03/04/2020
We had a lot of fun interviewing Sunnie Baber last week. Here is a recent FB post from her responding to one of the questions she received during the podcast. (Published here with her permission). Feel free to join the conversation by posting below.
"I have been mulling over the main question Phillip asked me. It caught me off guard because I don’t normally ponder questions about religion and faith in the way he or many of his future guests probably do. At any rate, it is still on my mind and I wanted to answer it.
(Spoiler alert)
"How is your faith sustaining you during these uncertain times?
"Growing up, my faith formation was very important to my parents. They loved God and wanted me to love him, too. They taught me to put my trust in His love and divine plan for my life. I was taught that fear was a curse of sin and being saved meant we could let it go because God did not give us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and a sound mind.
"Today, my faith has of course morphed from my childhood. I live with more uncertainty about the nature of the divine and the order of the universe. I strive to end oppressive systems and to make peace in this earth, instead of hoping for one to come. Yet, I see how the essence of what my parents planted in my spirit remains. Life is a gift, a driving force (God) within us and all around us moves toward loving kindness, and none of us are really in control of ourselves but we should act like we are and try to be good neighbors and stewards of the earth.
"So even now in the middle of a pandemic, my faith compels me to hope for that goodness in mankind that reaches out to the stranger, hope we will seize these circumstances as an opportunity to bring about a more just and compassionate world, and to let go of fear and anxiety because there is a stillness deep inside us all that will bring peace in times of turmoil. Bad things will always happen, but my faith pushes me to let go of my fear while taking one more step toward the hope of a better tomorrow . . . This is how my faith sustains me.
". . . and I hum those old lyrics."
