What do you put your faith in?

As a monk and later a Bishop, Saint Edwin’s faith in God was at the center of everything he did. According to one legend, in order to faithfully prepare for a pilgrimage to Rome, he locked shackles on his ankles and threw the keys into the River Avon. He knew that God would provide him with a way out later on. 

Later on the trip, when Edgwin and his group of companions grew thirsty, Edgwin prayed in faith for help. Two amazing things happened next: First, water began gushing out of a nearby rock. Second, some of the men went fishing, and they found the key to the shackles in one of the mouths of the fish they caught! 

It’s not always easy to have faith like this. Sometimes our faith is small. But don’t worry—it can grow. The funny thing is that everyone has faith in something. The question is not “do we believe?” but “what do we believe?”

We all believe something. Some people believe there is no God. They will tell you of the big bang theory or some other scientific explanation for the beginning of life. For those of us who do believe in God, it might not be because of some major proof, but because deep within we feel a yearning; something tells us that there is a God and that he is the good Creator.

Perhaps there will always be those who believe that all that surrounds them is the result of a big bang caused by a chemical reaction. But who created the chemicals? And of course these people will have some retort. Arguments for the existence of God are external and useless if people will not listen to the whispers of their own hearts.

Faith is not born from an external proof but rather emerges from within a person. It is not something that we acquire at a certain point in our lives; it is rather something we have always had but are perhaps only now uncovering. Engraved on the heart of every person is the sense that there is a being who always was, always will be, and is the Creator; that this being is not capable of deceiving or being deceived; and that men and women were created to love this being. We call this being God.

Faith then is about trusting in God, seeking to know and understand His ways, and struggling to follow and live in His ways. This is the life of faith and the way to fulfillment.



Feast Day: December 30

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Felix I

Symbols: A Fish and a Key