"During those moments I was not in my faith. I seemed to stand completely naked -- a soul without body, raiment, relationships or roles. A soul alone with -- with what? With whom?
"Faith is a coat against this nakedness. For most of us, most of the time, faith functions so as to screen off the abyss of mystery that surrounds us. But we all at certain times call upon faith to provide nerve to stand in the presence of the abyss -- naked, stripped of life supports, trusting only in the being, the mercy and the power of the Other in the darkness. Faith helps us form a dependable 'life space,' an ultimate environment. At a deeper level, faith undergirds us when our life space is punctured and collapses, when the felt reality of our ultimate environment proves to be less than ultimate."
-- Stages of Faith, James Fowler, p. xi-xii
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