what about our faith?

What do you imagine when you hear the word faith?  Repelling off a cliff?  White-water rafting?  Snow skiing in Colorado?  Or does faith bring you to your knees in prayer?

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow. He proposes a just God does not become weary of our cries.  Jesus asked this question at the parable’s conclusion, “When the Son of Man comes will He really find faith on earth?”

           “My Faith Looks Up to Thee” is a song written by Ray Palmer.   Palmer was busy working as a store clerk, attending classes at Yale, teaching in New York, with future expectations of becoming a minister. He was disheartened with his unattained pursuits.

          In 1830, at the age of 24, Palmer was approached by Lowell Mason, who was focusing on pursuing musical interests.  Mason directed chorus's, published hymnals, and was compiling a songbook. He asked Palmer to help him compose hymns for his projected hymnbook.

          Palmer pulled a little book from his pocket and showed Mason a poem that he had written two years before in his one-room apartment.  It was a prayerful plea to give him renewed courage and faith when he was feeling discouraged.  He later said that he “had not the slightest intention of writing for others, least of all a hymn for Christian worship.”

          Does our faith look up, when we are feeling dejected?  God can turn our tearful prayers into a song.  Allow God to find faith on earth…look up!