The Faith Club by Priscilla Warner

Author:Priscilla Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Free Press

“That’s beautifully expressed, Suzanne,” Priscilla reassured me as I finished reading. “But I have to tell you that I was also really moved by what you said about 9/11 last week, about all the goodness that flowed to the site of the Towers. Obviously I’d known about the policemen and firemen, the heroes who gave their lives. But only now, inspired by your strong, steadfast faith, can I see that enormous goodness existed that day, and that goodness can coexist with evil.

“I’ve been thinking about our conversations all week,” she continued. “And trying to find proof of the coexistence of good and evil in my everyday life. I’ve thought about suffering and pain. And joy. And I know that people who suffer can love and be loved and live full, meaningful lives. My sister is one of those people. Her health is so compromised, but she looks forward to every day. She loves her husband. She loves life. She loves finding a good, ripe peach at the market. My friend Richard, who’s struggled with MS and cancer, is another example of strength for me. His attitude is amazing, his humor intact. My friend Margaret lost two children and then started an organization to help other parents with gravely ill children. She still knows true joy.

“The common denominator with all of these people is that they are loved,” Priscilla concluded. “And I think that if you are lucky enough to give and receive love, then you can be happy in the face of suffering. I was talking to a friend about this and we decided that maybe heaven is just that…love. And that heaven exists on a day-to-day basis within people. When they give and receive love, that’s a little slice of heaven.”

As Priscilla said this, I understood that my faith really was rubbing off on her. Somehow, my outlook on life, which was inspired by my faith, had broken through even though I felt my own words had been inadequate. Yet, the faith she described was different from my own. And I wanted to explore the differences.

I was eager to press Priscilla on her continually evolving definition of God. When beset with her mother’s and sister’s health crises, Priscilla had often told me and Ranya that in order to cope she had decided “to surrender to a higher power.” I wondered what she meant by that. “To what power are you surrendering?” I asked her at our next meeting.

“To God,” Priscilla replied. She had been struggling for control over her life, and now she was resigning herself to the idea that she had little control. She called that resignation, or surrender, faith. But that did not sound like faith to me. So I decided to press her on that.

SUZANNE: Priscilla, what exactly happened to you when you were flying over the Great Lakes?

PRISCILLA: We were flying into a purple, orange, and pink sunset—and the Great Lakes appeared, flat and shimmering, reflecting the sunset. The ride was smooth and my children were next to me and I felt this incredible moment of gratefulness.

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