When faith is visible from the distance

There are some things that are visible just from the distance, in a bigger picture. Close to where I work and live in Stavanger, there is a huge church called St. Petri Kirke. The first time I visited the region, I first saw it from very close. What astonished me was its strong green and red colors, how they contrasted to each other at the sun light. But, days later, when I was leaving the city, I could see it from the top of a hill, from the distance. The church seemed like a strong green-red castle, much higher than the white houses around.

Somehow, this image comforted me, knowing that even if I could not see from close, the church was a strong and constant sing of faith. A testimony. Sometimes, it is easy to see the daily and shy sharing of faith as something not as strong as we would like. We wait for the great, amazing testimonies, believing that they will change people’s lives at the snap of fingers. However, I have been seeing how it is in the simple questions, the light but deep sharing of our faith in Jesus, that changes people’s hearts for God.

At the Ungdom Kirke, where I have my internship period, I see this clearly. Sometimes we are in a group, just knitting or talking after having a meal together, and someone shares either a new discovery in faith, or a question, or a doubt, or a prayer that was in his/her heart. And from that, we start other conversations, understanding how the Holy Spirit is moving among us. One of the greatest joys for me is to see that people are seeking for God, constantly, and talking to others about it. Like a strong and grand testimony, high above other minor things around. And this, we can see only from the distance, in God’s bigger picture.