Finding Faith ... in the stories

Say what you will about the divisiveness in national politics, or about the terrifying thought of environmental degradation, or even the horrendous atrocities that riddle our news media's headlines every day.

And you could say a lot. ... In fact, I'm guessing that many old-timers would even pull out the ubiquitous, "The world is going to hell in a hand basket." (And trust me: Some days, having a front row seat to the media, I would have a hard time disagreeing with them.)

But, having 25 years in the newspaper business also tells me that if you look hard enough each day, somewhere, someone has written a story about good, ol' human decency that will again lift your heart and prove that the Spirit is alive and well and finding places to break through the cracks of armor in this seemingly endless cruel and uncaring world.

Case in point is this story, written by columnist Mike McFeely who writes for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, the flagship newspaper of the company for which I work, Forum Communications. Co., based in Fargo, N.D.

A little context: As you may know, there are no professional sports in the state of North Dakota. Well, none at least in what anyone would consider the major sports franchises in this country. And so there are two college sports teams that have reached sort of professional fandom status in these here parts.

The first is the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawk's men's hockey team, which is one of the most storied college hockey programs in history with eight Division I national titles. And the second team that reaches "professional" status here in North Dakota is the North Dakota State Bison football team, a history-rich program in itself, having won seven of the last eight Football Championship Subdivision national titles.

And so, my point is, that for some fans, going to one of these two sports teams' events in Grand Forks (UND) or Fargo (NDSU), it's like attending a professional sports competition. And that is why Mike's story is so special.

I won't give away all the details because I'd prefer you let him tell you in his story. But the underlying theme of the story is that one Bison superfan took it upon herself to do something quite remarkable for this region's veterans. And so, this coming Saturday, there's a whole lot of veterans who will be going to see their favorite college football team play a home game, just a couple of days before we as a nation celebrate Veteran's Day.

And it's stories like this that pick me back up, even on the darkest days of working in journalism. But I suspect that it's not just me that needs that pick-me-up. I suspect we all do.

So, where is that I find faith in stories such as these?

Well, I think one of my favorite theologians and writers summed it up best in his daily email devotion today. Father Richard Rohr wrote: "I like to describe this phenomenon as the experiential 'force field' of the Holy Spirit. One stays in this positive force field whenever one loves, cares, is in solidarity with, or serves with positive energy. In Trinitarian theology, the Holy Spirit is foundationally described as the field of love between the Father and the Son. When people stand in this place and rest in love as their home base, they become quite usable by God, and their lives are filled with quantum entanglements that may result in very real healings, forgiveness, answered prayers, and new freedom for those whom they include in the force field with them. (Is that what it means to pray for someone?) Conversely, there are people who carry death wherever they go; they can pull almost anyone into their negative force field. (Is this hell?)"

And so because these "feel-good" stories remind us -- whether consciously or unconsciously -- of the Spirit's positive force at work, these stories give me hope. ... And thus they help me find faith. ... Or, maybe, help faith find me.