Dynamic Faith

Rev. Bill Sinkford is the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. In his sermon, “The Language of Faith,” Sinkford describes a transformative moment in his spiritual life:

“It was in the midst of a crisis-my son Billy, then 15 years old, had overdosed on drugs, and it was unclear whether he would live. As I sat with him in the hospital, I found myself praying…

…And late in the evening, I felt the hands of a loving universe reaching out to hold. The hands of God, the Spirit of Life. The name was unimportant. I knew that those hands would be there to hold me whatever the morning brought. And I knew, though I cannot tell you how, that those hands were holding my son as well. I knew that I did not have to walk that path alone, that there is a love that has never broken faith with us and never will.”

Rev. Sinkford’s story illustrates how faith can develop over time. He reflects, “we don’t have this all permanently figured out at any discrete moment in time.”

As a young man, Sinkford was a Humanist Unitarian Universalist, but the moment in the hospital changed his conception of the sacred, so that he is now a Unitarian Universalist who believes in God. I don’t interpret this story as saying one form of faith is better than another. Rather, I read it as an affirmation that our faith can change form over time, so that the sacred can speak to us wherever we are.

By the time Sinkford had his experience of faith described above, he had been a Unitarian Universalist for many years. I find it heartening to know that one can discover a new and profoundly comforting sense of faith at any time—that wonder and revelation can take place at any point in one’s spiritual journey.