I’ve always imagined the journey of faith as a flat, country road. It was lonely except for the crowds shouting judgments from the sidelines as I stumbled in my stilettos—unprepared for a long walk. I pictured my head hanging down under the weight of questions thrown at God.

That’s how I used to visualize it. Then, I had a conversation with Amanda Garber.

Amanda is pastor of RISE (a United Methodist faith community in Harrisonburg, Va.) who believes that those questions that often fill us with fear and anxiety are actually normal and healthy.

With so much negative chatter about the growing disillusionment of religion, I wondered aloud, “What’s different about my generation? Why are we so skeptical?”

Calmly, Amanda replied, “This is nothing new. I think questions have been a part of the human experience from the beginning of time.”

She cited example after example. Job. Moses. Even Jesus Christ cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

That was when I had a light bulb moment. If my head had been held high instead of shamefully fixed on the ground, I would have seen that I was actually walking alongside some amazing company.

“In some facets, some of the people in the Scripture who had the most intimate, most vital relationships with God were questioning,” Amanda explained. “But it has to be done in community. What questioning does in a safe, authentic community is it enables us to say, ‘I don’t understand why my best friend has cancer or why people are dying from hunger while I have all this food.’”

Just look around. That “community” is everywhere—on social media, at service projects, in coffee shops, even in the places you’d least expect.

25-year-old Brent Levy, who has been involved with RISE from its inception, told me that the congregation originally met at a restaurant with a bar. “People would give me funny looks and say, ‘You meet at a bar?’ Yes, but bars are places where stories are shared, where there are celebrations, where there is shared sorrow, where you can talk frankly about your pain and possibility. Wouldn’t it be neat if worship could be like that?”

He continued to explain how community was the key to his productive spiritual struggle. “We all have a lot to learn. If we ever get to the point that we believe we have it all figured out, there’s not room to grow. It’s a lot more fun to do it in community where my beliefs are challenged. I’m forced to think about what I believe. It helps me to see the world differently.”

I still see the journey of faith as a flat, country road. The difference now is that I hear an occasional ‘hello’ as my eyes are set on a distant beaming horizon. And I’m running towards it in a comfortable pair of sneakers.

By Natalie Bannon

Flat country road, rough mountain trail or lush green meadow… how do you visualize the terrain of your spiritual journey?

More: spiritual journeys

• Spiritual journeys have many colors and shapes watch video ►

• The United Methodist Church, Peace Prize Winners read story ►

• The United Methodist Church, we all have spiritual gifts find yours ►

• More writing by Natalie Bannon read story ►

You may also like: get free Bible | UMC+Hunger | UMC+Malaria | UMC+10Fold.org | Like Us   |