Faith and Detachment

This from Melody Beattie's Codependent No More:

Detachment also involves accepting reality - the facts. It requires faith - in
ourselves, in God, in other people, and in the natural order and destiny of things in this world. We believe in the rightness and appropriateness of each moment. We release our burdens and cares, and give ourselves the freedom to enjoy life in spite of our unsolved problems. We trust that all is well in spite of the conflicts. We trust that Someone greater than ourselves knows, has ordained, and cares about what is happening. We understand this Someone can do much more to solve the problem than we can. So we try to stay out of His way and let Him do it. In time, we know that all is well because we see how the strangest (and sometimes most painful) things work out for the best and for the benefit of everyone.

It doesn't sound to me like detachment, as Beattie defines it, requires faith. It sounds like it is faith. Atheists have been winning the cultural argument in recent years because they have redefined faith. They say that to have faith is to believe that there is a God. Thus God's existence slides, in our minds, into the realm of the doubtful. It is not. It is absolutely certain. All it takes is a good hard look at the world to realize that there must be some sort of God. If there weren't a God, how the heck did everything else get here? "It just always was?" That's not a scientific theory - its a philosophical dogma. That's why more and more scientists (practicioners of the "hard sciences" first and foremost) are becoming more open daily to the existence of God.

Faith is not belief that God exists. Faith is belief that He loves us. That is hard. Especially in light of all the sin, apparent meaninglessness, and destruction in the world. These are the things that have hardened most atheists' hearts in the first place. We must be careful lest we let them harden our hearts without abandoning the knowledge of God as well. We can become practical atheists if we act as though God did not love us, God did not have a plan for us, God were not in charge. While all the while proclaiming God's existence, and even that "Jesus is Lord," we might still act as if not, act in the same way as the worldlings around us: hording wealth, resisting change and growth, fearing death. Such are the people, one fears, that will at the end of their days say, "Lord, Lord!" only to hear that sickening reply, "Truly, I say to you, I do not know you," (Mt 25:11-12).

Dear Jesus, help us to be like you. Help us to trust in our Father's plan for us. Transform our hearts to love you better. Lord, I believe - help my unbelief!