Armor Up: The Shield of Faith

This little project turned in to something much bigger for me.  I anticipate one or two posts, not a post per part of the armor.  But I was thinking a lot and writing a lot and it was a good focus for me. I had some nice insights, but now it's time to wrap it all up.  Hopefully, I'll be done this weekend.  We just have shields, helmets, and swords left to talk about and then we'll finish with a little insight I had this morning.  

The Shield 

When you think about shields as part of traditional armor, they're actually pretty amazing.  They're movable.  Assuming you're well trained and fast enough, a shield can provide an extra layer of protection over any vulnerable point of the body.  One source explained it this way:

The shield moves with the attack, no matter the direction.  

The usefulness of this type of shield is limited by its size and shape and the fact that most people just carry one so the other arm can hold a weapon.  (I'm much more interested in the sci-fi energy shield that basically just put you in a bubble that nothing can penetrate.  But, since Paul didn't know about those and since "nothing can penetrate" goes back to the draw-backs of armoring up that Brene Brown talks about, we won't go there today.)

Faith

Faith is one of my problem words, the words I can define, and give you scripture references for, and maybe even inspire you to have more, but I don't really get it.  (See this post for more information on concepts I struggle with and why.)  I think one of the reasons I struggle with faith is that I equate it with trust and at various points in my life, I have had major trust issues.  

In Alma Chapter 32, we read about experimenting on the word by planting a seed. If it's good and true, that seed begins to grow and we can recognize the truth of that thing by what it does.

It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

At this point in my life, I'm choosing those three criteria for how to proceed with faith.  Does it enlarge my soul or does it crush my spirit?  Do I feel enlightened (love that word!) or burdened and confused?  Is it delicious to me in a way that makes me want more, or does if feel like I have to choke it down whether I want to or not?

I find it very interesting that the answers to those same three questions are why I continue to study, practice, and teach tai chi and qigong.

The Shield of Faith

When used as a shield, faith creates a buffer zone between us and the enemy's attacks.  It covers those places that the basic pieces of armor don't.  It moves with you.  You can put it wherever it is needed the most.  Faith fills in the gaps.  (And there are oh so many gaps in our understanding.)

But this faith, like a shield, is still limited.  It's not perfect knowledge.  And you can't do the shield thing with both hands (all your time, energy, etc.) You still have to live your life and all that that entails with your other hand.  

Maybe the shield of faith is about learning to work with both real life AND faith at the same time, both interacting and protecting.  

All the other armor is something that I put on (or that someone puts on me), and I hope it works.  But the shield is something that I either pick up, or accept when someone hands it to me.  It's operation is not automatic.  I must do something to benefit from this piece of equipment.  The breastplate itself will lesson the effect of a blow to the chest just by being there.  But I am in charge of where my shield of faith is and which blows I attempt to block with it.  

The Shield of Faith as Energy

When I think about how energy ties into this shield of faith thing (and actually all the armor of God), I think about zipping up.  There is not a way to explain this quickly and easily that doesn't sound a little crazy, but this link has a fairly simple version.  Energetically, zipping up is about protecting you from the negative energy around you, deflecting the blows and arrows that the world throws at you (intentional or unintentionally).  "Quenching the fiery darts" seems like another great description.  In theory, you can block the negative energy and prevent people from drawing away your energy, and still be open to receiving love and feeling compassion and empathy for those around you.

Faith is belief with some trust mixed in.

In qigong we sometimes talk about "Yi dao, qi dao," which means where your intention (or attention or awareness) goes, qi (energy) follows.

Perhaps faith is intention.