Topic 9.

Faith as Inner Source of Hope

Learning Outcome:

At the end of the lesson, the students must be able to:

 Recognize one’s unique faith as an inner source of hope

 Value the important role of faith in one’s personal journey
 Reflect on the blessings of God in one’s life
 Demonstrates active faith

Explain the implication of having one’s faith in the teaching and learning process by practicing faith
Abstraction:
 driven pedagogy.

Definition of Faith

Let us first define faith in the context of the Scriptures. Generally, faith means much the same as
trust. This entry is specifically concerned, however, with the notion of religious faith- or the kind of faith
exemplified in religious faith. In the 'hope' model: faith as hoping- or acting in the hope that the God
who saves exists (https://bible.org/article/faith-hope-and- love).

In viewing the many emphases of faith throughout the Scriptures, whether in the Old Testament
or New Testament, one thing is certain: faith is a basic and necessary quality of the believer. Moreover,
true faith in the vocabulary of Christians is not only belief and trust, but also faithfulness and loyalty.
technically and linguistically, 'faith' is both active and passive in a sense. It is not only the inspiration of
all religion but is also a moral excellence.

Hence, true faith may be defined as a whole-soul committal to God: (1) The believer's intellect
must encase complete trust in the Lord; (2) His emotions must desire what God designed and desires for
him; and (3) His will must involve a complete commitment to the Lord. Thus, he is one whose will "is
thoroughly blended in love" with God's will. When such is the case, God will increase the believer's
righteous nature with the result that he will "wait patiently" for the Lord. Interestingly enough, within
the psalmist's presentation of the nature of true faith one may notice some accompanying rewards. God
will richly reward believers whose "Hope is in the Lord." (https://bible.org/)

Once again, we see that hope has a vital connection with faith and love. Both have provided for
the believer "a confident hope," which not only gives assurance of a heavenly future, but which enables
the believer to live a godly life here and now.

importance of an active faith, which We should under-gird all of our doings is emphasized. Faith
is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. Indeed, faith in Christ's
finished redemption should provide an impetus to hold fast to this assured hope regardless of life's
difficulties or opportunities. Our hope is based on the unfailing promise of God; why should we not
cherish it confidently and share it boldly. Both faith and hope should spur the believer on so as to be an
example, encouragement and support to an active life lived in God's love. Moreover, believers should
seek to love others even as God loves them. This is especially true for the believing community. The
reality of Christian love should be demonstrated in the personal relationships and mutual concerns of
the Christian community. It will be found that not only does love promote fellowship but also that
fellowship stimulates love, because it is by meeting together as a true community, community that
Christian’s opportunity for encouraging one another by have the mutual support, comfort and
exhortation. The faith that produces hope is produced by "faith working in love," which enables the
believer to be, led by the Holy Spirit for "the hope of righteousness". Believers will attain their hope by
faith and through the Spirit. Living in accordance with God's love is the means by which the believer lives
a righteous life, free from sin's dominance and resting in the hope that comes by "faith working through
love". Interestingly, St. Paul reminds the Colossian believers that an active faith and love give assurance
of the reality of their heavenly hope.

Would that all believers would have such faith, for God's boundless love is ever available to the
faithful How amazingly great is God's love! For by it he gave his Son in order that man might live in
assured hope. True faith operates within the bounds of God's love. Thus, Paul commends the
Thessalonian believers for their faithful ministry for the Lord. It is a constant ministry that gives "hope in
the Lord Jesus Christ" both now and for the future. (https://bible. org/article/faith-hope-and-love)

What does it mean to have faith and why is it so important?

We know that faith and hope are both needed for our success in this life. Faith being the
substance of things hoped for means that we must have a base mindset of faith in order to receive what
we need from God. We have to truly know and believe that what we set our minds to believe and focus
on is what will come to pass. Hope speaks of the future and faith speaks for the now in life. Faith and
hope truly work together for our good.

Hence, the basic value of our faith experience in spirituality, while at the same time asking
ourselves about the space that faith occupies in our lives is something we need to ponder upon.
Through the experience of faith, we recognize God, his initial love for us, and the path of our response.
This faith and experience through the hope and love that it generates, is the only possible path of
Christian spirituality. The path and search for God is the path of faith, and through the experience of
faith is the encounter with God. Because of faith, God is in the measure to which he is sought. Jesus
considered faith to be a rarity: "I tell you solemnly, if your faith the size of a mustard seed you could say
to the mountain, "Move from here, to there,' and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you."
(Galilea, 1991)

Today more than in the past, we realize how difficult it is to believe. It is not easy for those who
have faith and it is even harder for nonbelievers. The experience of the world today harshly puts faith to
the test. Injustice exists in thousands of forms and rampant misery colors the lives of the majority of the
human race. Growing violence and inescapable crises surround us (like the COVID-19 pandemic).
Millions of our brothers and sisters live in sub- human conditions, destined only to be born, survive and
die. In such a world, it is not easy to have faith, to believe in a personal God who directs history with
love. We have come to ask ourselves, anxiously, what good is faith in this situation? What difference
does it make to have or not to have faith?
 Every spiritual journey, is a maturing of the living idea of God. The history of salvation is a
progressive and gradual revelation of the face of the one true God. The path of spirituality, today and
always, is the leading of individuals and cultures through this gradual revelation, even within different
contexts and experiences. In the experience of Abraham, God is revealed as a historical God who
intervenes in the life of persons to commit himself to them and to form a people with them. The God of
the Bible is a God of commitment, of the covenant, of the promise. He is a God in whom the individual
must place hope against hope, who must be trusted, who must be believed absolutely, to whom one
must be faithful. In his revelation to us, Jesus reveals the essence of the Christian God; to be pure love
and mercy. active, dynamic, and limitless. Because God is love, he is committed to his people (Galilea,
1991).

True faith therefore is a whole-soul commitment to God. Faith in God we professed can work
miracles in our everyday lives. Our faith which could move us to act and respond to the needs of our
brothers and sisters.

Faith in the Almighty is an innate trademark Filipino value. All of us has it. Filipinos pray
together, with an extraordinary faith to get through many calamities.

Such an attitude clearly defines the Filipinos unique regard for the value of Faith in the Almighty.
We should take pride in our faith and use it to improve our lives.

Faith in God Almighty in Action

The GMRC Teacher may choose to integrate and enhance the value of faith in God in their
subject areas/lessons, in their family life through the arrangement of stronger faith practices in the
home (e.g praying before meals, praying of the rosary and other devotions), encouraging children to
develop a habit of prayer and reflection especially when faced with moral discernment, attending prayer
sessions Bible sharing and going to Sunday masses), and in their daily lives by always contributing one's
efforts to God and making him a part of the choices and decisions that one makes

The teachers are encouraged to take a pattern of taking long, prayerful walks - a favorite habit
some people developed over time. One would surely notice that when hardships and intense prayer
were combined. one's faith grew and improved. The most difficult times have become some of the most
special times, periods one cherishes and treasures throughout one's lives. Evidently, the Lord has
reached out to us in our lowest moment. Thus, prayer worked like magic in one's system. One's self-
imposed solitude and contemplation naturally provided the perfect setting for reflection and prayer.
When one is synced with oneself, our prayers would be heard and answered instantaneously. Faith
works wonders, Faith can move mountains and heal hearts. Faith is like a staff that supports us. With a
heart full of faith and hope, it is imperative that we offer our grateful thanks to the Lord and marvel at
how the Divine responds. The universal consciousness had reached out, connecting and uniting each
individual consciousness with itself. We will then feel that our individual consciousness will be part and
parcel of the divine consciousness. This is the beauty of it.

Once the teachers consider the significance of prayer in their life, they are fully aware of the
things they can accomplish when they live a life of Faith. They have in them the desire to do the right
things, make moral decisions, and work for the best of one's God-given talents. They shall hold their
moral ground when they are confronted with things that undermine their values and those which may
inquire the well-being of others. The teacher’s faith is a gift that strengthens them in times of crisis and
helps them arrive at conscientious decisions. They become aware of its manifold benefits. Thus, they
shall strive to nurture this gift through prayer and reflection. They also understand that their faith in God
can bring them to appreciate themselves, their family, friends and colleagues, their job and their
learners better. Thus, they will do their best to be a discerning individual with God as their source of
wisdom in everything that they do. With a deep resolve to be a better person, they can go further by
putting their faith into action. They shall live a life that is based on the right values and serve as an
inspiration to others who may be struggling in their own faith life. The teachers must not worry or fear
because worry is a sign of distrust. Hence, they must therefore believe in God Almighty and for sure they
will not be alone in their journey within and beyond because God is with them always until the end of
time.

Faith and the Spiritual Dimensions of Teaching

As Paul Michalec (2002) puts it, faith is an essential component of one's teaching because it
encourages the teacher to more fully express the truth within one's soul, allows for the truth of texts to
emerge and it calls forth the truth that one's students bring into the classroom. Faith is also a source of
the authority that compels the teacher to voice his or her with oneself, our prayers would be heard and
answered instantaneously. Faith works wonders. Faith can move mountains and heal hearts. Faith is like
a staff that supports us. With a heart full of faith and hope, it is imperative that we offer our grateful
thanks to the Lord and marvel at how the Divine responds. The universal consciousness had reached
out, connecting and uniting each individual consciousness with itself. We will then feel that our
individual consciousness will be part and parcel of the divine consciousness. This is the beauty of its
opinions in class and to act with purpose and meaning. Faith also generates moments of peace and
solitude within which the teacher can reflect on one's teaching practices and measure their value
accordance with the degree to which one's actions resonate with one's inner sense of truth. Faith
encourages the teacher to take pedagogical risks that one's ego and rational mind view with suspicion
because of the unknowable quality of their outcome. Finally, faith facilitates the formation of
community in the classroom.

A teacher may rely heavily on the power of faith to guide him or her in the task of knowing each
student as a unique learner and as a collaborator in designing classroom experiences to benefit all
students. The more attentive a teacher to each student as a learner, and as a person, the more effective
he or she at providing educational experiences that lead each student to deeper understandings of
subject matter, knowledge of self and development of self in relationship with others.

Hence, Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) Teachers are encouraged to utilize the faith-
driven pedagogy which is a journey of discovery into the soul of one's teaching. It is often uncertain,
problematic and highly dynamic.

Despite hours of reading, planning and reflection, the teacher never fully knows what will
transpire between the text, the students and the professor. Michalec (2002) believes that effective
teaching is faith driven and never regularized, processed and repackaged for easy digestion. It contains
patterns, rhythms and principles but it should never be completely managed. A static pedagogy is a
spiritually dead pedagogy.
 According to Michalec (2002), GMRC sometimes being fully present means revealing aspects of
one's pedagogical or intellectual uncertainty. The teachers' core beings are publicly exposed for students
to accept or deny. Faith is a steadying hand when the teachers make the trusting leap past their external
sense of self as expert into their internal sense of self as questioner. What if the students reject the
image of self the teachers present to them? What if the activity the teachers have planned for the class
period flops? It is one's faith that sustains the teachers through these moments of interpersonal doubt
and pedagogical uncertainty. Faith also assures them that the more they divulge their inner sense of
truth the more their students see them as a genuine person. And the more they see the virtue of being
true to self, the more willing their students are to divulge their view of truth.

While the teachers' faith journey into teaching is highly personal, its paradoxical other is
community. Faith as a spiritual dimension of teaching fosters community in the classroom. In
cooperation, each member calls forth new and fuller meanings of self, others, world and community. By
viewing one's classroom as a community of faith, a sacred space where teacher and students are open
to learning from each other and from the text, one's teaching responsibilities become clearer. If the truly
values the sense of integrity and vision of truth held by each of the students then they must
acknowledge that each student embodies a unique vision of truth.

The best teaching occurs in relationship with, not in isolation from, the real needs of the
students in class. When the teachers are true to the spiritual dimensions of teaching, they grow
interpersonally by responding honestly, from one's soul, to the ethical and pedagogical dilemmas one's
students present. For instance, how do the teachers assess the learning of a student who has
demonstrated exceptional ability and understanding but has missed numerous classes due to
challenging life circumstances? How do teachers respond to a student who dominates the conversation
and silences classmates? How does one remain true to calling to teach when the students fail to read
the assigned text?

Michalec (2002) asserted that when the teacher remains humble in the face of the truths that
the students and the text reveal, the teachers may remain open to change, The teachers' ability to listen
more fully, their ability to see more clearly and one's ability to communicate the fullness of truth are
improved. Through an exercise of humility, the teachers sometimes find that the strained silence they
encounter after asking a question arises from the need for the students to process the question and
generate an honest response instead of the teacher’s assumption that they failed to do the readings for
the day. Through the power of pedagogical faith, the teachers become less concerned with overly filling
the classroom space with the sound of their voice. Faith provides the courage to let go of the need to
always speak authoritatively and it provides the patience to allow the shared spirit of inquiry to wind its
way around the room, revealing truth on its own time. The teachers know that when they have
something worthwhile to say they will be compelled to speak their understanding of truth. Teachers
need to value silence in teaching as much as dialogue. Faith gives the teachers the certainty to speak
with authority from their heart and soul, to know that what they are about to convey to their students
comes from a source beyond all of us. The classroom dynamics become tripartite: students, teacher, and
the text. Each has a distinct voice and authority to speak the truth. Through faith the teachers know that
the truth will be spoken, but not always by them.

Hence, a classroom infused with humility and authority is attentive to the dual demands of individual
and community interests. It drives everyone in the learning process, teacher and students alike, toward
clearer understandings of personal uniqueness and encourages the teachers to be open and accepting
of challenges to our beliefs. The learning environment is both more humane and more rigorous as
teacher and student follow truth deeper and deeper into the bliss of understanding. Both teacher and
students alike must know their subject matter, trust each other and have faith in the process of
discovering personal truth, tempered by communal oversight. Faith allows teacher and students to
humbly journey forward into the intellectual unknown, knowing that we will eventually arrive at a point
of understanding, a place of personal authority and meaning-making where classmates, the text and
emerging understandings of self are held together in relationship.

Pedagogical faith provides an answer by encouraging the teachers to practice good listening skills. When
the teacher really listens for the inner voice of their students, they gather valuable information about
the student's ground of being, even though their interaction is limited. Yet listening is not enough. Faith
also entails acting to the best of the teachers' pedagogical ability. Still, sometimes teachers manage to
completely misjudge the student. Their ego overrides measured judgment because they are angry with
their student for disturbing the sacred space of the classroom. The shut the student down, emotionally,
intellectually and spiritually. Faith also reassures the teachers that with the right form of attention the
pedagogical relationship can be patched and a sense of wonder can be restored. The shock and
embarrassment of the teacher’s misstep is a very painful reminder to be more attentive to each precious
moment the teachers spend with each student in and out of class.

Teachers need to learn to increasingly trust their inner teacher when encountering pedagogical
uncertainties. Over and over, teachers may find that their teaching effectiveness is directly tied to one's
ability to pay attention to the spiritual dimensions of teaching and learning.

In particular they may find that faith is a useful tool to continue one's growth and to enhance the
learning of the students. This is believed to be true because faith-filled teaching is inherently student-
centered.

Faith is grounded in the spiritual tasks of meaning making. It enhances the teachers' understanding of
the ground of their being, for students and teachers.

Faith sustains reflective encounters with subject matter and community. Faith ferrets out answers to
the challenges of teaching by encouraging the teacher to plunge into the pedagogical uncertainties of
the classroom, rather than pulling away.

Faith is paradoxical glue. It binds together the interests of the individual and community, speech that is
humble and authoritative and teaching that elicits suffering and wonder.

Faith journeys are certainly full of pitfalls and the thorns of disappointment. Faith is never an anecdote
to personal or pedagogical struggle.

Faith is simply a more truthful way of teaching and learning. It calls the teacher and students to a fuller
accounting of their unique status as a person. It encourages all members of the classroom community to
articulate and justify the ways they organize life experiences into coherent patterns of meaning. When
old systems of meaning are threatened or swept away by classroom experiences, students must learn
new ways of making sense of knowledge, life, self and truth