The revelation of the divine, of God, in Jesus, is an encounter in faith. In this first part of the series on faith I want to concentrate first of all on the faith, the trust, that is to be found in human nature. We need to do this because, through the centuries, faith in Jesus has often been obscured by the non faith of credulity - a sort of trust in what has often been conceived as the 'magic' of the gospel stories of Jesus' life. At the end of the Middle Ages, say in the 14th-16th centuries, credulity was at its height. Then, when the modern era burst in upon us in the 17th-18th centuries, real, credible faith was often confused with the credulity of the previous centuries and ridiculed by many in the new philosophy movements of the time. The new understanding of ourselves and of the universe then raised difficulties in the minds of many about the reality of the divine 'intruding' into our world. In the past century, faith in Jesus has not been the strong point of the churches. Too many distracting events such as arguments in and between the churches of the reformation, the recovery of ritual practices in the main stream churches and a felt need for unity among the churches have weaned us away from the 'encounter of faith.' Of course, there is nothing automatic about faith - it is a real encounter between ourselves and the person of the Lord. And there lies the difficulty for people in the 21st century.

For a long time, for many centuries, faith has come to mean for us all - faith in supernatural religion, faith as described in the church's creeds. But I want to begin with faith as that which really matters to us all at the basic human level. The Latin word fides, from which we get 'faith', can also mean 'trust.' Without trust within and between families, neighbours and nations there is no hope of peace and happiness. It is obvious. But where does this possibility of trust or faith come from?

In the days before the growth of towns, when people lived in villages and hamlets, it was obvious where faith between people came from. From maturity onwards each person needed to be aware from within herself of the others' right to be trusted. It was part of one's own possibilities of relationship between people. The fact that there have always been those who rejected the gift of another's trust or who betrayed another's trust only proves the common need for a bond which comes from within each person for the building up of fraternity. From the time in the late eighteenth century when there began the huge trek to the towns where there was new work, this sense of common 'belonging' and responsibility for each other has been greatly blunted. It is common to shift the responsibility of trust within society to the politicians! But actually, that trust or faith, remains quite strong in society in perhaps different ways from the past.

Think what passes through your mind when you are on the Tube (or Metro) or train or bus with so many other unknown people. We can all be fearful of the behaviour of certain people we meet, but generally one cannot resist the more comforting thought that not only are we all in the same boat if a crash occurs but also that, just, normally, we are dependent upon each other in ways which one can only associate with 'trust', 'faith' and dependency. In the modern world we all belong to the human 'tribe'! Conditions of life have changed but there remains in each of us this essential, human sense of faith in others.

Much has been researched and written about the breakdown of society in the past two hundred years. Psychologists and psychotherapists diagnose and exist to help those of us whose inner sense of belonging and inner balance has somehow been badly broken - for a multitude of reasons. But for most of us, for most of the time, we do possess this inner strength and understanding which enables us to feel properly part of our neighbours - even if we have never spoken to them. Many of us are shy! We don't wish to be seen as prying into other people's lives, quite rightly. But beyond all good manners we still are part of each other in the sense that between us we have this essential human trait of trust of one another.

Our capacity for trust is comparable to our capacity for courage, endurance in adverse circumstances, kindness and love. Some particular circumstance brings out in us these sometimes super-human capabilities. To have faith in Jesus, the Lord, is akin to these possibilities we have within us. It will cost us something - faith is not an easy option. Next time we will look at this inner capacity we have for trust and faith in our often life-long quest for meaning in life, and in consequence the deepening sense of our own self-assurance.