Rededication

“Doubt and dedication often go hand in hand. And “faith,” crucially, is not assenting intellectually to a series of doctrinal propositions; it is living in conscious and rededicated relationship to God.”

-Annie Dillard, For the Time Being

If faith is a rededication, then it is something that must be done over and over again, each time from the beginning. It sounds like a repetition of falling out and coming back. The reopening of one’s heart after it had closed means that pain, loss, and aimlessness must have preceded the reopening. The way in which we experience such moments of vulnerability and the way our vulnerability propels us to rededicate ourselves to God is an act of devotion that is made in suffering. This is why faith is moving.