A few days ago, someone asked me: how do we deal with shaken faith when hard stuff happens?

A timely question.

January was a rough one -- disorienting tragedy + hard losses + collective turmoil. I know I’m still wandering through a haze of grief + overwhelm, trying to find a way through it + carry it well.

So how do we deal?

I think first by defining faith in a way that works for us.

I see faith as the thing that anchors us in what matters -- and the place we go to summon the strength + depth + tenacity to continue on.

And I see the function of faith not so much as holding a worldview together with the strength of belief, but as grounding us into who we are + why we’re here + what matters most -- all in ways that deepen our capacity for the hard stuff.

In other words, faith doesn’t make everything okay.

It doesn’t make our belief unshakable, bring resolution to the chaos, or resolve our grief.

It connects us to what makes it all worth it.

And grounds us in our power to choose + create + connect.

So faith is precisely *for* moments like these -- moments of tragedy + overwhelm + pain + disorientation.

Faith is meant to be shaken. Because it’s meant to hold us in our shakiest moments.

So we deepen faith by inviting it into the shakiness with us.

We let it show us where we need to deepen our capacity for grief, rage, and fear -- and where we need to stretch + move so that we can shake better.

We practice holding what matters most in our line of vision always -- and continuing to let things matter to us, even when we feel lost in doubt + defeated by loss.

We remember what we want for the world + for each other + for ourselves -- and anchor ourselves there.

We let our faith shake -- and we let ourselves shake right along with it. Because our faith is built for it. And so are we.