What faith means to me

I came across this poem. It’s out there in the public domain and is by American poet William Stafford. I don’t know what ‘the thread’ meant to him but for me this poem expresses perfectly what faith in the reality of God means to me. George Macdonald, a writer of allegorical fairy tales who greatly influenced C S Lewis (the author of the Narnia stories) wrote a story which was about a small girl sent on a rescue mission into a dark mountain with only an invisible thread to guide her in and out.

The Way It Is 

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among

things that change. But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.

You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.

While you hold it, you can’t get lost.

Tragedies happen; people get hurt

or die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you can do can stop time’s unfolding.

You don’t ever let go of the thread.