meet at family gatherings, over time these become part of the family heritage. Who knows? Tomorrow may be your turn to take care of your sick parent because of Parkinsonism, heart attack, cancer, or stroke. What they teach us today by way of example always comes handy as we grow older. It is those memories when remembered that bring life back into their aged bodies.  St. Paul when he wrote his letter to the Thessalonians he was aware of the pressures that society places on individuals, families and churches (2 Thessalonians 2:15). The pressures towards their Christian faith and worldly values. He encourages them to stand firm on the Christian traditions they were taught. To remember the light of Christ that shines in our hearts through his teachings on the importance of faith, hope and love.

Growing up in Christian families our parents expect us to marry Christian spouses from our community. Our parents hope that in time we will adopt the faith and traditions that they have followed, to ensure that from generation to generation we will be blessed by the presence of God in our lives. Do you recall any early encounters with your parents while they nurtured you in your faith? Some common ways in which families live faithful lives are by being part of a church or Sunday school, reading the Bible together, family prayers, singing hymns and songs of praise, and above all creating an environment of love in their homes. With the families spreading out all over the world there are so many new practices and celebrations that come into the family’s life. The need to integrate the past with celebrations of the present becomes crucial for the preservation of familial bonds. St. Paul says we are all fragile clay jars containing the spirit of Christ dwelling within us (2 Corinthians 4:5-10). We tell our loved ones what Christ has done in our fragile lives and how he has empowered us to hold fast to our faith through the hills and valleys of life.

If our children grow up in an environment where bad tempers, impatience, sulking, childishness, fault finding, grumbling, and ill nature are the norm, it is very easy for us to find ourselves swamped with similar behavior from them. Is your children’s only source of entertainment from some electronic media or do you spend time together as a family? Who are their role models? If we teach them to respect God and one another, and to care for one another’s needs, we can make them a source of blessing for many. What in the old days was called austerity, chastity, and prudence are now called self-discipline, self restraint, and self-control. Are these not some of the disciplines that we must teach our children to live by? If children are not raised by God fearing parents, it is less likely that they will desire a relationship with the Lord. Do you inculcate in them a desire for the fruit or gifts of the spirit? Or do they only crave for new age electronic games, movies, or music? When we raise our children to have faith, surety, respect, and responsibility toward God and humans, we help them develop strong characters. When we shape them to lead disciplined lives, we form them into lighthouses that others can see and aspire to be. 

Our lives are like candles with a flame burning at the end of it. One day we will all burn out. Yet our flame lives on if we have other candles to burn for us when we are gone. Such is our faith in God. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that follows after me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).” The passing on of the flame of faith from generation to generation unites us with God, our spiritual ancestors, our earthly ancestors, and all the others who become a part of our family over the centuries. St. John says, “And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:5).” We live in hope of one day being together in Christ who is the eternal light, who said, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2).”