True faith, in the truly spiritual and/or religious sense, is always a struggle. This is because true faith – contrary to the contemporary caricature of faith that is fundamentalism and biblical liberalism – consists not in agreeing to believe in a neatly packaged collection of beliefs and practices, but rather in coming again and again up against something that is infinitely bigger than we are and that (rightly) scares the hell out of us by virtue of its sheer enormity and that – assuming we have the courage and the staying power to radically open ourselves to it – will radically transform us into something far greater than we ever dreamed we could be. Sadly, most of us prefer the small self that receives accolades for not challenging others simply by virtue of the light shining through us. This explains not only the half-baked occupants of pews in most churches, but also the half-assed occupants of their pulpits who make a living giving them what they want to hear rather than setting them free. Then again, most preachers have no idea how to do that because they haven’t experienced it for themselves, not being willing to set aside theur ego and close their mouths long enough to give the Divine an opportunity to get a word or two in sideways!