FAITH AND SALVATION - APPENDIX
An Essay by John W. Hawkins
Letter to the Hebrews - Chapter 11 (RSV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the
men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word
of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he received
approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts; he died, but through his
faith he is still speaking. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death;
and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was attested as having
pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, took heed and constructed an ark
for the saving of his household; by this he condemned the worldand became an heir of the righteousness
which comes by faith.
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive an
inheritance; and he went out,not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the land
of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same
promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive,even when she was past the age, since she considered
him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants
as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
These all died in faith, not having received what was promised, but having seen it and greeted it from
afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that
land from which they had gone out, they would have had an opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a
better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
prepared for them a city.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was ready
to offer up his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your descendants be named." He
considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did
receive him back.
By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph,bowing in worship over the head of his staff.
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his
burial.
By faith Moses, when he was born,was hid for three months by his parents, because they saw that
the child was beautiful; and they were not afraid of the king's edict. By faith Moses, when he was
grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to share ill-treatment
with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered abuse suffered for
the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith he
left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.
By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the first-born
might not touch them.
By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land; but the Egyptians, when they
attempted to do the same, were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given friendly
welcome to the spies.
And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah,
of David and Samuel and the prophets - who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won
strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their
dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a
better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned,
they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats,
destitute, afflicted, ill-treated - of whom the world was not worthy - wandering over deserts and
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God
had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT
It was six men of Indostan to learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant though all of them were blind),
That each by observation might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant, and happening
to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant is mighty like a wall!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk, cried: "ho! What have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear This wonder of an Elephant is very like a spear!"
The Third approached the animal, and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands, thus boldly up and spake:
"I see", quoth he, "the Elephant is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand, and felt about the knee
"What most this wondrous beast is like is mighty plain," quoth he:
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, said:
"E'en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most,
deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant is mighty like a fan!
The Sixth no sooner had begun about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail that fell within his scope,
] "I see, quoth he, "the Elephant is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, all were in the wrong!
- John Godfrey Saxe
A PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born
to eternal life.
THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS
This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
Sails the unshadowed main, -
The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
And coral reefs lie bare,
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their
streaming hair.
Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;
Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
And every chambered cell,
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
Before thee lies revealed, -
Its irised ceiling rent,
its sunless crypt unsealed!
Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year's dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft-step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home,
and knew the old no more.
Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea
Cast from her lap, forlorn!
From thy dead lips a clearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn!
While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings: -
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
"No man is an island, entire of itself.
Every man is a piece of the Continent,
a part of the Main;
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a manor of thy friends
or thine own were;
Any man's death diminishes me
Because I am involved in mankind;
And therefore never send to know
for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee."
John Donne
From an Address to President Franklin Pierce in 1855
"Human kind has not woven the web of life –
we are but the thread of it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are connected;
Whatever befalls the earth,
befalls also the children of the earth."
Chief Seattle